The People are the Sovereign— a brief overview of Swiss History and Politics

(This was originally a lengthy comment to an article called “Switzerland’s Mind-Your-Own-Business Wisdom” by Lauren Reiff.)

Odes to Switzerland-as-free-market-utopia are badly misguided. Just because Swiss banks and business concerns are profitable and successful is not due to an “allegiance to economics over politics.” Politics, regulation and state subsidy loom larger over Swiss business and daily life than in most other developed nations. However, because of the decentralized nature of the Swiss social and political system, the people have greater control over how these state interventions are managed.

For an outsider (of which I am one), it is easy to look at Switzerland and the influence of its business concerns like Nestle, UBS, Rolex, Roche, Swiss Re, and so forth and conclude that the Swiss are great capitalists (they are) and that their skill is born in a boiling broth of free and unfettered markets (it isn’t).

For a better understanding, one must read Swiss history, which is not really widely discussed or published in English, which I think is a pity. There are a few fantastic books about Switzerland which anyone interested in the country should read: Why Switzerland? by Jonathan Steinberg is indispensable. The Naked Swiss by Clare O’Dea is good for…