In the mood for policy change
To sum up the Mood of the Boardroom, there is an appetite for change in the business community. Not necessarily in a party-political sense but certainly in policy terms. [...]
Switzerland
Centralist reflexes run too deep
Because central government is so dominant, New Zealanders instinctively look at central government to deal with their local issues. [...]
A tale of two countries
We have a choice in New Zealand if we are satisfied with our status quo and content to keep fighting the same old political battles for the next decades. Alternatively, we could break out of our old ways and try something radically new. [...]
Swiss success: Small is beautiful
If Prime Minister John Key really wanted to turn New Zealand into the Switzerland of the South Pacific, this is what he should do. [...]
Why policymakers should watch the Swiss
If our politicians were looking for a radically different way of delivering good government, they could do much worse than watch the Swiss. [...]
Lernen von Schweiz und Schwyz
Aus schweizerischer Sicht kann man sich wohl kaum vorstellen, wie faszinierend, spannend und attraktiv die kleinteilige politische Gliederung des Landes in der Aussensicht erscheint – und dass man sich im Ausland durchaus für die Arbeit der Schweizer Kantone und Gemeinden interessieren, ja begeistern kann. [...]
Learning from Switzerland and Schwyz
From a Swiss point of view, it must be hard to imagine how fascinating, thrilling and attractive the small-scale political structure of the country appears from the outside – and that foreigners looking at Switzerland may find the workings of Swiss cantons and councils interesting or even inspiring. [...]
The euro’s path to junk status
Europe’s central bank has manoeuvred itself into a hole and the introduction of quantitative easing shows that it won’t stop digging. At least the Swiss National Bank got out before being dragged down any further. [...]
Will the Swiss drive up gold prices?
If you are a gold bug, and if you think the majority of the Swiss are too, you might want to consider adding some of the yellow stuff to your portfolio. But be careful – even in Switzerland, referenda can result in surprises, and not every opinion poll that glitters is gold. [...]
A Swiss crevasse for EU relations
The EU always had a strange relationship with democracy, not least because it does not always generate the results EU officials would like to see. The Swiss referendum is a case in point. [...]
