Word: swiss
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Beyond a distaste for excess, the reluctance of the Swiss to indulge in a splashy birthday bash also reflects a country increasingly ill at ease with itself. The questions raised go to the very foundations of what made Switzerland exceptional -- its status as an Alpine refuge protected from the wars and revolutions that have ravaged the rest of Europe through the centuries. The Swiss like to say they are less a nation than a conglomerate formed by disparate mountain people under pressure to defend themselves against outside threats -- from the Habsburgs and the Bourbons to Hitler...
...dynamic toward ever closer unity. By the beginning of 1993, if all goes well, the 12 members of the European Community will have created a single market that, with 345 million people, rivals the U.S. in economic muscle. Far from prizing their traditional standoffishness, many of the 6 million Swiss are asking if they can afford to remain on the sidelines of this new Europe. Does neutrality still make sense as the risk of war in Europe recedes and the vision of a confederation stretching from the Atlantic to the Urals advances? Can Switzerland hope someday to join...
...these varieties of Swiss, the temptation to march in the European parade is at hand, but it is far from clear whether Switzerland will succumb. , Last June, in one of the most important referendums in years, a majority rejected adoption of a value-added tax, a reform that would have brought the Swiss fiscal system closer to that of its European neighbors. Says Christoph Blocher, Zurich industrialist and member of the federal parliament who is leading a campaign against E.C. membership: "If Switzerland joined, it would have a lot to lose: sovereignty, independence, democratic rights, neutrality and security...
Businessmen like Baer worry less about adverse economic effects than about the psychological and social impact of going it alone. If Switzerland stays outside the E.C., they say, Swiss students will lack the Europe-wide educational opportunities offered other European youth; Swiss scientific and industrial research might suffer from not joining in bigger projects...
Although large Swiss multinationals like the engineering giant Asea Brown Boveri and food conglomerate Nestle have a global presence, scores of less dynamic firms do not and could find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Even Switzerland's powerful banks and insurance companies will come under pressure as E.C.-based rivals operate in newly deregulated markets. "We must look at Switzerland as if it is a corporation," says the head of the economy department, Jean-Pascal Delamuraz. "How competitive are we? Perhaps we have been successful for too long. Perhaps we have lost a little of our dynamism...