Word: switzerland
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...officials are worried that the industrial world may be about to divide itself essentially into two groups: the U.S., Germany, Switzerland and perhaps Japan, with strong, healthy economies characterized by relatively low inflation and currencies rising in value, and the Italys and Britains of the world, with their high inflation, weak economies, and depreciating currencies that worsen inflation by making imports more costly. In fact, the most recent forecasts by the staff of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris suggest that such a division may be coming. The Administration would like to head it off by encouraging...
Paris Match called the idea a "new Trafalgar," and reported (probably inaccurately) that $1 billion had flowed out of France toward Switzerland in the one day after the bill was proposed. The powerful Socialist and Communist opposition parties condemned the measure for containing too many loopholes favoring the rich. The Communists have even been acting as defenders of middle-class property-especially over the part of Giscard's proposal that calls for taxes on the sale of vacation homes, the résidences secondaires owned by 14 million...
...biggest lift came from reports that ten of the richest nations, along with Switzerland and the Bank for International Settlements, had provided the Bank of England with a $5.3 billion line of credit-the largest single amount, $2 billion, coming from the U.S. The hefty bundle for Britain strengthened the central bank's ability to halt the sharp decline in sterling by buying up pounds in international markets. Any of the credits the bank uses must be repaid in six months...
Additional help for the pound came from Switzerland, which has been worried about losing export orders and tourists as a result of the rising value of its franc. Last week the Swiss moved to push the franc lower by making heavy purchases of other currencies, clamping a curb on speculative dealings, and cutting the central bank's discount rate from 2.5% to 2%-moves meant to make their franc less attractive for investors who want to flee sterling...
...moment at any rate, of a massive flight from sterling. Yet the sudden plunge left no doubt about just how vulnerable the buffeted pound is to the gusts of the marketplace. The slide was touched off when Swiss banks, anticipating new import controls on foreign capital moving into Switzerland, converted sterling into the solid security of Swiss francs. Even this light selling wave was enough to tip the pound into its tailspin. Said one London currency dealer gloomily: "It's not so much that people are selling pounds. Nobody wants...