Why should we even care what Switzerland does?

(06-03-2016 09:27 AM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  It would be worth looking into in our country in my opinion. You could cut out a lot of bureaucracy and red tape, cut down on waste, fraud, and abuse. Take away all welfare and food stamp programs and just leave it at this fixed amount, it might be a net savings.

The bold part will never occur. That would be the cure for much of our spending problem though.

(06-03-2016 09:37 AM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  I think this will be fascinating to watch, as Switzerland is maybe the exact type of country (small, relatively homogeneous, prosperous) that could pull this off.

Here is what I need an economist to explain to me. If everyone in the country is guaranteed $30,000 Swiss Dragoons or whatever currency they use, why doesn't a bottle of ketchup go from $4 to $40, effectively making the $30,000 guaranteed income a big failure as no one really has any more money to spend?

that's the reason as long as the super power brokers have a place to hide their monies....monte carlo has that same type of carte blanche service....it's a shame the caymans can no longer hide....that was my initial source to 'hide'

it's pretty easy to extrapolate what would happen if that insulation was removed.....the heat from that shitestorm could only be measured in Kelvin....

(06-03-2016 09:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why should we even care what Switzerland does?

Because it has hot women? Seems like a no brainer to me.

They also require mandatory military service from their citizens. As well as , 25 % of their homes have firearms ( "military style weapons of war" in their homes.

Choke on that!

(06-03-2016 09:45 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:27 AM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  It would be worth looking into in our country in my opinion. You could cut out a lot of bureaucracy and red tape, cut down on waste, fraud, and abuse. Take away all welfare and food stamp programs and just leave it at this fixed amount, it might be a net savings.

The bold part will never occur. That would be the cure for much of our spending problem though.

only fairy tales and pixie dust bibble stuffings are served at that thanksgiving round table....

(06-03-2016 09:27 AM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  It would be worth looking into in our country in my opinion. You could cut out a lot of bureaucracy and red tape, cut down on waste, fraud, and abuse. Take away all welfare and food stamp programs and just leave it at this fixed amount, it might be a net savings.

It sounds tempting to be sure, and I'd be open to it based on everything you said. However with a price tag of $7.5 trillion per year ($30K "salary" per 250m adults), it's hard to see a net gain eliminating welfare and food stamp programs.

And I had the same curiosity that LS has... wouldn't this hike up inflation big time?

Also, let's say a family of four lives in the same house: two parents and two Millennial/college-aged kids. That's a sweet $120K going into the home per year.

In the meantime, I'll be interested in seeing how it plays out in Switzerland as well.

I turned down an offer last month to move to Switzerland. Mainly because it wasn't a 'temporary consulting gig', but a regular permanent job that would require me to move over there as a permanent resident. I'm too old to pretend that I'm moving to Europe permanently.

Switzerland has some good points, such as a healthcare system that works far better than ours (they don't pay their insurance execs billions a year in bonuses out of health care premiums/reserves), but there are so many 'drive you crazy' issues that make life very difficult there.

Such as.

If you live in many apartments, you cannot take a shower after 10pm, you can't even go on your balcony at night, you can't do your laundry on Sundays or at night, etc. You can't do much shopping on Saturday and can't do it at all on Sunday. And the bureaucracy would make the most liberal person blush. I always chuckle when I see people in here complaining about America or Obama being a nanny state or Socialist. Not even close.

I spent several years living in the Netherlands as a permanent resident. Some of it was good, much of it was extremely frustrating.

For those of you looking for a Libertarian utopia, oddly enough, Mexico appears to come closest (for those that have money). Never quite understood this hatred of Mexico by many on the right. Mexico has virtually no social net, extremely low effective taxation, and very few enforced regulations (they might be on the books, but not really there).

If you think Switzerland is some sort of Libertarian utopia, you're nuts. All it has is a tax structure that MIGHT (but not always) be advantageous for some wealthy persons.

(06-03-2016 09:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why should we even care what Switzerland does?

same could be said about mexico with one exception....they are 2000 yrs behind the curve....

I reckon zee makes us both a racist, eh?

you should really reconsider your occupation selection.....maybe poopy scooby doo picker uper at a suburbian el paso zoo would be a good fit?

(06-03-2016 09:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why should we even care what Switzerland does?

UofMemphis, is that you?

(06-03-2016 09:49 AM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  I turned down an offer last month to move to Switzerland. Mainly because it wasn't a 'temporary consulting gig', but a regular permanent job that would require me to move over there as a permanent resident. I'm too old to pretend that I'm moving to Europe permanently.

Back in college I spend some time in Switzerland and really enjoyed it. Flew into Zurich and took a train down to Lugano to meet up with my girlfriend at the time. It was rather expensive but overall I had a great time. Beautiful scenery and nice people.

(06-03-2016 09:46 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why should we even care what Switzerland does?

Because it has hot women? Seems like a no brainer to me.

Then lets talk about that.

(06-03-2016 09:49 AM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  For those of you looking for a Libertarian utopia, oddly enough, Mexico appears to come closest (for those that have money). Never quite understood this hatred of Mexico by many on the right. Mexico has virtually no social net, extremely low effective taxation, and very few enforced regulations (they might be on the books, but not really there).

The massive drug war and rampant police/state corruption is decidedly un-libertarian.

Besides, I don't think anyone hates "Mexico" aside from being skittish about the crime. A lot of ire is directed toward illegal immigrants (obviously) but not the nation as a whole. Although Trump's rhetoric such as the judge comment doesn't help.

(06-03-2016 09:56 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:46 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why should we even care what Switzerland does?

Because it has hot women? Seems like a no brainer to me.

Then lets talk about that.

Finally, a topic that unites all ideologies...

(06-03-2016 09:59 AM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:56 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:46 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why should we even care what Switzerland does?

Because it has hot women? Seems like a no brainer to me.

Then lets talk about that.

Finally, a topic that unites all ideologies...

There is one ugly chick in that pic. She's probably from America.

(06-03-2016 08:27 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 08:10 AM)BobcatEngineer Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 08:04 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 07:36 AM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  

Quote:Switzerland is considering giving every adult citizen a guaranteed income of $2,500 a month. No questions asked.
...
Those in work and earning less than that would have their pay topped up. Those out of work would be handed the full amount.

Discuss.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/24/news/eco...ic-income/

So why work and make less than that? Who are they going to find to flip burgers and dig ditches? If you work, you should live better than if you don't.

BTW, we should pull all our military support for Switzerland right now, kick them out of NATO, and give Russia and/or Germany the green light to move in. If they had to pay for their own defense, they couldn't afford this economic mockery.

Maybe you should call up the Swiss and let them know they're in NATO... I bet they'd be surprised!

(Hint: Switzerland isn't in NATO)

Touche... but they rank 41st in the world in military spending. Someone is protecting them and my bet is it is us. If not through NATO than by some other means.

http://www.globalfirepower.com/defense-s...budget.asp

The Alps protect them.

(06-03-2016 09:59 AM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:56 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:46 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why should we even care what Switzerland does?

Because it has hot women? Seems like a no brainer to me.

Then lets talk about that.

Finally, a topic that unites all ideologies...

Tom might not agree!

(06-03-2016 09:54 AM)DefCONNOne Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 09:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why should we even care what Switzerland does?

UofMemphis, is that you?

(06-03-2016 09:38 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  And as for the Swiss military comments, we could learn a lot from them there, as well. They get more bang for their buck by having a relatively large portion of their military manpower in a reserve status--trained and ready and there if needed, but not occupying full slots on the payroll when not needed.

The difference is (IMO), the Swiss Military works almost entirely like the U.S. National Guard. There are relatively few if any (I believe) Switzerland military outposts at all anywhere in the world. Their military is mostly for defense only.

(06-03-2016 08:04 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(06-03-2016 07:36 AM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  

Quote:Switzerland is considering giving every adult citizen a guaranteed income of $2,500 a month. No questions asked.
...
Those in work and earning less than that would have their pay topped up. Those out of work would be handed the full amount.

Discuss.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/24/news/eco...ic-income/

So why work and make less than that? Who are they going to find to flip burgers and dig ditches? If you work, you should live better than if you don't.

BTW, we should pull all our military support for Switzerland right now, kick them out of NATO, and give Russia and/or Germany the green light to move in. If they had to pay for their own defense, they couldn't afford this economic mockery.

OK, crazy...