Swiss Private Banking
Microeconomics of Competitiveness

May 7, 2010

Jolie Chow · Jesse Levinson · Qiao Ma · Jeremy Solomon · Joseph Spieczny

COMPETITIVENESS OF SWITZERLAND Country Overview Switzerland ranks among the most stable, modern and highly developed market economies in the world. Landlocked and highly mountainous, the Swiss population of 7.8 million people is linguistically diverse, highly educated and dispersed across 26 cantons. The Swiss government maintains a tradition of neutrality in foreign policy and has been a constitutional democracy since 1848. The Swiss franc is one of the world’s most trusted stores of value and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has been successful at managing inflation post WWII. Geographic and Demographic Endowments Officially known as the Swiss Confederation, Switzerland’s territory is geographically divided between the Alps and the Central Plateau. The country is bordered by France to the west, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, Germany to the north, and Italy to the south. Bern is the federal government capital, while Zurich and Geneva are the most important commercial centers. The total area of Switzerland is 15,940 square miles, approximately the same area as the U.S. state of New Jersey (CIA, 2010). Relative to its neighbors, Switzerland has limited arable land (9.1% of total). The Swiss population is concentrated heavily in the urban areas of Zürich and Geneva. The three main languages in Switzerland are German (spoken by 63.7% of the population), French (20.4%), and Italian (6.5%) (CIA, 2010). Polity Overview The establishment of the Swiss Confederation is traditionally dated to 1291 when a defensive alliance between several cantons was first established. In current form, Switzerland has existed as an independent, federal democracy since the adoption of the Swiss Federal Constitution in 1848, which is among the oldest constitutions in the world. Swiss citizens are subject to three legal jurisdictions: the