一口气了解瑞士经济

Hi~ Let me tell you that Switzerland is a very, very peculiar economy.

It is very rich or very profitable.

In 2024 its per capita GDP reached an astonishing US$106,000, ranking second in the world Luxembourg is No.1

With population of just over 600,000 .Switzerland can basically be said

.Switzerland can basically be said to be the most profitable country per capita in the world The amazing part is that you see, France and Germany are right next to it and are completely free trade but their GDP per capita is only about half of Switzerland.

Italy is even worse.

Don’t you think it's strange?

With such high labour costs high cost of living with extremely scarce natural resources and it can still leave behind all the countries in the world and maintain such a high per capita GDP?

Why did they choose to being neutral?

Why can they maintain neutrality for more than 200 years?

Why are their watches so good and can be sold at expensive price/.

How come their banks are so safe?

Isn't it strange?

Today, we'll have a look at the peculiar Swiss economy.

I also created something amidst the scenery of lakes and mountains.

Because I didn’t bring any paper today so I just write on a paper bag continue creating.

Let’s first talk about Switzerland’s biggest label its neutrality.

Of course, Switzerland’s so-called neutrality will also have many positions and will be affected by various international political games . For example, during the Russo-Ukrainian War two years ago, Switzerland

. For example, during the Russo-Ukrainian War two years ago, Switzerland froze more than 15 billion U.S. dollars in Russian-related assets due to pressure from the United States and the European Union.

He has done similar things , but at least it is relatively stable. Especially

in the core position of Europe , it is quite incredible that he can be so neutral. Look

at his neutrality.

You see, he does not join the European Union , the Eurozone , or NATO.

Even the United Nations only reluctantly joined the United Nations in 2002.

The flag of other countries is rectangular.

He has to give you a square.

In this way, which direction do you look at it from ? It can look

? It can look the same from both sides, doesn't it show that it is very impartial, independent and unbiased, right?

Sometimes it even makes people feel a little unique.

For example, if the banknotes are printed with Swiss francs horizontally, they will have to look at you vertically to see if they are tickets to the opera house.

Hey, turn them over and it is money. And let me tell you, this is not an ordinary Swiss franc . It was Xiao Lin who showed you the Swiss franc (feet) on the top of the snow mountain

. It was Xiao Lin who showed you the Swiss franc (feet) on the top of the snow mountain that got stuck.

In fact, there are many countries that claim to be neutral, such as Ireland, Mexico, Austria Ghana Vatican Panama etc. But to be honest, many countries give people the impression that they just say what you think, especially in peacetime, it is actually not difficult to claim neutrality . I just said,

. I just said, our country must be good. To develop the economy, don't take me with you when fighting.

We want peace , right? This is reasonable.

, right? This is reasonable.

But once the war is affected and even reaches your doorstep, it is actually very difficult for you to remain neutral.

For example, Norway and the Netherlands are actually similar to Switzerland. They

have declared that they will be permanently neutral since the 19th century.

However, when World War II started, they failed to control it and were involved.

Like Sweden, it even carried it. After World War I and World War II, we survived the Cold War and remained neutral without participating in the war. But when the Russo-Ukrainian War broke out in 2022

the war. But when the Russo-Ukrainian War broke out in 2022 , I was so nervous that I couldn't sit still.

Joining NATO is equivalent to giving up one's identity as a neutral country. So you see, it is actually very difficult to maintain neutrality after hundreds of years of war.

And Switzerland has gone from 1 After establishing its status as a neutral country in 815, it has never participated in any foreign war.

If you want to know how he did it, let's talk about World War II.

You see, during World War II, Switzerland was a place in the center of the whirlpool. It was

bordered by Germany in the north, Italy in the south, France in the west, Austria in the east, and in the middle was the Devil's Zone.

People were beaten crazy and blown up at the doorstep.

It was like there was a It's like a diamond shield.

Behind this, there must be a very reasonable strategy and at the same time, he has to pay a huge price.

I conclude that he was able to remain neutral during World War II through two main strategies.

First, you have to be ruthless enough.

Second, you have to be smooth enough.

This ruthlessness actually does not mean being ruthless to others , but being ruthless to yourself.

The core idea is that I tied explosives to myself.

Hey, don't come over.

You have to do it again. If you dare to come close, I will die with you.

In fact, the terrain of Switzerland is a bit like a sandwich.

The south and east are the rolling Alps. The west is bordered by France, mainly the Jura Mountains

Alps. The west is bordered by France, mainly the Jura Mountains . The north is bordered by Germany. The Rhine River and Lake Constance

. The north is bordered by Germany. The Rhine River and Lake Constance are sandwiched between the Swiss plateau and where most people live.

So you can see that the entire country is surrounded by either mountains or mountains. The water

is connected to the outside by a very small number of tunnels, bridges, and mountain roads.

This geographical environment can be said to be a traffic hell from the perspective of economic activities or foreign exchanges.

But from a military perspective, it is an excellent natural environment. It is dangerous , easy to defend, and difficult to attack . This gave the Swiss a lot of confidence.

. This gave the Swiss a lot of confidence.

When World War II broke out, they were actually very nervous at all. Wanting to join the war

at all. Wanting to join the war , they secretly implemented a plan called the "National Fortress Project." They

built a series of fortifications around the Alps. A

large number of anti-tank cannons and machine guns were hidden in the mountains or disguised as barns.

To this day, many of the cannons are actually still there.

Look at the many ordinary small houses.

When you open the door, there is a cannon inside .

And these cannons are right The precise ones are some key highway bridges or tunnels.

In fact, it is difficult to say that they destroyed all the German tanks at that time.

One of their main functions was to prepare to destroy their own roads or to aim at the mountains and be ready to create mudslides at any time.

Hundreds of large and small fortresses around the entire country had tons of explosives buried at any time, ready to directly cut off contact with the outside world . It was not until 2015 that the clearance of explosives was basically completed.

. It was not until 2015 that the clearance of explosives was basically completed.

A large number of holes were dug in the mountains to make bunkers and air-raid shelters.

According to incomplete statistics , tens of thousands of large bunkers were dug, and enough necessary communication equipment and explosives were prepared.

Do you see it?

This is actually his hedgehog strategy.

He wants to give other countries a very clear signal . It is hard to say how good my attack power is.

. It is hard to say how good my attack power is.

But I will never mess with you. If you want to force me to do it,

with you. If you want to force me to do it, then I will have to fight to the death.

At least I will get some blood on your hands.

This bridge is connected to Switzerland and Germany. It was

renovated and completed in 2006.

The Swiss actually hid TNT on this bridge pier.

You tell me, they are also cautious enough.

It has been more than 60 years since World War II and the Soviet Union has been disintegrated for more than 10 years . He still has so many explosives

. He still has so many explosives and will hide them for you from time to time.

What we just said is that he is ruthless to himself , but this ruthlessness alone is not enough to stop the Germans.

In fact, Hitler had already made a very detailed battle plan to capture Switzerland.

So, Switzerland, he also has a second trick , which is to be tactful . As a hedgehog,

. As a hedgehog, I will also cooperate with everyone . I want to be a valuable hedgehog

. I want to be a valuable hedgehog , so you see the Swiss bank as a neutral bank . It doesn’t matter whether you are British, French, American, German or Italian.

I don’t care whether your money was earned, stolen or robbed.

I am willing to do business with you . If you let me have your money, you can rest assured

. If you let me have your money, you can rest assured because you have the status of a neutral country.

The Swiss franc was during World War II . It was the only currency in the world that could be freely circulated and convertible.

So at that time, both Germany, Britain and France had a large amount of gold bars stored in Swiss banks in exchange for Swiss francs. The Swiss banks could

francs. The Swiss banks could exchange them for a lot of gold plundered during the war at a price lower than the market price.

In 1998, the Swiss National Bank admitted that Switzerland had stolen money from the Nazis during World War II.

He obtained gold worth 440 million US dollars at the time. The

financial help provided by Switzerland was also a very critical part of supporting the German economy at that time.

When these things came out, they greatly damaged the international image of Switzerland and led to a major change in Switzerland.

We will talk about it later.

Of course, from the perspective of Switzerland, he will defend himself and say that I am just protecting myself.

We just do business with everyone without distinction.

We won't make moral judgments about this.

In short, Switzerland successfully escaped the devastation of World War II by being cruel to itself and smooth to others.

It even made a small fortune because of the war. Why do

you think the Swiss are so obsessed with neutrality ? Is he a coward

? Is he a coward ? Actually,

? Actually, I'm not telling you that the Swiss are. How

far can you fight?

In fact, for a long time in history, the Swiss were famous for being mercenaries.

Starting from the 13th century, after experiencing large and small wars, people from European countries discovered that the Swiss were really capable of fighting and had strong discipline. Fortunately

discipline. Fortunately , in addition, Switzerland itself was not economically developed and had no money, so they often went there. They work as mercenaries for other countries nearby . Their spearmen are particularly powerful.

. Their spearmen are particularly powerful.

They formed that phalanx and ran rampant on the battlefield like a hedgehog. They were invincible.

In the 15th century, they almost monopolized the spearman market in Europe.

After that, they began to be imitated by other countries.

Until now, do you know what the name of the escort team that protects the Pope is called Swiss. Guard

Swiss Guard Beginning in the 17th century, Switzerland also experienced several disastrous defeats in wars and was a bit tired.

At the same time, you have been a mercenary for hundreds of years and you have some primitive accumulation . Even his banking industry

. Even his banking industry has developed and grown to manage the money earned by mercenaries.

When the economy has a bottom, he announced that he would be neutral.

But even if he said that he was neutral, he also added a line, hey, I still Friends from the Kazakhstan side who can be mercenaries, don’t worry.

After a brief period of invasion, at the Vienna Conference in 1815, European countries formally established Switzerland as a permanent neutral country.

This also attracted more than 50 international organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization , the Bank for International Settlements, the Red Cross FIFA etc. to set up their headquarters in Switzerland.

Because of Switzerland’s status as a neutral country, Switzerland One of the industries that have benefited the most from Switzerland is its banking industry, and it is also one of Switzerland's trump cards in the world .

To be a little more specific , wealth management in banks, wealth management, to put it bluntly, is to manage money for the rich and for high-net-worth people.

Probably since World War II, Switzerland has been the world's largest offshore financial center, and 1/4 of the world's cross-border assets are stored in Swiss banks.

According to UBS statistics, the world's Bi llionaires are wealthy individuals with assets exceeding US$1 billion.

Among them, 46% , or nearly half, are their clients.

So why do you think the Swiss banking industry is so attractive to the world's richest people?

His trump card was secrecy .

As early as 1934, Switzerland implemented a landmark federal law , the Federal Bank. The abbreviation of the "Swiss Bank Law" is the "Swiss Bank Law".

The most famous one in this bill is Article 47, which probably means that banks cannot disclose customer information to anyone, including the Swiss authorities , including any other country.

This is written into the federal law, so right? You put the money here

so right? You put the money here and I will take care of the money. Don't worry about it.

You can't even cut open my mouth with a saw .

In fact, you can see that it was killed in World War II. It's a living thing, but both parties can feel very confident about putting their money and valuables in Swiss banks.

Although there are some ethical issues, this can be said to be the best advertisement for Swiss banking industry's secrecy . With the characteristics of secrecy

. With the characteristics of secrecy and the low tax rate, Switzerland has become a tax haven, which allowed its bank to quickly attract global capital to settle here after World War II . The two giant banks have grown rapidly.

The two giant banks , UBS and Credit Suisse, have also continued to strengthen their confidentiality and security characteristics.

You see, Switzerland has dug a lot of bunkers and tunnels.

UBS simply bought some caves and hid its vaults under the Alps.

Credit Suisse simply hid its safes underwater.

Although you don’t think it is necessary , You sound very safe.

This reputation spreads further and further.

In various movies and television works , Switzerland can be said to be synonymous with the highest level of confidentiality . I remember that in "The Wolf of Wall Street",

. I remember that in "The Wolf of Wall Street", Swiss banks were used to launder money.

"The Da Vinci Code" also used Swiss anonymous accounts.

In "The Bourne Supremacy" , they used Swiss safe deposit boxes to get passports and money.

"007" has more.

So when I was a child, I felt that this Swiss vault was the most mysterious and safest place in the world . In short, Switzerland has banking laws, low taxes

. In short, Switzerland has banking laws, low taxes , and media propaganda have jointly promoted the rapid expansion of Switzerland's private banking industry.

After UBS acquired Credit Suisse in 2023, the scale of assets under management has reached 5.8 trillion U.S. dollars

, which is 7 times the Swiss GDP.

Although if you look at the Swiss banking industry alone, its impact on Swiss GD P's contribution may not be that outstanding, less than 10% , but it has a huge joint effect through the business card effect of attracting rich people from outside.

It has also become a vital engine of the Swiss economy . However, if you think of such a good confidentiality mechanism,

. However, if you think of such a good confidentiality mechanism, the purpose of the money saved by these rich people may not be very clean.

The most common one is tax evasion.

Many people may go to the Cayman Islands to build an offshore shell company . Then I opened an account in Switzerland

. Then I opened an account in Switzerland in the name of this company so that I can hide the owner behind the bank account.

We talked about the Cayman Islands before.

This is a layer of information isolation.

The Swiss bank separates another layer of information so that no matter whether it is the United States, Europe , or whoever wants this information, Switzerland can not give it to Switzerland . Then you can evade taxes by hiding income.

. Then you can evade taxes by hiding income.

Of course, I emphasize that this was before and you can't do this now.

We will talk about it later. Tax evasion may be considered relatively clean.

it later. Tax evasion may be considered relatively clean.

There are also a large number of criminals who will put dirty money in Switzerland.

For example, former Philippine President Marx embezzled more than 10 billion US dollars in bribes from 1965 to 1986. This was rated as the largest government theft in history by Guinness World Records.

Where did Marx put the stolen money ? Hey, they used many anonymous accounts

? Hey, they used many anonymous accounts to put the money. After arriving at a Swiss bank, after 16 years of litigation , the crime was characterized, and the Swiss government returned US$683 million to the Philippine government . Similarly, many politicians, such as the former president of Nigeria and

. Similarly, many politicians, such as the former president of Nigeria and the former president of Iraq, etc., would save money in Swiss banks , and the savings would be hundreds of millions of dollars.

These are just the ones that have been exposed.

In fact, they are definitely just the tip of the iceberg.

Others, like some drug lords and fraud groups, are There are countless bank accounts in Switzerland .

This confidentiality mechanism in Switzerland has become a corner of global capital that hides evil.

In 1997, there was a young man named Meili who was less than 30 years old.

He was working as a guard at a Swiss bank and accidentally discovered that UBS was destroying asset documents related to Jewish orphans during the Holocaust.

In fact, it was equivalent to UBS trying to appropriate some assets left over by the Nazis during World War II . So Meili She secretly took these documents home and handed them over to a Jewish organization.

Finally, the documents were made public.

Mellie became the first person wanted by the Swiss federal government for violating the Swiss Banking Act and had to rush to the United States.

After seeing the information in these documents, the public condemned the Swiss bank overwhelmingly.

Finally, in August 1998, UBS reached an agreement with Jewish victims of US$1.25 billion. Yuan's settlement

also reached a settlement of US$750,000 with Meili. Although

this matter was settled , there is no doubt that he opened a hole to let the public see the ulterior side of the Swiss banking industry. It was also a very critical turning point for the entire industry.

Don't look at the overheating of global capital in the next 10 years.

The Swiss banking industry also followed suit and started a party, but in fact this was more like a "doomsday party" After 2005, a series of internal documents about the Swiss banking industry were exposed, revealing that they used various methods to help overseas customers evade taxes.

In 2009, UBS reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay a $780 million fine and provided the United States with the account information of more than 4,000 customers.

The original small hole was suddenly opened, including countries such as Germany, France, and Belgium. The country

began to investigate whether Swiss banks helped their citizens to evade taxes.

Due to pressure from governments and public opinion, Switzerland has signed information exchange agreements with the United States and the European Union.

Account information involving residents of these countries needs to be shared with their governments.

Although there are still many restrictions on the sharing of information, Switzerland still has many restrictions.

Although its confidentiality system still applies to all Swiss citizens, but in Internationally, the label of secrecy that Switzerland was famous for in the past half century has actually been in name only.

Since 2008, Switzerland's financial industry has been on a decline.

Although it is not that the rich have directly withdrawn their capital on a large scale , the competitiveness of the overall banking industry is definitely incomparable with those of the big banks in the United States.

The GDP share of the Swiss banking industry has also dropped from 11.2 in 2007 to only 8.9% in 2022.

The two largest Swiss banks Credit Suisse in the bank was even more so due to the overly aggressive strategies of its investment banking department.

The management continued to be turbulent, and the top management was frequently involved in scandals.

In addition, the market was so volatile that it suffered a run in 2023.

In the end, the Swiss National Bank intervened strongly and put a knife on the necks of the two banks . UBS finally acquired Credit Suisse for US$3.25 billion.

. UBS finally acquired Credit Suisse for US$3.25 billion.

At that time, there was a lot of fuss.

Look, this building turned out to be Credit Suisse. Suisse’s global headquarters , look at the current brand UBS UBS UBS has all been replaced by UBS , but anyway, secrecy has allowed Swiss banks to reap a huge dividend.

And let me tell you, Harry Switzerland ’s idea of ​​​​secrecy is actually not just about banks.

The secrets he can keep are not limited to money.

Friends, look at the building behind me, which is very inconspicuous, but it But there is an invisible vault that is famous among the world's richest people.

It has about 1.2 million collections, which is equivalent to two Louvres . There are thousands of Picasso paintings alone,

. There are thousands of Picasso paintings alone, Van Gogh, Monet, and Da Vinci.

Statistics estimate that the total value of this collection exceeds 100 billion U.S. dollars.

It is also known as the world's largest invisible vault. Art Museum

, and this place is also the core of many underground transactions, tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering.

This is the Geneva Free Port.

Although it is called a Port , it has no water or ships.

It is a tax-free special economic zone.

In fact, many countries will set up this kind of free trade in order to promote trade and attract overseas investment . Zones,

free economic zones, and other special economic zones.

Many economic activities in these special zones , such as investment, processing, import and export, etc. , are exempt from tariffs.

Free ports also belong to a type of special economic zones.

In fact, they are a bit like a tax-free temporary storage locker . For example,

. For example, you want to temporarily store this goods here.

After that, I will transport this kind of transit goods.

Then I will no longer charge you import and export duties.

You just need to pay a storage fee.

This kind of free port is very common in many countries.

There are almost more than 600 free ports in the world.

What is different about the free port of Geneva ?

In addition to tax exemption, it also has a very big selling point . Yes, it is to keep

. Yes, it is to keep the identity of the previous storer confidential , the source and value of the items. It is strictly confidential.

You can operate this port anonymously by setting up a shell company.

You may know that there is a very mysterious company in Cayman that puts a box of an artwork with unknown contents.

Anyway, I don’t care what it is.

I will just be responsible for collecting the storage fee.

You see, this confidentiality system is very important for the art collection industry . You see, it is tax-free and

. You see, it is tax-free and There are many collectors who keep secrets.

What will he do?

For example, if he paid a lot of money to buy an art piece , he doesn’t need to transport it back to his country . I’ll just put it in the Geneva Free Port.

. I’ll just put it in the Geneva Free Port.

I can store it for several years or decades , and then I can find the right buyer at the right time and sell it.

This way, I don’t have to pay VAT or customs duties.

He may not have seen the art at all during the whole process . For those

. For those collectors of extremely expensive art, it is mainly an investment behavior , just like buying stocks.

He does not intend to hang it at home to carefully appreciate the art . It may not have moved at all

the art . It may not have moved at all in a small warehouse in this free port , but the transaction records there have been bought and sold, and the value has doubled. I don’t know how many times.

Later, this has to attract him to the free port. He bought a lot of art, so he added a full set of services to himself , such as top-notch security, some art experts , and even restoration, maintenance, insurance of cultural relics, etc. You can even hold an art exhibition in this free port , no problem.

In fact, it attracts more than just art, including red wine, antiques, etc. In short, those imports and exports may involve a lot of taxes , but you are not afraid of it. Anything stored for a long time can be brought into this free port.

Of course, you can see that its storage facilities and various services are so complete.

The price of storage is really expensive.

For an ordinary-sized painting, the storage fee for that month is US$1,000.

If you want to rent a small storage room, it costs US$12,000 a month.

How expensive is it?

What will such a confidential system attract?

I believe you have guessed it. There are

a large number of illegal artworks and cultural relics.

The Geneva Free Port has been involved in many cases related to smuggling and money laundering.

In fact, there are many similar cases.

After 2005, in order to close the trading channels of illegal cultural property, Switzerland passed a series of bills requiring all cultural relics imported into Switzerland to declare the source, owner and value.

Therefore, since then, there have been many newly stored cultural relics. Detailed files,

but most of the ones that were deposited before 2009 still don’t know who the owner is and how much they are worth.

In Switzerland, you can’t take any compulsory measures, otherwise it would be like destroying your own brand, so you can only keep some unknown mysterious boxes for these anonymous companies who don’t know who they are . How many treasures are hidden in this free port is still a mystery.

One of Switzerland's core strategies is neutrality , and one of the key points in maintaining neutrality is to keep confidentiality from all clients.

This became a trump card in attracting the global wealth of the world's richest people in the 20th century . But in the 21st century,

. But in the 21st century, various confidentiality agreements began to fall apart.

This also marked the end of the Swiss secrecy era.

In fact, he could no longer reap the dividends brought by these gray industries behind secrecy.

But the Swiss economy It has not gone downhill.

On the contrary, it is still strong and rising against the trend in an environment that is deeply affected by the European debt crisis . Why is this

. Why is this ? In fact,

? In fact, Switzerland has already explored some new ace industries.

It has long been no longer relying on secrecy.

First, let me test you.

Do you know who the three companies with the highest market value in Switzerland are?

There is no big bank in the world, UBS, and it is not Rolex.

In fact, it is Roche, Nestlé and Novartis, do you see that two of the top three are in the pharmaceutical industry?

This is very clear.

One of the major driving industries for the Swiss economy is pharmaceutical and chemical industry.

Look at the distribution of Swiss export products in the past 25 years.

The red part at the bottom is pharmaceutical.

Now, pharmaceutical and chemical industry has accounted for half of Switzerland’s exports.

This is why you see the European debt crisis around us. The country is besieged on all sides, but Switzerland's per capita GDP is still soaring.

In fact, if you look at this picture , you can better understand why Switzerland is unwilling to join the EU, right? Who is willing to join you?

right? Who is willing to join you?

You don't weigh how much you weigh, how much do I earn, how much do you earn, right? Are you

kidding?

You said why Switzerland's pharmaceutical industry is so powerful ? There must be some factors of chance,

? There must be some factors of chance, but Switzerland is stable. It has a certain political environment, high-quality talent , relatively friendly taxation , and its currency, the Swiss franc, is also very stable.

These factors have given the pharmaceutical industry a very favorable soil environment . The pharmaceutical industry itself has a scarcity of talents, and

. The pharmaceutical industry itself has a scarcity of talents, and its agglomeration effect will be very obvious.

Therefore, Switzerland has gradually attracted talent companies from all over Europe and even the world to settle here.

This industry accounts for its proportion in GDP. It’s not necessarily very high , but you know it plays a very important role in the Swiss economy.

That is, it can raise the average income of Swiss people.

Of course, it also pushes up its prices.

Do you know how much the average monthly salary in the Swiss pharmaceutical industry is?

It can reach 11,500 US dollars , which is an average monthly salary of 83,000 RMB.

And you know who ranks third in global per capita GDP, following Switzerland. Well

Ireland has such a high per capita GDP.

In fact, it is largely driven by the pharmaceutical industry.

The second largest contributor to the Swiss economy is its manufacturing industry, especially machine tools and precision instruments.

It can be said to be the world leader.

It originally originated from the textile industry in the 19th century.

After that, Swiss companies began to mechanize production and develop their own machines.

Later, they discovered that hey, I seem to be manufacturing The talent for machines is stronger than textiles , so slowly many family businesses have been born in Switzerland.

They insist on specializing in a certain niche.

For example, I process a gear or a particularly precise part and make a product to the extreme.

In the end, the integrated precision instruments have very high technical barriers around the world.

For example, there is a company called Schindler , which you may have never heard of.

You must have seen this LOGO.

It is one of the largest escalator companies in the world , including ABB. Liebherr

is a giant in the manufacturing industry , and the pinnacle of precision manufacturing is its watches.

This Swiss watch can be said to be synonymous with luxury watches.

Although its output is less than 2% in the world , it contributes more than 50% of its profits.

Swiss machinery has been around since the 19th century.

Pocket watches began to be produced on a large scale. By the beginning of the 20th century, mechanical watches had accounted for 40% of the global total . However, they were later

. However, they were later impacted by Japanese quartz watches.

Swiss mechanical watches were once in danger . Longines Radar Omega was on the verge of bankruptcy

. Longines Radar Omega was on the verge of bankruptcy , and the two fell into financial difficulties. The company

merged in 1983 and launched an unexpected watch brand Swatch.

Its core concept is low-cost art and fashion.

Most of the watches are plastic cases.

It can be said that it completely subverted the image of traditional watches and quickly became popular in the global market.

It has helped the Swiss watch industry withstand the impact to a large extent. It has also completed the high-end transformation with many brands through the operation of capital.

Do you know who the world's largest watch group is?

It's not Rolex or LVMH, it's the Swatch Group.

Now it's like Omega. Longines, Hamilton,

Radar, Tissot, Breguet and other brands are all owned by the Swatch Group.

In fact, I feel that the education system of Harris is a key reason for its success in precision manufacturing and watchmaking.

Its education system is very unique. It

adopts a dual-track system with only about 1/3 of the people.

Like most other countries, from primary school to university , 2/3 of students will go through a system called apprenticeship.

After receiving nine years of compulsory education, they directly go to the company as an intern, which is called an apprentice.

This apprenticeship lasts for four years, about 3-4 days a week, for example, directly to the company for internship and then has 1 -Two days to complete some relevant knowledge learning at school.

Large companies will set up apprenticeship programs to recruit apprentices . Students are really equivalent to

. Students are really equivalent to having to interview and find jobs after graduating from junior high school, so they force you to think about yourself when you are 15 years old.

Who am I? I

am forced to do whatever I want to do. Parents should get to know their children and help them choose careers.

Anyway, this kind of education system that diverts students in advance must have its pros and cons.

However, for industries such as precision watch manufacturing, which are complex and require the accumulation of experience, it is actually very beneficial.

It has also made Switzerland a world-famous manufacturing industry and manufacturing industry. I think

in the watch industry , I don’t know if you feel that Swiss manufacturing has actually formed its own brand now.

Although Swiss watches are not sold in many and the GDP is not high , the brand effect it brings to the country of Switzerland is actually immeasurable.

You just need to label it Swiss. The price of Made can't wait to double.

It's not just watches, military knives, or even chocolate, cheese, milk . These are all high-end and expensive.

. These are all high-end and expensive.

Either that, it's a scam, or the prices are inflated.

This is actually determined by market supply and demand.

Everyone thinks that the trust behind Swiss manufacturing is a luxury product.

Its profit margin will be high to a certain extent, and you can avoid competing with other countries for labor costs and profit margins.

Look, create a What a luxury brand needs is, first of all, quality control.

The product itself, from design to manufacturing, must be very good.

That’s for sure.

That’s not enough.

You also need scarcity , so the supply is very small.

What’s more, it’s very important to have just the right marketing.

These three are indispensable , and Switzerland has all three.

Look at Switzerland.

First of all, it doesn’t matter watches, military knives, chocolate cheese, people really have this.

At the same time, Switzerland has limited resources and limited manpower , and its products are very particular.

Watches must be handmade, and the cows would like to send you to walk under the Alps.

The output is indeed very limited.

The most important thing is that Switzerland is a neutral country and has a unique image.

In addition, its beautiful scenery is as if generated by AI.

The Alps are also world-famous . It seems that it may be impossible to hit

. It seems that it may be impossible to hit , but it is potentially shaping Switzerland's national image.

In fact, this also explains why Switzerland's per capita GDP is so high and prices are so high.

It is also a large exporting country.

You must know that Switzerland not only ranks in the top three in per capita GDP , but also has ridiculously high prices.

Zurich and Geneva have been ranked among the top ten most expensive cities in the world all year round.

This is because its prices are too high.

Many people live in the suburbs. Residents who live abroad often go to Italy and France to go shopping on weekends , which raises the prices of surrounding goods.

I remember a friend from Switzerland joked with me before and said that the best thing about living in Switzerland is that it is very cheap to travel to places around the world.

Then you said that labor costs in Switzerland are so high.

If you hire an engineer in Switzerland, you might be able to hire a football team in India.

One of the very important reasons why he can still maintain his competitiveness in the international market is because of his Swiss-made image.

He has found an industry with high precision and high added value and sufficient market demand.

Not only has he found one, he has found three of the three major industries we just mentioned: medicine, chemicals, and precision manufacturing watches.

They are the three major export industries of Switzerland , and Switzerland also continues to maintain a current account surplus.

Then, because Switzerland's economy is very strong and it is a neutral country and its politics are stable, it brings a trouble to Switzerland that may sound a bit like Versailles , which is that the demand for its currency, the Swiss franc, is too strong.

Every time the global economy is turbulent, global capital flocks to the Swiss franc to push it to appreciate sharply.

What will happen if the demand for the currency is too strong ? It will have a great impact on Switzerland's exports.

? It will have a great impact on Switzerland's exports.

So what happens to Switzerland ? In order to control the Swiss franc

? In order to control the Swiss franc from appreciating too much, the Swiss National Bank had to adjust the interest rate to very, very low all year round. Especially after the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent European debt crisis, the Swiss franc continued to appreciate. The Swiss National Bank continued to inject liquidity into the market to offset the excessive demand for the Swiss franc.

It also took the lead in lowering the interest rate to 0.25% , but the market continued to buy.

At the height of the Greek debt crisis in 2011, economists estimated based on the Big Mac Index that the Swiss franc was overvalued against the U.S. dollar by 98%.

The Swiss National Bank couldn't sit still.

The pressure of such endless appreciation on Swiss exports was too great, and it suddenly made a big move and announced that the euro was against the Swiss franc. A lower limit of the franc is 1.2.

As long as this limit is exceeded , the central bank will buy unlimitedly.

At the same time, it lowered the interest rate to zero , which was really zero.

At that time, it really shocked the entire market.

The Swiss franc immediately ushered in the largest drop in history.

The euro against the Swiss franc bounced back to above 1.2 in an instant.

You see, everyone has a hard-to-read experience.

Let the Eurozone beg those capitals to say don’t leave, don’t sell Swiss francs, and beg capital to say don’t come, don’t buy them.

But it’s not over yet.

Because the European debt crisis continues to ferment, the market demand for Swiss francs is still very strong.

Normally the Swiss National Bank should lower interest rates, but the interest rates are already 0.

Why do you want to lower them?

Why can’t they lower them? Right?

He lowered the interest rate to negative 0.75% in 2014 , but even so , he still failed to suppress the pressure of Swiss franc appreciation.

Less than a month later, on January 15, 2015, the Swiss National Bank suddenly announced that it had lifted the 1.2 limit of EUR/CHF.

The whole market was shocked again.

Swiss franc kua It skyrocketed by another 15%.

After the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war , the Swiss franc continued to appreciate as expected.

Now it is worth more than the US dollar and the euro.

So you see, the Swiss National Bank is really worried that everyone's demand for the Swiss franc is too strong and too enthusiastic, which will affect exports.

And he is so thunderous. The rigorous policy management style shocked the market twice, causing many funds to liquidate and close down, which also frightened market traders.

The Swiss National Bank's little bell and push notification must be turned on, and you must be prepared to be shocked at any time.

Why does the Swiss National Bank often shock the market ? Because its concept is that the information is opaque. The strategy

? Because its concept is that the information is opaque. The strategy

is that I make decisions and policies without any warning beforehand . I won’t give you all the fictitious

. I won’t give you all the fictitious information. I will publish

information. I will publish it as soon as I come up.

Unlike the Federal Reserve, which emphasizes full communication and various language skills to release signals and expectation management, it is exactly the opposite.

We all know that the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen are two world-famous safe-haven currencies.

They both appear to buy and appreciate when encountering turbulent markets.

In fact, the logic behind them is completely different.

The Japanese yen is largely due to the large number of carries. Trade

carry trade includes Japan itself, which has a lot of external investments.

Once turmoil occurs, overseas capital will flow back, including the unwinding of carry trades , which will lead to the appreciation of the yen.

I would say that the Swiss franc is a real safe haven currency.

Everyone just thinks it can be a safe haven, the economy is reliable, the currency is stable , and they run to avoid risks.

This is why the Swiss franc has negative interest rates but there is not much capital to use it for carry trades in the market because of arbitrage. As for interest rate trading, you need to continue to short the Swiss franc for such an appreciation method, right?

Who can bear to keep shorting it?

Not to mention that the Swiss National Bank will shock you from time to time.

Investors in the market must not be able to bear it.

And you think about it, the Swiss central bank keeps selling Swiss francs in order to lower the Swiss franc and then buys euros or US dollars . In addition, in

. In addition, in Switzerland, its current account has a continuous surplus, which makes the Swiss central bank A large amount of foreign exchange reserves have been accumulated, reaching a scale of almost one trillion U.S. dollars. It

ranks third in the world after China and Japan . It is quite interesting here.

. It is quite interesting here.

I looked at it , and a quarter of it, which is about 250 billion U.S. dollars

, is stock positions. Most of them are in the U.S. stocks

positions. Most of them are in the U.S. stocks

, as expected , such as Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon.

Speaking of the Swiss central bank, there is another particularly interesting place.

It is actually the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The market value means that you can buy the equity of the money-printing institution of the country's central bank in Switzerland.

Doesn't that sound ridiculous ? What's even more exaggerated is that

? What's even more exaggerated is that its market value is only a very pitiful 350 million Swiss francs. The Swiss National Bank

Swiss francs. The Swiss National Bank currently has about 66% of the equity held by Swiss states and banks.

The remaining part is held by private holders.

In fact, although you can nominally buy its shares , you don't have any rights.

What is the income from buying this stock with any voting rights ?

The central bank is not a profit-making organization .

You can get up to 15 Swiss francs in dividends per share every year.

This is the income you earn from buying it.

So it is nominally a stock , but in fact it is more like a bond, a perpetual bond that will always pay you interest.

In fact, the Swiss National Bank is just to play with you.

As for all the decisions it makes in its own business, it must be to protect the country of Switzerland. I'm afraid the stability of a country's currency has nothing to do with the interests of you, the shareholder.

So why do you do this?

To be honest, a large part of it is historical reasons.

In the early 20th century, the central bank was not the same as it is now.

At that time, people did not actually think that the central bank was a core institution similar to the country , but more like a bank. In order to ensure that it would not be run on , they joined hands to form an organization to strengthen consolidation. In fact,

the credit of the banking industry is not limited to Switzerland. You see,

the purpose of the Federal Reserve when it was first established was similar. Until now, it is theoretically controlled by many small banks.

In Switzerland, it is more extreme.

Anyone can buy its stocks in the secondary market.

This actually reflects a very important feature of Switzerland's internal management.

Just now, we said that it is neutral.

In fact, it is its external style in the international market, but its internal system is very The main concept is decentralization, which emphasizes bottom-up management . For example, the central bank allows people to hold shares

. For example, the central bank allows people to hold shares , which is driven by this concept of decentralization.

Of course, later on, because the central bank is so important, this so-called shareholding will become a symbolic meaning.

However, the concept of decentralization in Switzerland actually goes deep into all aspects of its national system.

You see, Switzerland has 26 states called 26 Cantons. Each state has considerable autonomy, its own education system , its own tax policy , its own laws and even its own language . Switzerland has 4 official languages:

. Switzerland has 4 official languages: German, French, Italian and Romance languages. At most

, about 2/3 of the people who speak German here have German as their first language . This Romance language is already spoken by very few people.

. This Romance language is already spoken by very few people.

Only less than 1% of people use it as their first language.

People here speak a wide variety of languages.

You see, we are in Zurich now , which is relatively north of Switzerland.

It is almost bordering Germany , so these people speak German , but in the south, such as Geneva, which is close to France , the main language there is French , so they often start to switch languages ​​inexplicably when communicating with each other .

More than 2/3 of Swiss people speak at least two languages ​​​​every week.

What are they there?

You have to make multiple copies of TV programs and product manuals . This is very magical

. This is very magical . Let’s talk about decentralization in Switzerland.

. Let’s talk about decentralization in Switzerland.

You see, each state has great power . The central core decision-making level

. The central core decision-making level is not one person, but a federal committee composed of 7 people. The final

decision is made together.

And even these 7 people are spread out . Generally, there are 4 from the German-speaking area,

. Generally, there are 4 from the German-speaking area, 2 from the French-speaking area , and 1 from the Italian-speaking area.

Each term of his president is one year , he cannot be re-elected , and he is basically not from the same party.

In fact, this president has a diplomatic title, and his actual rights are no different from the remaining 6 people on the Federal Council .

Switzerland will hold a referendum whenever it encounters a major national decision or changes to the constitution.

Any citizen who has objections or dissatisfaction with the laws approved by the parliament can challenge the referendum by collecting 50,000 signatures.

Even any citizen who is dissatisfied with the constitution can challenge the referendum as long as he collects 100,000 supporters.

The Swiss really love referendums. Theoretically , they have a referendum every quarter.

If you have something to do, you can vote or not.

On average, they will vote three times a year to see if there are any major issues to be decided in these three months.

For example, in 2002, Switzerland voted for all people whether to join the United Nations or not . At the end of the referendum

. At the end of the referendum , 54.6% of the people voted Yes . Switzerland joined.

. Switzerland joined.

Sometimes you think it doesn't matter much, but they will vote for you.

For example, there was a referendum just in February.

The question was whether to respect the limits of the earth and build a responsible economy.

In the end, 70% of the people voted No.

It is not just a referendum. Various

municipalities and villages often organize everyone to vote.

Sometimes, maybe everyone gathers in a big square and raises their hands.

It 's quite funny.

Anyway, you get what I mean.

Switzerland has this kind of decentralized political system.

It doesn't matter, everyone just votes.

This also makes the Swiss very like that. A sense of ownership . In fact, this may be

. In fact, this may be an important reason why they did not choose to join the European Union.

I saw a very interesting referendum in 2012, which was to vote on whether to increase the paid annual leave in Switzerland from 4 weeks to 6 weeks.

To be honest, you want to vote. If you want to give yourself more vacation, you will definitely choose Yes without thinking.

But according to the actual voting results, 66.5% of people voted against, and 2/3 of the people said no.

Don’t give me a vacation.

This is too costly for the overall economy.

It will do more harm than good in the long run.

They also rejected it in 2002. There is a proposal to shorten the working week

in 2002. There is a proposal to shorten the working week from 42 hours to 36 hours, right? You see,

right? You see, I am not saying that the decision they voted for is necessarily right, but it is easy to have collective irrationality in the choice of long-term interests and short-term interests, so you can also see that the Swiss are really I think it is quite rare to cast this vote from the perspective of the long-term interests of the country.

Of course, it is possible.

This Swiss just likes to work and is a workaholic.

You see, we have looked at the price Switzerland paid to remain neutral. We

have looked at Switzerland's secrecy and the rise and fall of the banking industry . We have looked at Switzerland's star industries

. We have looked at Switzerland's star industries and The luxury brand effect it has created has seen why the Swiss franc has become a world-famous safe haven currency, as well as its political decentralization and pragmatic education system.

To be honest, these may be the reasons why Switzerland’s per capita GDP is so high.

It is difficult to summarize it in one or two sentences, but in the end In recent years, the Swiss economy has indeed continued to face huge challenges.

We have talked about Singapore before, and it feels a bit like Switzerland.

They have figured out a set of logic to make money in the global capital market and trade market.

However Switzerland obviously feels more like old money.

It has more foundation, but its economic transformation is also It will be more difficult.

For example, as we mentioned, the disappearance of confidentiality agreements has exhausted the Swiss banking industry's leading edge.

The continued economic sluggishness in other European countries around it has sluggish demand . There is no sign of re-acceleration in the short term.

Deglobalization may have a negative impact on Switzerland's pharmaceutical precision manufacturing industry supply chain and demand. Forming a double blow, I think these are very low-level long-term challenges and impacts on the Swiss economy.

Do you think the old money can withstand the impact of the times? Maybe

we can make another video in 20 years to see, then let’s continue climbing the mountain ... How about an invisible vault

... How about an invisible vault ? I read the lyrics

? I read the lyrics hahaha, the wind is so strong, my legs are a little weak