The pursuit of perfection is part of Switzerland's DNA. The high quality standards are the reason for the prosperity. But in foreign trade policy the principle tends to have the opposite effect.
They are unpopular and admired. They annoy and stir up envy. They mercilessly show us our own weaknesses. Who doesn't know them, the tense nerds from the front row. Always optimally prepared, neatly groomed, totally committed. There is no perfect application for the love-hate principle.
Hardly any other country fits this cliché like Switzerland. Quite a few people abroad see their residents as extremely rich cherry-pickers who meticulously refine everything for their own benefit. Regardless of whether it is rail, pharmaceuticals, universities, artificial intelligence or, as of this week, even satellites, there is hardly a discipline in which the country is not at the forefront. Absolutely identity-forming for being a Swiss citizen and that's why it's so dangerous.
But the pride in permanent perfection is mixed with a feeling of inferiority compared to the great things in this world. Like a model student with short stature on the playground of the high school students. Cramped foreign policy was always the result. It used to stand there in the corner, inconspicuously chic but useful. Today he will please at all costs, fulfilling the cliché with which the Swiss nerds strive to fall into the trap.
What is a necessary condition for success for a watch manufacturer leads a small state to the sidelines. In global power poker, it is not precision that brings success, but rather delayed minimalism so that one does not lose one's competitive advantages early on. It's not about beauty, it's about shooting – first-person shooting. Unfortunately, the word hasn't gotten around in Bern yet. There is no great need to jump on the wave of OECD minimum taxation, even though tough competitors in the location competition such as the USA, India and China have so far held back in implementing it. A serious mistake – and unfortunately not the only one. At the beginning of 2025, Switzerland will introduce the new banking regulation package Basel III, boldly and on time. This means that one of the most important financial centers is making advance payments, while its competitors USA, Great Britain and the EU are taking their time with the introduction – if it ever comes at all. In the USA, the industry is even being portrayed as a death sentence for the economy. That may be an exaggeration and may not do justice to some sensible regulations, but the fact is: the Swiss are alone with their handicap.
And then there is the threat of a second attempt at the corporate responsibility initiative, which was once narrowly rejected (see page 11). A bureaucratic monster that, with the noble goal of improving the world, wants to turn Swiss companies into lone police officers of trade – and slow them down. Because – you can already guess – competitors such as Germany do not want to implement a corresponding EU project. The model student Switzerland should also relax. No one is loved because they commit suicide out of desire to please. At best laughed at.
I wish you good luck with the Sunday speaker.
