DOCSLIB.ORG

Agricultural Reform

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Agricultural Reform Agricultural Reform August/September 1990 OECP SOCIAL POLICY STUDIES No. 6 - THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL PROTECTION December 1988 100^ (81 88 03 1) ISBN 92-64-13152-3, 64 pp. £8.50 US$15.50 FF70 DM31 No. 7 - HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS No. 5 - REFORMING PUBLIC PENSIONS IN TRANSITION. August 1988 The Search for Efficiency (81 88 04 1) ISBN 92-64-13123-X, 250 pp. £15.50 US$29.00 FF130 DM56 Improved efficiency is an essential concern No. 4 - FINANCING AND DELIVERING HEALTH CARE of attempts to reform health care systems in OECD countries. This collection of essays, A Comparative Analysis of OECD Countries by European and North American experts, July 1987 (81 87 02 1) ISBN 92-64-12973-1, 102 pp. reviews managerial tools and the philo¬ £6.00 US$13.00 FF60 DM26 sophies underpinning the evolution of expen¬ diture on health care. It also updates OECD No. 3 - LIVING CONDITIONS IN OECD COUNTRIES health datafiles, first published in 1985. Compendium of Social Indicators May 1990 February 1986 (81 89 05 1) ISBN 92-64-13310-0, 204 pp. (81 8504 1) ISBN 92-64-12734-8, 166 pp. £17.00 US$30.00 FF140 DM55 £6.50 US$13.00 FF65 DM29 No. 2 - MEASURING HEALTH CARE 1960-1983 Expenditure, Costs and Performance March 1985 £5.00 US$9.00 FF40 DM16 (2 microfiches) No. 1 - SOCIAL EXPENDITURE 1960-1990 Problems of Growth and Control November 1985 £5.00 US$9.00 FF40 DM16 (2 microfiches) CONTENTS 0 35 i M i [\ agriculture Published every two months in English and French by the ORGANISATION AGRICULTURAL REFORM: A HESITANT START FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT. Gérard Viatte et Frédéric Langer education Editorial Address: OECD Publications Service Château de la Muette 2, rue André-Pascal BUILDING FOR EDUCATION F 75775 PARIS CEDEX 16 Richard Yelland Tel. (1)45-24-82-00 Fax (33-1) 45 24 85 00 13 THE ENVIRONMENT AT SCHOOL Individual articles not copyrighted may be reprinted, provided the credit line reads Kathleen Kelley-Lainé 'Reprinted from The OECD Observer' plus date environment of issue and two voucher copies are sent to the Editor, with an indication of the circulation. Signed articles reprinted must bear the author's name. 17 Signed articles express the opinions of the SWAPPING DEBT FOR NATURE authors and do not necessarily represent the Michel Potier opinion of the OECD. The Organisation cannot be responsible for economy returning unsolicited manuscripts. All the correspondence should be addressed SPOTLIGHT ON to the Editor. 21 Single copies GERMANY E2.50 US$4.50 FF20.00 DM8.00 23 Annual Subscription Rates YUGOSLAVIA £11.70 US$22.00 FF100.00 DM43.00 Tel. (1)45-24-81-66 development Editor 25 Ulla Ranhall-Reyners DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION : LATEST FIGURES Associate Editor Martin Anderson Assistants 29 Yannick Bultynck NEW OECD PUBLICATIONS Brigid Gallen Art, Production and Layout ministerial communiqué Gerald Tingaud Photo Research economic outlook Silvia Thompson-Lépot centrefold 165 i August/September 1990 Agricultural reform has been making tentative steps towards policies that more accurately reflect world market prices. But the pace varies, with some OECD countries making more rapid progress than others. Agricultural Reform: A Hesitant Start Gérard Viatte and Frédéric Langer Agriculture is today again a major issue in international discussions, for two main reasons: the Uruguay Round, in which it is one of the difficult sectors for negotiation; and the process of agricultural reform decided on by the OECD Council of Ministers in 1987 and monitored by the OECD Secretariat every year. The latest report on the progress made and the setbacks which have occurred has just been issued. 1 It is not unusual for the press to report In the process of agricultural reform The current agricultural policy reform is that two countries, or groups of coun¬ some OECD countries are further ahead reflected not least in changes in agricultural tries, at a particular meeting have than others (box, p. 5), although all of support as measured by producer subsidy agreed on everything - except agriculture. them want to be given credit for their equivalents (PSEs), the value of transfers This has always been more or less the efforts. This process of reform can be to from domestic consumers and taxpayers case, for agriculture is a sector with a the advantage of international co-operation to agricultural producers (Table). The very long-established tradition of protection¬ and to the objectives set by the OECD, rapid growth in support in the first half of ism, with producers in almost every especially if the momentum created by the the 1980s (there was a 70% increase country receiving government support. Uruguay Round encourages both OECD between 1 984 and 1 987) has been stopped. and non-OECD countries to follow more Gérard Viatte is Director of the OECD Food, Agricul¬ 1 . Agricultural Policies, Markets and Trade: Moni¬ and more market-oriented agricultural ture and Fisheries Directorate; Frédéric Langer works toring and Outlook 1990, OECD Publications, Paris, in the Agricultural Policies Division there. policies. 1990; see also the reports for 1988 and 1989. The OECD OBSERVER 165 August/September 1990 AGRICULTURE Support in 1 987 - at $1 73 billion - was the OECD countries for their agricultural sec¬ ered very slightly. In the European Com¬ highest of the decade. In that year produ¬ tors is still well above the already high munity, intervention prices have on the cers obtained almost half their agricultural figure of the first half of the 1980s (the whole declined slightly and the interven¬ income from these transfers. Since then 1979-85 average was around $100 billion). tion system has been tightened. But the the relative importance of this source has In absolute terms the European Com¬ Community milk reserve has been raised, declined, to $160 billion in 1988 and $141 munity ($53 billion), Japan ($34 billion) and which could result in a 1 % increase in the billion in 1989, and a further decrease of the United States ($32 billion) account for total milk quota. As for the policy of about 5% is expected in 1990. In spite of the bulk of agricultural support. But the 'maximum guaranteed quantities' (MGQ), the recent decrease, total support by the comparison is more significant if support the probability that it will achieve its full is assessed as a percentage of the value potential for reducing cereal production of production. On this basis a group of decreases as the intervention price rises, THE URGENCY countries with high support rates stands as was the case in 1989. OF REFORM RE-AFFIRMED out: Switzerland, Norway, Finland and In the United States, target prices have Extracts from the 1990 Communiqué Japan (over 70%). Another group is of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level around the OECD average (about 40%): Table AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT [...] Ministers agree to take urgent steps the European Community, Austria, to reform agricultural policy, as regards sup¬ Canada and the United States. Then IN TERMS OF PRODUCER port and protection, so as to permit greater come two countries where assistance to SUBSIDY EQUIVALENT (PSE)1 liberalisation of trade. They reaffirm their agriculture is particularly low: Australia PSE commitment to the long-term objective of (10%) and New Zealand (5%). in national currency and the reform, i.e., to allow market signals to as % of production value influence the orientation of agricultural pro¬ 1979-85 duction and to establish a fair and market- Progress (average) oriented agricultural trading system. Minis¬ and Setbacks Australia A$ millions 1,103 1,677 1,650 ters are prepared to negotiate in line with % 11 10 10 the agreed objectives of the Punta del Este The progress - and setbacks - in the Austria Sch. millions 16,330 28,993 25,428 and Mid-term Review Declarations, although reform of agricultural policy are reflected % 29 49 44 they differ on how an approach to these also in the measures taken by countries in Canada C$ millions objectives should be expressed at this 4,936 7,476 6,224 % 30 43 35 stage. Some feel that negotiations should particular cases, when they are judged by proceed to seek specific policy commit¬ the yardstick of the principles advocated EC ECU millions 35,425 52,847 48,091 ments in each area of the negotiations: by OECD Ministers (box, p. 6 ). % 35 43 38 internal support, barriers to market access In Australia, for instance, supplement¬ Finland Mk millions 10,719 17,434 19,093 and export subsidies; and to develop new ary market price support for dairy produce % 57 74 72 rules for sanitary and phytosanitary meas¬ and administered pricing for wheat and Japan Y billions 4,631 4,750 4,649 ures. Others prefer to seek reductions in sugar have been abolished. The under¬ % 64 75 72 support and protection with commitments writing arrangement for wheat has been New Zealand NZ$ millions 917 443 321 encompassing all measures affecting % 23 7 5 directly or indirectly import access and replaced by a government guarantee, NKr millions export competition, as well as rules for sani¬ which will be gradually lowered, for bor¬ Norway 10,945 17,202 17,815 % 71 76 74 tary and phytosanitary measures. In pur¬ rowings by the Australian Wheat Board. suing the long-term objective, account will These measures, and others taken in Sweden SKr millions 10,018 15,396 14,512 % 42 52 47 be taken of proposals aimed at addressing 1989/90, should result in reduced support participants' non-trade concerns. Ministers and an improved market orientation. Switzerland SF millions 5,128 7,196 6,964 express their determination and commit¬ % 67 75 In New Zealand, the reduction in cus¬ ment to make every effort to overcome the toms duties on certain kinds of meat, the United States $ millions 28,466 39,295 32,253 differences and to develop by the July Trade % 26 35 27 Negotiations Committee meeting an appro¬ abolition of the New Zealand Poultry OECD total $ millions 98,784 162,985 141,168 priate framework to achieve the objective Board, the privatisation of the Rural Bank¬ % 34 45 39 defined above; and subsequently to reach ing and Finance Corporation and the de¬ agreement on how far and on what time¬ crease by a third in budget aid to agricul¬ 1 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • IZA Discussion Paper No. 154 May 2000
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Lechner, Michael; Gerfin, Michael Working Paper Microeconometric Evaluation of the Active Labour Market Policy in Switzerland IZA Discussion Papers, No. 154 Provided in Cooperation with: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics Suggested Citation: Lechner, Michael; Gerfin, Michael (2000) : Microeconometric Evaluation of the Active Labour Market Policy in Switzerland, IZA Discussion Papers, No. 154, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/20997 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially
    [Show full text]
  • Regional Analysis of Tourism. Central and Eastern Europe
    Knowledge Horizons - Economics Volume 10, No. 2, pp. 46 – 58 , © 2018 Pro Universitaria “Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University Knowledge Horizons - Economics Volume 10, No. 2, pp. 46 - 58 P-ISSN: 2069-0932, E-ISSN: 2066-1061 © 2018 Pro Universitaria www.orizonturi.ucdc.ro REGIONAL ANALYSIS OF TOURISM. CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE Gabriela STANCIULESCU1, Elisabeta MOLNAR2 1PhD, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, E-mail: [email protected] 2PhD, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, E-mail: [email protected] Abstract The intensification of globalization brings to the forefront the role of the regions in economic Key words: growth, regions which are considered to be active and causal elements of economic development. Tourism, Regional These are considered places where the most advanced forms of economic development and development, innovation are concentrated. Economic Local (regional) economic development is defined by increases in the local (regional) development, CEE economy's capacity to create wealth for residents of the respective region or locality. These increases countries can occur if local resources, such as labor and land, are used more productively, or if the increase in JEL Codes: employment determines the use of labor force and land previously not being used (Camarda, 2008). Z30 Because the local level is defined in a more or less comprehensive manner, even the concept Q26 of local development has narrower or broader meanings. Thus, the concept of local economic M2 development means "the process of diversification and development of economic and social activity O52 at the level of a locality or a smaller territorial-administrative entity” (Profiroiu, Racoviceanu and Țarălungă, 1998, pp.8-16).
    [Show full text]
  • Doing Business in Switzerland
    Independent legal & accounting firms Doing Business in Switzerland Edition No. 1 / February 2019 Photo credit: Shutterstock MSI Global Alliance Doing business in Switzerland MSI’s guide on Doing Business in Switzerland provides current information about the financial, regulatory and legal considerations that could affect business dealings within Switzerland. For further assistance please contact our MSI member firms in Switzerland. Country overview Bern, Luzern, St Gallen and Lugano. agreements with the European Union, allowing to bridge the differences and to Population Currency protect its businesses. Switzerland is a Switzerland has a total population of The national currency is the Swiss Franc destination of choice for entrepreneurs 8.5 million inhabitants. (CHF). and companies, due to its tax attractiveness and the high flexibility of Government Economic summary its legal system. Despite its official name, the Helvetic GDP: CHF 659 billion Confederation is a federation of Income per capita: CHF 78,700 Setting up a business sovereign states named cantons. Inflation: 0.84% There are 26 cantons, and each of Switzerland represents a highly them is composed of many Main sectors of the economy competitive and innovative business municipalities. The Swiss economy is amongst the most environment. Swiss corporate law prosperous and developed in the world, provides a flexible and a wide range of Switzerland is governed at three despite the lack of raw material and options in designing business entities. If levels: federal, cantonal and access to sea. The unemployment rate is several individuals join together to municipal. The federal capital is structurally low (3.2% in 2017). establish a company, they are obliged to Bern.
    [Show full text]
  • Monitor Switzerland Q4 2019 (PDF)
    Investment Solutions & Products Swiss Economics Interest rates remain negative for the time being Monitor Switzerland | Fourth quarter 2019 Swiss Economy Focus Monetary policy GDP growth only moderate Negative interest rates are effective Larger profit distribution? in 2020 too Page 6 Page 10 Page 18 Impressum Publisher, Credit Suisse AG, Investment Solutions & Products Nannette Hechler-Fayd'herbe Head of Global Economics & Research +41 44 333 17 06 nannette.hechler-fayd'[email protected] Oliver Adler Chief Economist Switzerland +41 44 333 09 61 [email protected] Authors Oliver Adler Maxime Botteron Sara Carnazzi Weber Emilie Gachet Tiziana Hunziker Alexander Lohse Claude Maurer Thomas Rieder Fabian Waltert Orders Direct from your client advisor or from any Credit Suisse branch. Contribution Vojo Gunevski Ewelina Krankowska-Kedziora Editorial deadline 5 December 2019 Copyright © The publication may be quoted providing the source is indicated. Copyright © 2019 Credit Suisse Group AG and/or affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Swiss Economics I Fourth quarter 2019 2 Editorial Dear Reader On January 15, 2015 – or almost exactly five years ago – the Swiss National Bank (SNB) an- nounced that it would be cutting its key interest rate to well below zero. If someone had been bold enough to predict five years earlier that interest rates in Switzerland would ever reach such a low level, he or she would probably have been dismissed as being rather light in the head. Yet today the yields on Swiss government bonds are in negative territory up to terms of well beyond 30 years, while interest rates are also negative in numerous other European countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Future Prospects for the Swiss Flag and Fleet at Sea
    Future Prospects for the Swiss Flag and Fleet at Sea Bremen, April 2021 Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA Directorate of International Law DIL Swiss Maritime Navigation Office SMNO Created by: Institut für Seeverkehrswirtschaft und Logistik Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics In collaboration with: Prof. Dr. Suzette V. Suarez Institut für Seeverkehrswirtschaft und Logistik Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics Contact: Contact Persons: Universitätsallee 11/13 Prof. Dr. Burkhard Lemper 28359 Bremen E-Mail: [email protected] Germany Tel.: +49 421 22096 63 Tel.: +49 421 22096 0 Hendrik Jungen Fax: +49 421 22096 55 E-Mail: [email protected] www.isl.org Tel.: +49 421 22096 75 Christoph Hluchy E-Mail: [email protected] Tel.: +49 421 22096 85 Future Prospects for the Swiss Flag and Fleet at Sea Table of Contents Table of Contents I Register of Illustrations and Tables IV Glossary V 1 Introduction 2 1.1 Background and Actuality 2 1.2 Purpose of the Study 2 1.3 Methodology 3 1.3.1 Theoretical Framework 3 1.3.2 Fleet Development 3 1.3.3 Competition of Registries 4 1.3.4 Basis of Evaluation 5 1.3.5 Scenario Evaluation 8 1.4 Limitations and Boundaries 9 2 Definition and Delimitation 10 2.1 Law of the Sea Framework Applicable to Vessels and to Switzerland as a Flag State 10 2.1.1 Nationality of Ships and the Requirement of Genuine Link 10 2.1.2 Duties of the Flag State 11 2.1.3 Allocation of Jurisdiction over Vessels 12 2.2 Ships flying the Swiss Flag & Fleet at Sea 15 3 Fleet Development 18 3.1 Commercial Shipping 18 3.2 Yachts
    [Show full text]
  • Comparison of the Governmental Actions Undertaken in Response of the Financial Crisis in Europe
    Comparison of the Governmental Actions undertaken in response of the Financial Crisis in Europe Economics of European Integration Elin Porten Fabian Peters Maiko Messelken Marietta von Meien Final Paper Table of content Introduction 1 The Financial Crisis in Europe 1.1 Consequences for the European economy 1.2 European plans to combat the effects of the financial crisis 1.3 European Reactions on the financial crisis 2 The Financial Crisis in Germany 2.1 Germany and Europe 2.2 Germany’s Economy 2.3 Devolution of the crisis in Germany 2.4 Governmental actions to weaken the effects of the crisis 2.5 Outlook 3 The Financial Crisis in the United Kingdom 3.1 Governmental actions 3.2 Outlook 4 The Financial Crisis in Switzerland 4.1 The Swiss Economy 4.2 Current Situation and Problems 4.3 Counter Actions and Results 5 Comparison of the actions undertaken in the different countries 6 Conclusion 7 References 1 Introduction The year 2009 will always be remembered as the worst economic downtown since the second world war. Every day, the news inform about new insights and scope about the financial crisis. Nearly every country and every business sector is affected. The first shocks came unexpectedly and slowly. The real estate market in the US showed huge price overestimations. Bad debts, which were given out by banks even worsen the situation. Nowadays, the consequences of the financial crisis even express their effects in the real economy. The labour market is harmed and the unemployment rate is steadily increasing. The consumer index is still stable but will decrease in a long run as well and this, without doubt, it will have significant implications for the financial world.
    [Show full text]
  • The World Economic Forum – a Partner in Shaping History
    The World Economic Forum A Partner in Shaping History The First 40 Years 1971 - 2010 The World Economic Forum A Partner in Shaping History The First 40 Years 1971 - 2010 © 2009 World Economic Forum All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. World Economic Forum 91-93 route de la Capite CH-1223 Cologny/Geneva Switzerland Tel.: +41 (0)22 869 1212 Fax +41 (0)22 786 2744 e-mail: [email protected] www.weforum.org Photographs by swiss image.ch, Pascal Imsand and Richard Kalvar/Magnum ISBN-10: 92-95044-30-4 ISBN-13: 978-92-95044-30-2 “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffective, concerning all acts of initiative (and creation). There is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” Goethe CONTENTS Foreword 1 Acknowledgements 3 1971 – The First Year 5 1972 – The Triumph of an Idea 13 1973 – The Davos Manifesto 15 1974 – In the Midst of Recession 19
    [Show full text]
  • Spec(83)29/Add.23August 1983 Working Party on Structural Adjustment and Trade Policy
    'GENERAL AGREEMENT ON RESTRICTED AND TRADE TARIFFS 26Spec(83)29/Add.23August 1983 Working Party on Structural Adjustment and Trade Policy RECORD OF DISCUSSION ON COUNTRY CONTRIBUTIONS RELATING TO EXPERIENCE WITH STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT Switzerland (Spec(82)6/Add.5) 1. The representative of Switzerland, introducing his country's submission, said that he wished to emphasize three points. The first was the high degree of interdependence between the economy of Switzerland and that of the world, Switzerland's foreign trade representing about one-third of its GNP. Secondly, he stressed the importance that Switzerland attached to stable conditions of access and to continued trade liberalization. Thirdly, Switzerland followed a policy of non-intervention; it was the market that gave the signals and the enterprises that took the adjustment decisions. Even in the recent difficult years, Switzerland had not taken restrictive measures at the frontier nor had it given subsidies to protect particular industries, such as those producing textiles,-watches or machines which had experienced great difficulties. 2. He said the adjustment policy introduced in 1978, the content which was described on page 6 of Spec(82)6/Add.5, had consisted of measures to facilitate the adjustment process, and not to delay it. A new programme had been adopted in October 1982, which, like the earlier programme, concerned financial support for research and training. Among the training courses were courses in the fields of computerized management techniques, computerized machine construction techniques and energy-saving installations in buildings. The research projects related to the construction of industrial robots and instruments for automatic measuring, analysis as well as measuring and verification techniques in the building sector to better detect sources of energy losses.
    [Show full text]
  • Analysis of International Technology Development and Commercialization Policy Instruments and Infrastructures
    Analysis of International Technology Development and Commercialization Policy Instruments and Infrastructures Gregory Tassey Economic Policy Research Center University of Washington July 2018 The United States emerged from World War II as the dominant technology-driven economy in the world. The development of new technologies benefited from substantial investment in basic science.1 For decades, this science base was drawn upon to the extent that virtually every major technology with global reach was developed and initially commercialized within the U.S. economy. This was accomplished by an unprecedented combination of government and industry investment in research and development (R&D) coupled with subsequent investment in technology-implementing hardware and software, skilled labor, and a world leading technology- based infrastructure, including top-rated universities and government laboratories. As a consequence, for three decades after WWII the United States was the dominant leader in 1 The U.S. still has 79 of the world’s top 100 universities in 2018, as ranked by uniRank (http://www.4icu.org/top- universities-world/). science and technology development and subsequent innovation. Although most of this technology was initially developed for specific missions such as national defense and later for space exploration, energy independence, and national health, the resulting “generic technologies” or “technology platforms” eventually were applied to commercial markets. Without significant competition from a global economy still recovering from WWII, the inefficiency of this indirect and drawn out process of depending on spinoffs from mission- oriented R&D was not burdensome. U.S. jobs, personal incomes, and overall wealth rose steadily, as a range of U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Energy Externality and the Economy of Switzerland
    409 Energy Externality and the Economy of Switzerland by Gonzague Pillet and Howard T.Odum, Gainesville Fla. 1. Presentation In the economic literature an externality is any effect caused by market decision­ making, but all benefits and costs regarding the community and the environment are not taken into account in the setting up of market equilibrium and in the definition of its optimality. However, these external economies or diseconomies can be inter­ nalized either through bargaining, tax, or subsidy. In general, such externalities are priced and a new market equilibrium is set up. Now if we go further and look at externalities that are not merely market and micro external effects, but joint productions of goods and "bads" parallel to econ­ omic production in general, their internalization has to be formulated in another way. Any attempt at internalizing these effects gives rise to "new" goods such as clean water and air, free space, or healthy environment, all entities we cannot easily price. Unlike micro market externalities those externalities now look like public goods or bads whose typical features have to be therefore taken into account. Fi­ nally, this criterion prevents use of the old way of internalizing micro-externalities (Pillet, 1980). Moreover, in order to tell one thing from another, we call these large-scale exter­ nalities, externalities of second generation because they set out effects, which not only deal with market decision-makers, but strictly speaking have their origin out­ side of the economic sphere. They really are energy flows that come in from outside and go out into a used form after having done useful work.
    [Show full text]
  • The Global Economy of Switzerland: the Effect on the European Union and the World
    Global Awareness Society International 24th Annual Conference – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA –May 2015 The Global Economy of Switzerland: The Effect on the European Union and the World Kevin Lubin Financial Economics Major Millersville University Class of 2016 [email protected] Introduction Switzerland is a country that lies in Western and Central Europe, bordered by France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Liechtenstein. Switzerland is a federal parliamentary republic, where the executive branch of the government is accountable to the parliament. The country has a population of 8 million people and the 4 official languages are German, French, Italian, and Romansh. The two largest cities in Switzerland, Zurich and Geneva, play a significant role in the country’s economy. The quality of life in Switzerland is very high, ranking near the top in categories such as human development, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, and government transparency. It is also ranked as the number one country in the world for highest nominal wealth per adult and number eight country in the world for GDP per capita. (WorldBank.org) With Zurich and Geneva, leading the way Switzerland’s economy has a large effect on the European Union and the world. History of the Currency In 1848, the Swiss Federal Constitution made it law that the Swiss government would be the only entity allowed to make money in Switzerland. Before that, there were over 8,000 different types of money in the country alone. The Swiss Franc wasn’t actually introduced until 2 years later by the Federal Coinage Act, passed by the Federal Assembly on May 7th, 1850.
    [Show full text]
  • The Swiss Black Swan Bad Scenario: Is Switzerland Another Casualty of the Eurozone Crisis?
    Int. J. Financ. Stud. 2015, 3, 351-380; doi:10.3390/ijfs3030351 OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Financial Studies ISSN 2227-7072 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijfs Article The Swiss Black Swan Bad Scenario: Is Switzerland Another Casualty of the Eurozone Crisis? Sebastien Lleo 1 and William T. Ziemba 2;3;* 1 Finance Department, NEOMA Business School, Reims, 51100, France; E-Mail: [email protected] 2 Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z2 BC, Canada 3 Systemic Risk Centre, London School of Economics, London, WC2A 2AE, UK * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-604-261-1343. Academic Editors: Marida Bertocchi and Rita L. D’Ecclesia Received: 28 May 2015 / Accepted: 16 July 2015 / Published: 12 August 2015 Abstract: Financial disasters to hedge funds, bank trading departments and individual speculative traders and investors seem to always occur because of non-diversification in all possible scenarios, being overbet and being hit by a bad scenario. Black swans are the worst type of bad scenario: unexpected and extreme. The Swiss National Bank decision on 15 January 2015 to abandon the 1.20 peg against the Euro was a tremendous blow for many Swiss exporters, but also Swiss and international investors, hedge funds, global macro funds, banks, as well as the Swiss central bank. In this paper, we discuss the causes for this action, the money losers and the few winners, what it means for Switzerland, Europe and the rest of the world, what kinds of trades were lost and how they have been prevented.
    [Show full text]