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Switzerland has had a long standing surplus on its current account. But over the past 15 years that surplus has surged to levels unmatched by nearly any other OECD country at any point. This paper looks at the surplus from a balance of payments vantage point as well as from the optic of the excess of national saving over domestic investment. It then seeks possible explanations for the uptrend and assesses whether it results to any extent from market, institutional or policy failures that could call for reforms. A number of important measurement issues are raised. But the key recommendation is that the authorities should prepare for a possible sharp increase in the value of the Swiss franc if and when investors engaged in the "carry trade" unwind their positions. To that end they should...
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...Hennet, Germain; responsable WTO-OECD-ICC, secteur Marchés financiers inter-nationaux, ...403,2 . Region & Supplier/OECD Country, Data as of 2/10/03. . Total . en % du total . 6,...
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Any Swiss-US free trade agreement should have an investment chapter because bilateral foreign investment is the bedrock of Swiss-US commercial relations. A closer look at investment policies and other issues relevant for investors reveals the value-added of an investment chapter. The mutual benefits of an investment chapter flow from high standards of investment protection, a standstill in discrimination at the sub-federal level, and zero tariffs on imports. Investment protection would be improved by access to the international investor-to-state dispute settlement system of ICSID. An appellate mechanism for this dispute settlement system would not be necessary. An investment chapter and investment-related disciplines with high standards would bring positive welfare effects for both econ...
... treaties (BITs) are typically signed by OECD countries and developing countries. Furthermore, t... interests bilaterally with any partner country or region. Thirdly, the US is following a liberal ...
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...with OECD standards. Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Be... contracting state be disclosed to a third country. provided that there is an express provision in th...
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... in emissions or one focuses upon total country emissions. Already in pre-meetings to Copenhagen, this issue has pitted the NON-OECD world against the OECD world. The policy implicati...
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The global financial crisis is not like a tsunami, giant wave sweeping everything in its path, but rather like a series of smaller waves with their impact accumulating over longer periods. Some developing countries will be impacted much more severely than others, but nobody will remain unaffected. The trade and investment impact will accumulate, with reduced remittances and fewer workers migrating. According to the IIF, the level of private capital likely to be invested in developing countries in 2009 will be down by 82%, relative to 2007. Two key variables in the official assistance scenario for developing countries are the flow of overseas development assistance and the availability of International Monetary Fund credits. Despite G-20 measures and fiscal stimulus across a number of ma...
... for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, with the mirror effect of declining exxports of developing country suppliers and export prices dropping sharply. Thir...
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... ist im Entwicklunghilfe-Ausschuss der OECD (DAC) in den letzten Jahren zwar einiges erreicht ... gemeinsamen Analyse-Instruments (Common Country Assessment CCA) und eines gemeinsamen Planung...
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Given the sharp rise in crude oil prices and growing awareness of climate change, the potential of biofuels, particularly of bioethanol, has become an ubiquitous topic of public debate and has induced ambitious policy initiatives. The latter are mostly paired with protectionist measures as the examples of the European Union and the United States show, where domestic producers of energy crops are put at an advantage thanks to subsidisation, direct payments and/or favourable tax schemes. Moreover, the EU is working out a mandatory certification scheme for ethanol imports, imposing social and environmental standards which constitute another hurdle for more efficiently produced ethanol originating in the Southern hemisphere. A similar path is taken by Switzerland's revised mineral oil tax l...
...Demand will be strongest in the developed OECD countries, whereas comparative advantage is in the...The country retained its leading role in the ethanol market ev...
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...Cooperation and Development, OECD)) . 2015. La Svizzera ha partecipato alla formulaz... della cooperazione allo sviluppo (use of country systems). Entrambe le Parti si impegnano a orienta...
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Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, managed to erase "free and undistorted competition" from the proposed new EU Treaty as a main aim of the European Union. Afterwards, he asked rhetorically what competition has done for Europe. This article is an attempt to reply to that very important question. The view of competition and its effects among decision-makers is likely to affect numerous policy outcomes. Throughout history, there has been a struggle between freedom and control in Europe. Competition is the result of economic freedom and the absence of interventions in the economy by the state. And it has done very much indeed for Europe. It may be the single most important reason why the average income in Western Europe is 14 times higher today than in 1820. If anything, Europe needs mo...
... on objective data from, for example, the OECD and the World Bank, and looks at ten categories - ...Economic freedom within a country is closely related to its openness to the world. A...