I'm not sure if I agree with this statement Priggly: "welfare of their imploding nation" as Switzerland is not suffering from weakness and debt, but from strength and a lack of debt. I mean I live here and if this is struggling & imploding, I'm missing something.

Perhaps I could have made my points more clearly and transparently but with all due respect I stand by what I say. I will try to be more clear.

Not so very long ago Schweiz was the powerhouse economically of Europe if for no other reason that they held the money of the world in sacred secrecy. They were, literally, the King's X. Now that secrecy (and corresponding trust) have been eroded by, of course, the U.S. through the I.R.S. and holding assets in Swiss banks is now just a gamble as it is in all other countries.

Secondly, they had the strongest of currencies because it was still gold-backed. Well, a couple of weeks ago they cut the legs out from under that and even today they are talking about weakening it more. Therefore, it is no longer a store of value in troubled times, just like all the others. In short, it has joined the race to the bottom.

Thirdly, they have linked their currency to the worst currency of all except for possibly Zim, in the form of the Euro. They have joined the elite club known as the "slippery slope."

Now, with all due respect, even though they are now fiscally stable and on the surface all is well, how long can it be before they begin to experience the same Keynesian insanity as the rest of Europe? They are not the same Schweiz I grew up with, current impressions notwithstanding.

After all, it was not so very long ago that the U.S. appeared a fiscal and monetary power house and now look at it. Is Schweiz really that far behind given they have enjoined themselves to the same sort of economic policies which have destroyed the rest of the western world?

Not wishing discord with you, mind you, just telling you how I see it based on present trends which one can well extrapolate into the future.

Enjoy Schweiz. It is still relatively civilized compared to the rest of this mad world.