Switzerland - The Land of the Rich & Home of the Bank

Switzerland, an extremely beautiful landlocked country in the heart of Europe, this picturesque nation is home to one of the most advanced economies in the world. When ignoring micronations like Monaco or Lichtenstein, Switzerland is one of only two countries in the world that has a nominal GDP above $80,000 USD per capita. The Swiss are a little bit different though, other wealthy nations like Norway were typically blessed by a treasure trove of natural resources Switzerland did not have this. It was also lacking a lot of other key ingredients that contribute heavily to most successful countries, it did not have open access to an ocean for international trade, it did not have a particularly competitive cheap labor market, it did not have terrain that made building productive infrastructure particularly easy and it didn’t even have a population that could agree on what language to speak. So what was its secret then, how did this nation obtain such tremendous wealth while seemingly been at such a huge disadvantage. In this episode, we will attempt to find out by looking beyond just the simple facts and figures that make for strong economies.