Switzerland is a country with a strong brand: renowned for its chocolate, its clocks, its banks, the wealth of its citizens, and the efficiency of its public transport system.
But Switzerland, like the rest of us, is a country with limited resources, limited land, different populations, speaking different languages, in different cantons, and surrounded by neighbours who at times have been very warlike.
Now, rather than ‘austerity’, Switzerland is considering an alternative path. Instead of delivering Quantitative Easing to the banks, they are debating whether to introduce the same money into the economy by establishing a minimum monthly income for every citizen. (Around $2,800/month.)
How would that work? Would people refuse to take jobs that paid less? Would people spend more time on voluntary work? Would the economy grow, with all that extra income to spend? And what would life be like if people had more time to spend on generative activities such as innovation or creativity, rather than simply earning enough money to live? With neighbours like that, would Switzerland become an [even] more vibrant place to live?
And what if we all started making the same choices as Switzerland?
What if the future of the “resource-constrained” world was actually that every country would become a little bit more like Switzerland?