To: Members of the Thirteenth Tribe (the Law givers) and friends on several mail lists The closing paragraph of my previous note (99-10-14WSB.Welcome to America III) expressed the social question this way: >> We are "free to Choose." We can have a Global economy of third world nations in the Twenty-First century by sustaining the status quo. Or, we can have a Global economy of Switzerlands in the Twenty-First century by finding out how the Swiss capitalize the development of their most productive assets, their people. Will a Swiss citizen please address this issue before it is too late? << I now ask the first seven respondents to my last note to please forgive me for not replying to their specific comments and opinions on the "social question." It seemed to me that the comments and opinions were addressed to our present condition rather than pointing toward a future condition that a few nations have achieved and all nations might aspire to and sustain into the future. From the World Bank's 1996 ATLAS, three data sets on People, Economy, and Environment for 200 nations show that Switzerland uses only 1/3rd of the water and energy (per capita) used by the United States. The Swiss export 36% of GDP compared to the U.S. 10% of GDP. The Swiss invest 22% of their GDP while the U.S. invests only 16% of its GDP and devotes the other 6% to speculation. As I asked in a previous note, does that data mean the Swiss are unwashed and un heated, compared to Americans? The world will not follow Switzerland, because it is a small nation. But if the U.S.A. could achieve the Swiss standard, as shown on Figure 6 at URL <http://www.freespeech.org/darves/bert.html> or URL <http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/3142/IR/items/19990119WesBurtSustaina bleFuture.html>, the world would have an example worth following. Perhaps asking the Swiss to disclose the principles of their public policy on the internet is like asking the General Electric Company to disclose the principles of its 1940s decentralization program at an IEEE meeting, with representatives of Westinghouse and other GE competitors also attending the meeting. Perhaps the Swiss believe that the world will run out of non-renewable resources sooner if the U.S. learned how to invest 22% of GDP in its capital plant. For whatever reason, my note provoked only one Swiss citizen to respond, off list, as follows: >>>>>>>>>> Begin exchange with a Swiss citizen <<<<<<<<<<< Subj: Re: Welcome to America, III Date: 99-10-20 18:19:18 EDT From: a Swiss citizen To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mr. Burt, I can only say you have been grievously misinformed. I should however inform you that as someone expelled from Switzerland. you may wish to check the following assertions, which you will find substantiated by international statistics. Switzerland is a poor country, unlike your own or Gabon, where manipulative use of statistics has made it appear rich. Most of its inhabitants live in substandard accommodation by EU standards (in terms of space) and for example in the canton of Geneva the owner occupancy rate is 9% -none owns their own property and all are forced to submit to a form of common universal law, in which no human rights are incorporated. No political dissent is tolerated. The life expectancy is five years less than the EU norm. For hundreds of years it has operated a mercantilist foreign policy where, as in my own case, people are forced to work abroad and remit funds to the country. Were it a rich country, you would not see so many swiss abroad. You must understand that the trade off between material wealth in terms of manufactured objects and human rights is one on which you can choose your own point. They have chosen theirs. The focus on 'things' has an enormous cost in human potential for freedom and communication. Most of the rich countries I have seen are in black Africa, a fact white protestant workaholics are blinded to by convention, cuture and circumstance. a Swiss citizen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subj: Yours of 99-10-20 18:19:18 EDT, Re: Welcome to America, III Date: 99-10-20 20:22:47 EDT From: WesBurt To: a Swiss citizen CC: WesBurt Dear Sir: Thank you for writing. I think you may be right about my having been grievously misinformed. Here is an example. The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, sends me the following two page report several times per year. On each occasion I have wondered why the unemployment rate for Switzerland and the inflation rate for Australia were omitted. Page 1 Page 2 Unemployment rates Consumer prices in nine countries in nine countries (% civilian labor force) (% annual change) (1998) (1998) 1, Italy 12.3 1.9 2, France 11.3 0.7 3, Sweden 8.4 0.4 4, Canada 8.3 0.9 5, Australia 8.0 omitted 6, Fmr. West Germany 7.5 0.9 7, United Kingdom 6.3 3.4 8, United States 4.5 1.6 9, Japan 4.1 0.6 10, Switzerland omitted 0.0 Just this weekend I found a fifteen year old book, CITIES AND THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, Principles of Economic Life, 1984, by Jane Jacobs which suggested to me that the unemployment rate for Switzerland has been a source of embarassment for the U.S. Department. of Labor since world War II. In the first chapter entitled, "Fool's Paradise," Ms. Jacobs reviews current popular economic principles which turned out to be unprincipled and writes of unemployment rates: >> In America an unemployment rate between 3 and 4% was deemed to represent full employment on grounds that the slack represents people changing jobs or just entering the labor market for the first time. In Switzerland a rate of 1% or less is deemed full employment; differing national mores or expections of this sort were supposed to be taken into account through the construction of Phillips curves specific to specific countries. << >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> End example <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Please let me know what the real Swiss unemployment rate is. Also, please let me know what mail list you receive my e-mails from, and why you did not copy that list on your note. WesBurt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subj: Re: Yours of 99-10-20 18:19:18 EDT, Re: Welcome to America, III Date: 99-10-20 20:52:04 EDT From: a Swiss citizen To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] It's exported. The mailing just has your name. a Swiss citizen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subj: Re: Yours of 99-10-20 18:19:18 EDT, Re: Welcome to America, III Date: 99-10-21 07:56:13 EDT From: a Swiss citizen To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear Mr Burt, Having no further response from you, I reply again. I have no list to copy, so reply directly. There are internal figures published at Swiss federal and cantonal level for unemployment, so I cannot illuminate why the US Labor department can't publish them. As I said before, much of the problem is exported. Whether you regard this as clever or disingenuous probably depends on what kind of economist you are. There is some kind of consensus amongst conventional economists that small juridically autarkic states and cities find this easier to do than large countries with porous frontiers and available land. Without going into the necessary reductionism and generalisations necessary to bring employment levels to statistical comparison, different countries produce statistics differently. As in much of Europe there is a stance against the mechanization or computerisation of white-collar labour (compare the recent initiative by BT in the UK to automate government departments) as there is a realization that the supply-side benefits do not necessarily outweigh the costs of reskilling and unemployment. To some degree the swiss may be perceived to follow a holistic, if severe, regime where employment is controlled by social pressure, i.e people are forced to work and if you don't (or are perceived not to) then you are not swiss. As such the total amount of work is shared out amongst those willing to compete for it in the socially approved manner. No dissent, no politics. A bit like joining the Freemasons? Best, etc. A Swiss citizen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subj: Yours of 99-10-21 07:56:13 EDT, Re: Welcome to America, III Date: 99-10-21 16:19:19 EDT From: WesBurt To: a Swiss citizen Dear Sir, Thanks for your second reply. I apologize for not responding sooner, but I was busy visiting your URL <deleted by WesBurt>. You have an interesting site. I have not yet discovered the true nature of the institution that you are Director of, but then, I have not yet looked at everything on the site. I am not any kind of economist. My formal training was BSME, 1947, with electronics training from the U.S. Navy, 1944-1946, and the "advanced engineering course" from the General Electric Co, my first employer,1947-1955. I was given early retirement by my tenth employer (defense contractors) in 1985. So I am now free to speak my mind, as if I were independently wealthy, on subjects which employees are often fired for discussing. That is, such subjects as how the corporate rules for pricing new products are not applied to pricing new members of the workforce in the United States, but seem to have been applied since 1946 to the workforce in every industrial nation except the U.K. and the U.S. Kind regards, WesBurt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subj: Re: Yours of 99-10-21 07:56:13 EDT, Re: Welcome to America, III Date: 99-10-21 17:43:53 EDT From: a Swiss citizen To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] "The institution" is a ordinarily limited swiss company. Your last sentence makes only metaphorical sense to me, unless it concerns pricing people on supply rather than return, whereas capital is priced on return directly..perhaps we agree this is a failure of human imagination. Best, etc. A Swiss citizen >>>>>>>>>> End exchange with a Swiss citizen <<<<<<<<<<< Surely, on a matter of this importance, I need a second opinion before I admit that I have been mistaken for the last thirty years in my analysis of the social question. Kind regards, WesBurt
