The Alpine Republic likes to think of itself as a model of liberalism. Yet, between the complaint against a French satirist and the government's silence in the face of European sanctions against Jacques Baud, the country is failing the test of defending freedom.
In her column, American economist Deirdre McCloskey criticizes the illusion of the protective state and shows how the promise of security can undermine individual freedom.
In her column, American economist Deirdre McCloskey explains why, in her view, modern wealth derives less from capital than from the freedom of individuals and the power of ideas.
For many, liberalism remains a vague concept. In his new book, «On Liberalism», Cass Sunstein seeks to define it, while expressing his admiration for some of its most influential figures.
Liberals have always been suspicious of unlimited forms of power, whether monarchical, revolutionary or democratic. They have been the most vigorous advocates of the strict limitation of power, whoever holds it and however it is organized.
The temptation to pursue an industrial policy hangs over Switzerland. Yet recent economic history, from the watchmaking industry to the Lucens nuclear reactor fiasco, shows that state intervention weakens rather than strengthens the national economy.
American tariffs symbolize the resurgence of mercantilism. Imperial withdrawal, scarcity of resources, militarized trade: with the end of free trade, the global economy is reverting to its old reflexes. A zero-sum game in which all lose, except those who dictate the rules.
Ferréol Delmas, who criss-crosses France with his Ecologie Responsable think-tank, is convinced that ecology can and must be rooted in the regions and based on entrepreneurship. In short, right-wing. Interview.
The economic success of the West was made possible by the valorization of bourgeois virtues and freedom. They were ignited in 1848. Switzerland is a perfect example.
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