Within
Europe, the Swiss are caricatured as deliberate, unemotional, and imperturbable. Their reaction to the Corona
Virus pandemic fits this stereotype. Of course, it helps that the Swiss are
better positioned than other countries with a debt to GDP ratio of 40 percent (versus
81 percent for the US) and a fully funded unemployment insurance fund. (In the
US, impending shortfalls at the state
level will require huge federal bailouts).
Unlike
raucous US politics, the Swiss formed a swift national consensus, and their
rescue package is already underway, at an estimated cost of 5 percent of GDP.
At this juncture, the US rescue package awaits approval by the House at a cost that will well exceed ten percent of GDP.
