Is a Self-Sufficient Switzerland Really All It Seems?
by Hannah Wise, our external editor
It’s very easy to extoll the virtues of “eating local.” It’s great for our farmers and for the environment as well. But if you dig a little deeper under the surface, it’s more complicated. Hannah Wise gives insights into Swiss agriculture and some food for thought.
Success for Sugar, Hope for Salt Noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease account for two-thirds of all deaths in Switzerland. The risk factors for developing these diseases are manifold, and include consumption of foods high in sugar, salt, and fat. By means of industry agreements, the private sector can play an important role in reducing excessive consumption and thus contribute to prevention efforts.
The Concentration of Critical Minerals Recently, a discovery of so-called rare earths in Kiruna, Sweden, caused a great uproar in the media. The EU Commission lists them as critical raw materials alongside metals like cobalt, lithium, and titanium. Why are rare earths of crucial economic importance and essential for the energy transition?
New Publications Coming in March:
Income-dependent Student Loans
The wage premium for a university degree compared with a vocational apprenticeship is more than 50 percent. Despite this, people receiving a university education in Switzerland bear an ever-smaller share of their study costs themselves. Income-dependent student loans, payable over the course of a working life, would therefore be an effective means of promoting the equitable funding of higher education. A study on this topic will be published on March 9.
When Are New Medications too Expensive?
What kind of framework would enable as many patients as possible to benefit from medical innovations without causing healthcare costs to explode? In an upcoming study, Avenir Suisse proposes new financing models that would keep the small Swiss market attractive for international pharmaceutical companies. The publication will appear at the end of March 2023.
