Name Me One Country! Just One!

[Paulie]

The Evil fractional Central Banks have ate them all up, even Switzerland.

The ones left are now called the "Axis of Evil"

Heh, pretty much.

Switzerland ought to be a great example of how government overspending, and central banking monopoly is a detriment to a nation's prosperity.

Hey, at least they don't intervene in other nation's affairs. That's huge.

 

[AmericaFirst]

Heh, pretty much.

Switzerland ought to be a great example of how government overspending, and central banking monopoly is a detriment to a nation's prosperity.

Hey, at least they don't intervene in other nation's affairs. That's huge.

Actually through the Bank of International Settlements in Basel they are deeply involved in everyone's affairs

 

[Paulie]

Actually through the Bank of International Settlements in Basel they are deeply involved in everyone's affairs

Ok, militarily. Which is still huge.

And, everyone owns a gun, and their gun crime is almost non-existent.

Hmmmm...

 

[editec]

Recently they've gotten out of hand with spending, which is BITING THEM IN THEIR ASS NOW, but the country has always been known to be a small government, liberty minded country. By whom? I don't know, anyone who knows their history?

Come on Ed, you're smarter than this.

I'm smart enough to know that myths like that plague us.

I'm smart enough to know that at the beginning of the XXth century Switzerland was poor poor poor, and now they're not.

I'm smart enough to know that that nation spends a small fortune (in relative terms ) on a defence, that they have amazing social services for their people and to know that that take one hell of a lot of money.

 

[Paulie]

I'm smart enough to know that myths like that plague us.

I'm smart enough to know that at the beginning of the XXth century Switzerland was poor poor poor, and now they're not.

I'm smart enough to know that that nation spends a small fortune (in relative terms ) on a defence, that they have amazing social services for their people and to know that that take one hell of a lot of money.

Apparently you're not smart enough to know their history of small government, though.

The fact that they spend a lot of money on defense and health doesn't change the fact that they are a prosperous country without a bloated bureaucracy. That was the point of this thread, right? A country with a small government that prospers? They've only RECENTLY grown the size of government there, and they were doing fine before hand. They've gotten WORSE now that they've spent exorbitant amounts of money. Their unemployment rate is rather high. So government spending is not necessarily the best route.

Explain why they fought tooth and nail against joining the EU.

 

[Red Dawn]

C'mon ron paul fans. This was just ridiculous.

You made Orange Juice's case for him.

While you were patting yourselves on the back fo r coming up with switzerland, you actually ended up making the liberal's case for them. Ouch.

Switzerland spends over fourty percent of its national GDP on government and public services.

The United States only spends 20%

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html

So, your dream country is much more a scandanavian style social welfare state.

Was there some chain email libertarians were sending around that was trumpeting switzerland as an example of libertarian nirvana?

I'd say you all were suckered by it, if that's the case. The numbers totally make orange juice's case for him

 

[Epsilon Delta]

How about...

... Somalia?!

 

[AmericaFirst]

Ummmm - How can you have this "libertarian nirvana" with a fractional reserve central bank??

C'mon ron paul fans. This was just ridiculous.

You made Orange Juice's case for him.

While you were patting yourselves on the back fo r coming up with switzerland, you actually ended up making the liberal's case for them. Ouch.

Switzerland spends over fourty percent of its national GDP on government and public services.

The United States only spends 20%

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html

So, your dream country is much more a scandanavian style social welfare state.

Was there some chain email libertarians were sending around that was trumpeting switzerland as an example of libertarian nirvana?

I'd say you all were suckered by it, if that's the case. The numbers totally make orange juice's case for him

 

[Paulie]

C'mon ron paul fans. This was just ridiculous.

You made Orange Juice's case for him.

While you were patting yourselves on the back fo r coming up with switzerland, you actually ended up making the liberal's case for them. Ouch.

Switzerland spends over fourty percent of its national GDP on government and public services.

The United States only spends 20%

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html

So, your dream country is much more a scandanavian style social welfare state.

Was there some chain email libertarians were sending around that was trumpeting switzerland as an example of libertarian nirvana?

I'd say you all were suckered by it, if that's the case. The numbers totally make orange juice's case for him

You do realize that they only increased their spending that much, somewhat recently? And that they were prosperous before hand?

You also realize that they're suffering from harsh economic conditions, such as high unemployment, and have been for quite some time?

Where has increased government spending helped them? They get health, but at what ultimate cost?

The country has a history of small government. That is a fact. Increased government in the country has caused a drop in economic prosperity. That is a fact.

Where is your argument? I'm not seeing it.

 

[Red Dawn]

I'm smart enough to know that myths like that plague us.

I'm smart enough to know that at the beginning of the XXth century Switzerland was poor poor poor, and now they're not.

I'm smart enough to know that that nation spends a small fortune (in relative terms ) on a defence, that they have amazing social services for their people and to know that that take one hell of a lot of money.

exactly.

switzerland went from a relatively poor european backwater, to a successful and amazing prosperous country. And it wasn't because of ron paul economics. Theye are for all intents and purposes a garden variety european social welfare state


I'm still laughing that baronvonbigmeat thought he could pass off switzerland in answer to orange juice's question

 

[AmericaFirst]

Where is your argument? I'm not seeing it.

If they are spending 40 percent of GDP then that's all he needs to say.

 

[Paulie]

If they are spending 40 percent of GDP then that's all he needs to say.

But that doesn't make the argument. They've gotten WORSE since increasing their spending. The OP wanted to know a country that prospers(ed) with a small government. Switzerland is a prime example. That they only recently moved away from it doesn't change the fact that they were prosperous with it. Their economy has been declining since increasing government spending. The unemployment rate in the country has been quite bad for a number of years now.

How do you reconcile that with an advocacy of increased government spending?

 

[Red Dawn]

I'm smart enough to know that myths like that plague us.

I'm smart enough to know that at the beginning of the XXth century Switzerland was poor poor poor, and now they're not.

I'm smart enough to know that that nation spends a small fortune (in relative terms ) on a defence, that they have amazing social services for their people and to know that that take one hell of a lot of money.

bingo.

Switzerland went from being a european backwater, to being a highly successful and prosperous country. And they didn't do it with ron paul small government ideology. They are for all intents and purposes a garden variety european social welfare state. That seems to have worked well for them.


I'm still laughing that baronvonbigmeat thought he could sneak this through, and pass off switzerland as a ron paul nirvana

 

[Epsilon Delta]

You also realize that they're suffering from harsh economic conditions, such as high unemployment, and have been for quite some time?

Unemployment in Switzerland is like 3%.

 

[AmericaFirst]

But that doesn't make the argument. They've gotten WORSE since increasing their spending. The OP wanted to know a country that prospers(ed) with a small government. Switzerland is a prime example. That they only recently moved away from it doesn't change the fact that they were prosperous with it. Their economy has been declining since increasing government spending. The unemployment rate in the country has been quite bad for a number of years now.

How do you reconcile that with an advocacy of increased government spending?

When your money is based on debt things can only get worse. Switzerland is on a Credit Card just like America, the more the economy grows the more debt. The debt can only be paid back with more debt or another 'credit card' - Debt money makes the government larger by virtue.

 

[Paulie]

Unemployment in Switzerland is like 3%.

When you consider that for quite a long period of time, unemployment was nearly nonexistant there, 3% is somewhat high. It has been as high as 6% in the 90's.

This PDF explains an awful lot:

http://www.lehigh.edu/~incntr/publications/perspectives/v18/krahmal.pdf

 

[Paulie]

When your money is based on debt things can only get worse. Switzerland is on a Credit Card just like America, the more the economy grows the more debt. The debt can only be paid back with more debt or another 'credit card' - Debt money makes the government larger by virtue.

Trust me, I'm well versed on this subject. I've been following Dr. Paul for a few years now.

 

[AmericaFirst]

Trust me, I'm well versed on this subject. I've been following Dr. Paul for a few years now.

Well, then you already had the answer?

 

[Paulie]

Well, then you already had the answer?

You know, I'm sure, how hard it is to convince people of the detriments of a central bank. My answer ultimately, is merely my opinion, as is everyone's in the case of economics.

 

[xsited1]

Andorra. In Andorra there is no income tax, gift, inheritance or capital transfer taxes. There is no unemployment, 100% literacy and one of the highest life expectancies.