154-525: SIX Swiss Exchange (formerly SWX Swiss Exchange ), based in Zürich , is Switzerland 's principal stock exchange (the other being BX Swiss ). SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other securities such as Swiss government bonds and derivatives such as stock options . SIX Swiss Exchange is completely owned by SIX Group , an unlisted public limited company itself owned by around 120 national and foreign financial institutions. The exchange in its current state
308-561: A Willensnation ("nation of volition") rather than a nation state . The English name Switzerland is a portmanteau of Switzer , an obsolete term for a Swiss person which was in use during the 16th to 19th centuries, and land . The English adjective Swiss is a loanword from French Suisse , also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer , in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory , one of
462-634: A deflationary spiral started in 1931. Farmers faced a worse outlook; declining crop prices and a Great Plains drought crippled their economic outlook. At its peak, the Great Depression saw nearly 10% of all Great Plains farms change hands despite federal assistance. At first, the decline in the U.S. economy was the factor that triggered economic downturns in most other countries due to a decline in trade, capital movement, and global business confidence. Then, internal weaknesses or strengths in each country made conditions worse or better. For example,
616-485: A joint venture called Scoach . In February 2013, Scoach was split into Scoach Europa AG, fully owned by Deutsche Börse, and Scoach Schweiz AG, fully owned by SIX Swiss Exchange. Scoach Schweiz AG was renamed to SIX Structured Products in November 2013. In 2021, SIX Group established AsiaNext, a digital asset exchange for institutions, as a joint venture with SBI Digital Asset Holdings . In 2023, AsiaNext has received
770-681: A lower house (the National Council , with representatives elected from across the country). Referendums were made mandatory for any amendments. This new constitution ended the legal power of nobility in Switzerland . A single system of weights and measures was introduced, and in 1850 the Swiss franc became the Swiss single currency , complemented by the WIR franc in 1934. Article 11 of
924-418: A silver standard , almost avoided the depression entirely. The connection between leaving the gold standard as a strong predictor of that country's severity of its depression and the length of time of its recovery has been shown to be consistent for dozens of countries, including developing countries . This partly explains why the experience and length of the depression differed between regions and states around
1078-517: A change of policy following threats from Germany. Over 100 Allied bombers and their crews were interned. Between 1940 and 1945, Switzerland was bombed by the Allies , causing fatalities and property damage. Among the cities and towns bombed were Basel , Brusio , Chiasso , Cornol , Geneva, Koblenz , Niederweningen , Rafz , Renens , Samedan , Schaffhausen , Stein am Rhein , Tägerwilen , Thayngen , Vals , and Zurich. Allied forces maintained that
1232-548: A former privately run bank, bearing no relation to the U.S. government (not to be confused with the Federal Reserve ). Unable to pay out to all of its creditors, the bank failed. Among the 608 American banks that closed in November and December 1930, the Bank of United States accounted for a third of the total $ 550 million deposits lost and, with its closure, bank failures reached a critical mass. In an initial response to
1386-467: A greater reduction in credit. On 5 April 1933, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102 making the private ownership of gold certificates , coins and bullion illegal, reducing the pressure on Federal Reserve gold. British economist John Maynard Keynes argued in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money that lower aggregate expenditures in the economy contributed to
1540-650: A license as a Recognized Market Operator (RMO) by the Monetary Authority of Singapore . Headquarters were moved to Selnaustrasse in 2002. In 2017, they moved again to the Hard Turm Park in Zürich-West . For the first time in the world, in 1962, an exchange TV broadcast was introduced in Basel and Zürich. Banks started to use computers , while exchanges followed more hesitantly. In 1964, Telekurs
1694-600: A modern industrial city handled shortages of money and resources. Often they updated strategies their mothers used when they were growing up in poor families. Cheap foods were used, such as soups, beans and noodles. They purchased the cheapest cuts of meat—sometimes even horse meat—and recycled the Sunday roast into sandwiches and soups. They sewed and patched clothing, traded with their neighbors for outgrown items, and made do with colder homes. New furniture and appliances were postponed until better days. Many women also worked outside
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#17327823462061848-402: A monetary contraction first-hand were forced to join the deflationary policy since higher interest rates in countries that performed a deflationary policy led to a gold outflow in countries with lower interest rates. Under the gold standard's price–specie flow mechanism , countries that lost gold but nevertheless wanted to maintain the gold standard had to permit their money supply to decrease and
2002-537: A new holding called Swiss Financial Market Services AG. The merger was official in 2008 and the new company was renamed to SIX Group AG . SWX Swiss Exchange was renamed to SIX Swiss Exchange in the same year. From 1998 to 2012, SIX Swiss Exchange owned 15% of Eurex , the world's second largest futures and derivatives exchange, after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange , along with its German partner Deutsche Börse (85%). Deutsche Börse purchased
2156-637: A new exchange building ( alte Börse , German for "old exchange") was constructed in Zürich at Bleicherweg 5, near Paradeplatz . The building is still standing, but no longer used as an exchange. After the Great Depression of the 1930s, a federal banking law was introduced. This law is still in effect today and, in its form as of 2020, requires permission by the FINMA to do banking activities, as well as due diligence and banking secrecy . An exchange law
2310-690: A remarkable size, while hundreds of agricultural estates ( Villae rusticae ) were established in the countryside. Around 260 AD, the fall of the Agri Decumates territory north of the Rhine transformed today's Switzerland into a frontier land of the Empire. Repeated raids by the Alamanni tribes provoked the ruin of the Roman towns and economy, forcing the population to shelter near Roman fortresses, like
2464-649: A secondary role. Hence, it was only in May 2000 that the Swiss Performance Index crossed again the peak of 5,237 points that it had reached before the Russian crisis. It reached its then all-time high of 5,770 points on 23 August 2000. The bursting of the dot-com bubble sent stock prices down worldwide, and did not spare Swiss stock indices. The SPI entered a bear market. It had lost more than 20% from its previous peak by 22 March 2001, on which day it reached
2618-567: A serious issue in the 1930s. Support for increasing welfare programs during the depression included a focus on women in the family. The Conseil Supérieur de la Natalité campaigned for provisions enacted in the Code de la Famille (1939) that increased state assistance to families with children and required employers to protect the jobs of fathers, even if they were immigrants. In rural and small-town areas, women expanded their operation of vegetable gardens to include as much food production as possible. In
2772-536: A sign of support. In September 2020, a referendum calling for a vote to end the pact that allowed a free movement of people from the European Union was introduced by the Swiss People's Party (SVP). However, voters rejected the attempt to retake control of immigration, defeating the motion by a roughly 63%–37% margin. On 9 February 2014, 50.3% of Swiss voters approved a ballot initiative launched by
2926-405: A significant impact on the psychology and society of Switzerland. The war convinced most Swiss of the need for unity and strength. Swiss from all strata of society, whether Catholic or Protestant, from the liberal or conservative current, realised that the cantons would profit more from merging their economic and religious interests. Thus, while the rest of Europe saw revolutionary uprisings ,
3080-480: A small cadre of Labour, but the vast majority of Labour leaders denounced MacDonald as a traitor for leading the new government. Britain went off the gold standard , and suffered relatively less than other major countries in the Great Depression. In the 1931 British election, the Labour Party was virtually destroyed, leaving MacDonald as prime minister for a largely Conservative coalition. In most countries of
3234-713: A standstill agreement froze Germany's foreign liabilities for six months. Germany received emergency funding from private banks in New York as well as the Bank of International Settlements and the Bank of England. The funding only slowed the process. Industrial failures began in Germany, a major bank closed in July and a two-day holiday for all German banks was declared. Business failures were more frequent in July, and spread to Romania and Hungary. The crisis continued to get worse in Germany, bringing political upheaval that finally led to
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#17327823462063388-722: A temporary bottom. After a short recovery phase, the SPI started to erode continuously from May 2001. The 9/11 attacks accelerated this evolution, started with the bursting of the dot-com bubble, further. The SPI reached its bottom of 2,603 points one and a half years later, on 12 March 2003, at the peak of the SARS-epidemic and the Iraq war. In May 2007, the SWX Group, the SIS Group and Telekurs Group announced their merger to
3542-556: A whole rather than being modified one amendment at a time. This need soon proved itself when the rise in population and the Industrial Revolution that followed led to calls to modify the constitution accordingly. The population rejected an early draft in 1872, but modifications led to its acceptance in 1874. It introduced the facultative referendum for laws at the federal level. It also established federal responsibility for defence, trade, and legal matters. In 1891,
3696-658: Is a consensus that the Federal Reserve System should have cut short the process of monetary deflation and banking collapse, by expanding the money supply and acting as lender of last resort . If they had done this, the economic downturn would have been far less severe and much shorter. Modern mainstream economists see the reasons in Insufficient spending, the money supply reduction, and debt on margin led to falling prices and further bankruptcies ( Irving Fisher 's debt deflation). The monetarist explanation
3850-468: Is considered the confederacy's founding document, even though similar alliances likely existed decades earlier. The document was agreed among the rural communes of Uri , Schwyz , and Unterwalden . By 1353, the three original cantons had joined with the cantons of Glarus and Zug and the Lucerne , Zurich and Bern city-states to form the "Old Confederacy" of eight states that obtained through
4004-625: Is divided into four business units: Securities Services, Markets, Banking Services and Financial Information. These business units include services like clearing , acting as central counterparty , custody services , market data services, share registry , payment services, and running the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system on behalf of the central bank of Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank . Switzerland in Europe (green and dark grey) Switzerland , officially
4158-409: Is one of the world's most developed countries having the highest nominal wealth per adult , and the eighth-highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita . Switzerland performs highly on several international metrics , including economic competitiveness and democratic governance . Cities such as Zurich, Geneva and Basel rank among the highest in terms of quality of life, albeit with some of
4312-688: Is still its name as of 2020. SIX Swiss Exchange maintains several major indices. The most known index is the SMI, or Swiss Market Index , which consists of the 20 largest and most liquid companies of the SPI. The SPI, or Swiss Performance Index , contains more than 200 companies listed on the exchange that meet requirements. The SLI, or Swiss Leader Index , is a capped index with some of the largest 30 companies. The SBI, or Swiss Bond Index , tracks obligations emitted in Swiss francs . The market capitalization of all companies listed at SIX Swiss Exchange amounted in 2018 to 1.6 trillion Swiss francs, making it one of
4466-499: Is still ongoing today. Fluctuating exchange rates carried new risks for the economy and a need for hedging solutions arose. Finance derivatives were introduced as a response to this need and in 1973, the Chicago Board Options Exchange was created as an exchange that only handles derivatives. With the oil crisis of 1974, the economy went through the biggest after-war recession since 1931. In Switzerland,
4620-493: Is supported by the contrast in how the crisis progressed in, e.g., Britain, Argentina and Brazil, all of which devalued their currencies early and returned to normal patterns of growth relatively rapidly and countries which stuck to the gold standard , such as France or Belgium. Frantic attempts by individual countries to shore up their economies through protectionist policies – such as the 1930 U.S. Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act and retaliatory tariffs in other countries – exacerbated
4774-659: Is the highest, although the Matterhorn (4,478 m or 14,692 ft) is the best known. Both are located within the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais , on the border with Italy. The section of the Bernese Alps above the deep glacial Lauterbrunnen valley, containing 72 waterfalls, is well known for the Jungfrau (4,158 m or 13,642 ft) Eiger and Mönch peaks, and its many picturesque valleys. In
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4928-701: The Waldstätte cantons which formed the nucleus of the Old Swiss Confederacy . The Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for "Confederates", Eidgenossen (literally: comrades by oath ), used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland , CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica ( Helvetic Confederation ). The toponym Schwyz itself
5082-539: The 1932 election , Hoover was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt , who from 1933 pursued a series of " New Deal " policies and programs to provide relief and create jobs, including the Civilian Conservation Corps , Federal Emergency Relief Administration , Tennessee Valley Authority , and Works Progress Administration . Historians disagree on the effects of the New Deal, with some claiming that
5236-542: The Axis and Allied powers. Switzerland's trade was blockaded by both the Allies and the Axis. Economic cooperation and extension of credit to Nazi Germany varied according to the perceived likelihood of invasion and the availability of other trading partners. Concessions reached a peak after a crucial rail link through Vichy France was severed in 1942, leaving Switzerland (together with Liechtenstein ) entirely isolated from
5390-628: The Castrum Rauracense near Augusta Raurica. The Empire built another line of defence at the north border (the so-called Donau-Iller-Rhine-Limes). At the end of the fourth century, the increased Germanic pressure forced the Romans to abandon the linear defence concept. The Swiss Plateau was finally open to Germanic tribes . In the Early Middle Ages , from the end of the fourth century, the western extent of modern-day Switzerland
5544-558: The Congress of Vienna fully re-established Swiss independence, and the European powers recognised permanent Swiss neutrality. Swiss troops served foreign governments until 1860 when they fought in the siege of Gaeta . The treaty allowed Switzerland to increase its territory, with the admission of the cantons of Valais , Neuchâtel and Geneva . Switzerland's borders saw only minor adjustments thereafter. The restoration of power to
5698-677: The First War of Villmergen , in 1656, and the Toggenburg War (or Second War of Villmergen), in 1712. In 1798, the revolutionary French government invaded Switzerland and imposed a new unified constitution. This centralised the government of the country, effectively abolishing the cantons: moreover, Mülhausen left Switzerland and the Valtellina valley became part of the Cisalpine Republic . The new regime, known as
5852-639: The Hallstatt and La Tène cultures , named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel . La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age from around 450 BC, possibly influenced by Greek and Etruscan civilisations. One of the most prominent La Tène tribes were the Helvetii , who primarily occupied the Swiss Plateau , alongside the Rhaetians in
6006-615: The Holy Roman Empire around 1000 AD. In the 10th century, as the rule of the Carolingians waned, Magyars destroyed Basel in 917 and St. Gallen in 926. In response, Henry the Fowler , the then ruler of East Francia, decreed the fortification of key settlements to defend against these invasions. Large villages and towns, including strategic locations like Zurich and St.Gallen, were fortified. This initiative led to
6160-593: The League of Nations , which was based in Geneva , after it was exempted from military requirements. During World War II , detailed invasion plans were drawn up by the Germans, but Switzerland was never attacked. Switzerland was able to remain independent through a combination of military deterrence, concessions to Germany, and good fortune, as larger events during the war intervened. General Henri Guisan , appointed
6314-582: The New York Bank of United States – which produced panic and widespread runs on local banks, and the Federal Reserve sat idly by while banks collapsed. Friedman and Schwartz argued that, if the Fed had provided emergency lending to these key banks, or simply bought government bonds on the open market to provide liquidity and increase the quantity of money after the key banks fell, all the rest of
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6468-576: The Swiss Alps to the south, the Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau, and the Jura mountains on the west. The Alps are a mountain range running across the central and south of the country, constituting about 60% of the country's area. The majority of the population live on the Swiss Plateau. The Swiss Alps host many glaciers, covering 1,063 square kilometres (410 sq mi). From these originate
6622-610: The Swiss Confederation , is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe . It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau , the Alps and the Jura ; the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, whereas most of the country's population of 9 million are concentrated on
6776-613: The Swiss economy . During the Cold War , Swiss authorities considered the construction of a Swiss nuclear bomb . Leading nuclear physicists at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich such as Paul Scherrer made this a realistic possibility. In 1988, the Paul Scherrer Institute was founded in his name to explore the therapeutic uses of neutron scattering technologies. Financial problems with
6930-998: The WTO , the WHO , the ILO , FIFA , the WEF , and the UN. It is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), but not part of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area , or the eurozone ; however, it participates in the European single market and the Schengen Area . Switzerland is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons , with federal authorities based in Bern . Switzerland
7084-412: The coming to power of Hitler's Nazi regime in January 1933. The world financial crisis now began to overwhelm Britain; investors around the world started withdrawing their gold from London at the rate of £2.5 million per day. Credits of £25 million each from the Bank of France and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and an issue of £15 million fiduciary note slowed, but did not reverse,
7238-405: The commander-in-chief for the duration of the war ordered a general mobilisation of the armed forces. The Swiss military strategy changed from static defence at the borders to organised long-term attrition and withdrawal to strong, well-stockpiled positions high in the Alps, known as the Reduit . Switzerland was an important base for espionage by both sides and often mediated communications between
7392-434: The trading floor was discontinued. On 3 December 2020, SIX Swiss Exchange, in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements and Swiss National Bank , completed a wholesale central bank digital currency proof-of-concept on a distributed digital asset platform. SIX Swiss Exchange is part of the SIX Group , which provides a number of other financial market infrastructure services in Switzerland. SIX Group
7546-424: The 15% ownership from SIX Swiss Exchange in 2012, becoming its sole owner. SWX Swiss Exchange, as was its new name since 1999, acquired the stock exchange platform Tradepoint, renamed as Virt-x , for the trading of 32 Swiss bluechip stocks, regulated by the British Financial Services Authority . The new platform was opened on 25 June 2001. The main goals were on the one hand to build a pan-European exchange and on
7700-447: The 1937 recession that interrupted it). The common view among most economists is that Roosevelt's New Deal policies either caused or accelerated the recovery, although his policies were never aggressive enough to bring the economy completely out of recession. Some economists have also called attention to the positive effects from expectations of reflation and rising nominal interest rates that Roosevelt's words and actions portended. It
7854-428: The Bold of Burgundy during the 1470s, and the success of the Swiss mercenaries . The Swiss victory in the Swabian War against the Swabian League of Emperor Maximilian I in 1499 amounted to de facto independence within the Holy Roman Empire . In 1501, Basel and Schaffhausen joined the Old Swiss Confederacy. The Confederacy acquired a reputation of invincibility during these earlier wars, but expansion of
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#17327823462068008-597: The British crisis. The financial crisis now caused a major political crisis in Britain in August 1931. With deficits mounting, the bankers demanded a balanced budget; the divided cabinet of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government agreed; it proposed to raise taxes, cut spending, and most controversially, to cut unemployment benefits 20%. The attack on welfare was unacceptable to the Labour movement. MacDonald wanted to resign, but King George V insisted he remain and form an all-party coalition " National Government ". The Conservative and Liberals parties signed on, along with
8162-407: The Depression. Businessmen ignored the mounting national debt and heavy new taxes, redoubling their efforts for greater output to take advantage of generous government contracts. During World War I many countries suspended their gold standard in varying ways. There was high inflation from WWI, and in the 1920s in the Weimar Republic , Austria , and throughout Europe. In the late 1920s there
8316-420: The Dow returning to 294 (pre-depression levels) in April 1930, before steadily declining for years, to a low of 41 in 1932. At the beginning, governments and businesses spent more in the first half of 1930 than in the corresponding period of the previous year. On the other hand, consumers, many of whom suffered severe losses in the stock market the previous year, cut expenditures by 10%. In addition, beginning in
8470-560: The EU was attained that eliminated quotas on EU citizens, but still allowed favourable treatment of Swiss-based job applicants. On 27 September 2020, 62% of Swiss voters rejected the anti-free movement referendum by SVP. Extending across the north and south side of the Alps in west -central Europe, Switzerland encompasses diverse landscapes and climates across its 41,285 square kilometres (15,940 sq mi). Switzerland lies between latitudes 45° and 48° N , and longitudes 5° and 11° E . It contains three basic topographical areas:
8624-419: The Federal Reserve did not act to limit the decline of the money supply was the gold standard . At that time, the amount of credit the Federal Reserve could issue was limited by the Federal Reserve Act , which required 40% gold backing of Federal Reserve Notes issued. By the late 1920s, the Federal Reserve had almost hit the limit of allowable credit that could be backed by the gold in its possession. This credit
8778-416: The French in the name of the Helvetic Republic. In 1803 Napoleon organised a meeting of the leading Swiss politicians from both sides in Paris. The Act of Mediation was the result, which largely restored Swiss autonomy and introduced a Confederation of 19 cantons. Henceforth, much of Swiss politics would concern balancing the cantons' tradition of self-rule with the need for a central government. In 1815
8932-442: The Great Depression is right, or the traditional Keynesian explanation that a fall in autonomous spending, particularly investment, is the primary explanation for the onset of the Great Depression. Today there is also significant academic support for the debt deflation theory and the expectations hypothesis that – building on the monetary explanation of Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz – add non-monetary explanations. There
9086-527: The Great Depression. According to the U.S. Senate website, the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act is among the most catastrophic acts in congressional history. Many economists have argued that the sharp decline in international trade after 1930 helped to worsen the depression, especially for countries significantly dependent on foreign trade. Most historians and economists blame the Act for worsening the depression by seriously reducing international trade and causing retaliatory tariffs in other countries. While foreign trade
9240-519: The Helvetic Republic, was highly unpopular. An invading foreign army had imposed and destroyed centuries of tradition, making Switzerland nothing more than a French satellite state . The fierce French suppression of the Nidwalden Revolt in September 1798 was an example of the oppressive presence of the French Army and the local population's resistance to the occupation. When war broke out between France and its rivals, Russian and Austrian forces invaded Switzerland. The Swiss refused to fight alongside
9394-472: The Helvetii were forced by Caesar to return to their original lands, where they were subjected to stringent restrictions on their autonomy and movements. In 15 BC, Tiberius (later the second Roman emperor) and his brother Drusus conquered the Alps, integrating them into the Roman Empire . The area occupied by the Helvetii first became part of Rome's Gallia Belgica province and then of its Germania Superior province. The eastern portion of modern Switzerland
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#17327823462069548-403: The Holy Roman Empire and its neutrality . During the Early Modern period of Swiss history, the growing authoritarianism of the patriciate families combined with a financial crisis in the wake of the Thirty Years' War led to the Swiss peasant war of 1653 . In the background to this struggle, the conflict between Catholic and Protestant cantons persisted, erupting in further violence at
9702-414: The New Deal prolonged the Great Depression, as they argue that National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 and National Labor Relations Act of 1935 restricted competition and established price fixing. John Maynard Keynes did not think that the New Deal under Roosevelt single-handedly ended the Great Depression: "It is, it seems, politically impossible for a capitalistic democracy to organize expenditure on
9856-440: The Swiss Alps. 90% of Switzerland's 65,000-kilometre-long network of rivers and streams have been straightened, dammed, canalized or channeled underground, in an effort to prevent natural disasters such as flooding, landslides, and avalanches. 80% of all Swiss drinking water comes from groundwater sources. Forty-eight mountains are 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) or higher in height. At 4,634 m (15,203 ft), Monte Rosa
10010-407: The Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) to restrict immigration . This initiative was mostly backed by rural (57.6% approval) and suburban groups (51.2% approval), and isolated towns (51.3% approval) as well as by a strong majority (69.2% approval) in Ticino, while metropolitan centres (58.5% rejection) and the French-speaking part (58.5% rejection) rejected it. In December 2016, a political compromise with
10164-442: The Swiss drew up a constitution that provided for a federal layout , much of it inspired by the American example . This constitution provided central authority while leaving the cantons the right to self-government on local issues. Giving credit to those who favoured the power of the cantons (the Sonderbund Kantone), the national assembly was divided between an upper house (the Council of States , two representatives per canton) and
10318-491: The U.K. economy, which experienced an economic downturn throughout most of the late 1920s, was less severely impacted by the shock of the depression than the U.S. By contrast, the German economy saw a similar decline in industrial output as that observed in the U.S. Some economic historians attribute the differences in the rates of recovery and relative severity of the economic decline to whether particular countries had been able to effectively devaluate their currencies or not. This
10472-435: The U.S. unemployment rate down below 10%. World War II had a dramatic effect on many parts of the American economy. Government-financed capital spending accounted for only 5% of the annual U.S. investment in industrial capital in 1940; by 1943, the government accounted for 67% of U.S. capital investment. The massive war spending doubled economic growth rates, either masking the effects of the Depression or essentially ending
10626-622: The United States, agricultural organizations sponsored programs to teach housewives how to optimize their gardens and to raise poultry for meat and eggs. Rural women made feed sack dresses and other items for themselves and their families and homes from feed sacks. In American cities, African American women quiltmakers enlarged their activities, promoted collaboration, and trained neophytes. Quilts were created for practical use from various inexpensive materials and increased social interaction for women and promoted camaraderie and personal fulfillment. Oral history provides evidence for how housewives in
10780-543: The United States, remained on the gold standard into 1932 or 1933, while a few countries in the so-called "gold bloc", led by France and including Poland, Belgium and Switzerland, stayed on the standard until 1935–36. According to later analysis, the earliness with which a country left the gold standard reliably predicted its economic recovery. For example, The UK and Scandinavia, which left the gold standard in 1931, recovered much earlier than France and Belgium, which remained on gold much longer. Countries such as China, which had
10934-578: The Wall Street crash, after which the slide continued for three years, which was accompanied by a loss of confidence in the financial system. By 1933, the U.S. unemployment rate had risen to 25 percent, about one-third of farmers had lost their land, and about half of the country's 25,000 banks had gone out of business. Many people, unable to pay mortgages or rent, became homeless and relied on begging or charities to feed themselves. The U.S. federal government initially did little to help. President Herbert Hoover , like many of his fellow Republicans , believed in
11088-502: The adoption of the Swiss Federal Constitution in 1848. Switzerland's precursors established a defensive alliance in 1291, forming a loose confederation that persisted for centuries. The oldest traces of hominid existence in Switzerland date to about 150,000 years ago. The oldest known farming settlements in Switzerland, which were found at Gächlingen , date to around 5300 BC. The earliest known tribes formed
11242-671: The authorization of the Cantonal authorities. Geneva paved the way in the year 1850, when the Société des agents de change réunis (English: United Brokers Association ) was founded. Its trading floor was opened in 1855 and approved by the Grand Council of Geneva in 1856. The Basler Börse followed in 1866 or 1876 (sources disagree) in Basel , as well as another one in Zürich in 1873. The Berne exchange , which still exists today,
11396-460: The banks would not have fallen after the large ones did, and the money supply would not have fallen as far and as fast as it did. With significantly less money to go around, businesses could not get new loans and could not even get their old loans renewed, forcing many to stop investing. This interpretation blames the Federal Reserve for inaction, especially the New York branch . One reason why
11550-632: The beginning of the Depression. The Depression was preceded by a period of industrial growth and social development known as the " Roaring Twenties ". Much of the profit generated by the boom was invested in speculation , such as on the stock market , which resulted in growing wealth inequality . Banks were subject to minimal regulation under laissez-faire economic policies, resulting in loose lending and widespread debt. By 1929, declining spending had led to reductions in manufacturing output and rising unemployment . Share values continued to rise until
11704-465: The behavior of housewives. The common view among economic historians is that the Great Depression ended with the advent of World War II . Many economists believe that government spending on the war caused or at least accelerated recovery from the Great Depression, though some consider that it did not play a very large role in the recovery, though it did help in reducing unemployment. The rearmament policies leading up to World War II helped stimulate
11858-493: The bombings, which violated the 96th Article of War , resulted from navigation errors, equipment failure, weather conditions, and pilot errors. The Swiss expressed fear and concern that the bombings were intended to put pressure on Switzerland to end economic cooperation and neutrality with Nazi Germany. Court-martial proceedings took place in England. The US paid SFR 62M for reparations. Switzerland's attitude towards refugees
12012-603: The citizens, the membership application was withdrawn. Nonetheless, Swiss law is gradually changing to conform with that of the EU, and the government signed bilateral agreements with the European Union. Switzerland, together with Liechtenstein, has been surrounded by the EU since Austria's entry in 1995. On 5 June 2005, Swiss voters agreed by a 55% majority to join the Schengen treaty , a result that EU commentators regarded as
12166-462: The collapse in global trade, contributing to the depression. By 1933, the economic decline pushed world trade to one third of its level compared to four years earlier. While the precise causes for the occurrence of the Great depression are disputed and can be traced to both global and national phenomena, its immediate origins are most conveniently examined in the context of the U.S. economy, from which
12320-576: The confederation suffered a setback in 1515 with the Swiss defeat in the Battle of Marignano . This ended the so-called "heroic" epoch of Swiss history. The success of Zwingli 's Reformation in some cantons led to inter-cantonal religious conflicts in 1529 and 1531 ( Wars of Kappel ). It was not until more than one hundred years after these internal wars that, in 1648, under the Peace of Westphalia , European countries recognised Switzerland's independence from
12474-526: The constitution forbade sending troops to serve abroad, marking the end of foreign service. It came with the expectation of serving the Holy See , and the Swiss were still obliged to serve Francis II of the Two Sicilies with Swiss Guards present at the siege of Gaeta in 1860 . An important clause of the constitution was that it could be entirely rewritten, if necessary, thus enabling it to evolve as
12628-561: The constitution was revised with uncommonly strong elements of direct democracy , which remain unique today. Switzerland was not invaded during either of the world wars. During World War I , Switzerland was home to the revolutionary and founder of the Soviet Union Vladimir Illych Ulyanov ( Vladimir Lenin ) who remained there until 1917. Swiss neutrality was seriously questioned by the short-lived Grimm–Hoffmann affair in 1917. In 1920, Switzerland joined
12782-509: The country top-level domain ".ch", are both taken from the state's Latin name). Helvetica is derived from the Helvetii , a Gaulish tribe living on the Swiss Plateau before the Roman era . Helvetia appeared as a national personification of the Swiss confederacy in the 17th century in a 1672 play by Johann Caspar Weissenbach. The state of Switzerland took its present form with
12936-465: The country, Schwiiz , is homophonous to that of the canton and the settlement, but distinguished by the use of the definite article ( d'Schwiiz for the Confederation, but simply Schwyz for the canton and the town). The long [iː] of Swiss German is historically and still often today spelled ⟨y⟩ rather than ⟨ii⟩ , preserving the original identity of
13090-475: The crash was a mere symptom of more general economic trends of the time, which had already been underway in the late 1920s. A contrasting set of views, which rose to prominence in the later part of the 20th century, ascribes a more prominent role to failures of monetary policy . According to those authors, while general economic trends can explain the emergence of the downturn, they fail to account for its severity and longevity; they argue that these were caused by
13244-625: The crisis, the U.S. Congress passed the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act on 17 June 1930. The Act was ostensibly aimed at protecting the American economy from foreign competition by imposing high tariffs on foreign imports. The consensus view among economists and economic historians (including Keynesians , Monetarists and Austrian economists ) is that the passage of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff had, in fact, achieved an opposite effect to what
13398-633: The decade. The Depression had devastating economic effects on both wealthy and poor countries: all experienced drops in personal income , prices ( deflation ), tax revenues, and profits. International trade fell by more than 50%, and unemployment in some countries rose as high as 33%. Cities around the world , especially those dependent on heavy industry , were heavily affected. Construction virtually halted in many countries, and farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by up to 60%. Faced with plummeting demand and few job alternatives, areas dependent on primary sector industries suffered
13552-610: The defence budget and ethical considerations prevented the substantial funds from being allocated, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968 was seen as a valid alternative. Plans for building nuclear weapons were dropped by 1988. Switzerland joined the Council of Europe in 1963. Switzerland was the last Western republic (the Principality of Liechtenstein followed in 1984) to grant women
13706-408: The depression. Not all governments enforced the same measures of protectionism. Some countries raised tariffs drastically and enforced severe restrictions on foreign exchange transactions, while other countries reduced "trade and exchange restrictions only marginally": The gold standard was the primary transmission mechanism of the Great Depression. Even countries that did not face bank failures and
13860-541: The development of what were essentially early urban strongholds and city governments in Eastern Switzerland. By 1200, the Swiss Plateau comprised the dominions of the houses of Savoy , Zähringer , Habsburg , and Kyburg . Some regions ( Uri , Schwyz , Unterwalden , later known as Waldstätten ) were accorded the Imperial immediacy to grant the empire direct control over the mountain passes. With
14014-435: The domestic price level to decline ( deflation ). There is also consensus that protectionist policies, and primarily the passage of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act , helped to exacerbate, or even cause the Great Depression. Some economic studies have indicated that the rigidities of the gold standard not only spread the downturn worldwide, but also suspended gold convertibility (devaluing the currency in gold terms) that did
14168-402: The drop in demand. Monetarists believe that the Great Depression started as an ordinary recession, but the shrinking of the money supply greatly exacerbated the economic situation, causing a recession to descend into the Great Depression. Economists and economic historians are almost evenly split as to whether the traditional monetary explanation that monetary forces were the primary cause of
14322-479: The eastern regions. Facing pressures from Germanic tribes, in 58 BC, the Helvetii, influenced by Orgetorix , a wealthy aristocrat, decided to abandon the Swiss Plateau for better opportunities in western Gallia. After Orgetorix's mysterious death, the tribe continued their migration but was decisively defeated by Julius Caesar's armies at the Battle of Bibracte , in present-day eastern France. Following their defeat,
14476-482: The economies of Europe in 1937–1939. By 1937, unemployment in Britain had fallen to 1.5 million. The mobilization of manpower following the outbreak of war in 1939 ended unemployment. The American mobilization for World War II at the end of 1941 moved approximately ten million people out of the civilian labor force and into the war. This finally eliminated the last effects from the Great Depression and brought
14630-632: The end of the 15th century. The expansion led to increased power and wealth for the confederation. By 1460, the confederates controlled most of the territory south and west of the Rhine to the Alps and the Jura mountains , and the University of Basel was founded (with a faculty of medicine) establishing a tradition of chemical and medical research. This increased after victories against the Habsburgs ( Battle of Sempach , Battle of Näfels ), over Charles
14784-576: The end of the month. A large sell-off of stocks began in mid-October. Finally, on 24 October, Black Thursday , the American stock market crashed 11% at the opening bell. Actions to stabilize the market failed, and on 28 October, Black Monday, the market crashed another 12%. The panic peaked the next day on Black Tuesday, when the market saw another 11% drop. Thousands of investors were ruined, and billions of dollars had been lost; many stocks could not be sold at any price. The market recovered 12% on Wednesday but by then significant damage had been done. Though
14938-500: The explanations of the Keynesians and monetarists. The consensus among demand-driven theories is that a large-scale loss of confidence led to a sudden reduction in consumption and investment spending. Once panic and deflation set in, many people believed they could avoid further losses by keeping clear of the markets. Holding money became profitable as prices dropped lower and a given amount of money bought ever more goods, exacerbating
15092-640: The extinction of its male line in 1263, the Kyburg dynasty fell in AD 1264. The Habsburgs under King Rudolph I (Holy Roman Emperor in 1273) laid claim to the Kyburg lands and annexed them, extending their territory to the eastern Swiss Plateau. The Old Swiss Confederacy was an alliance among the valley communities of the central Alps. The Confederacy was governed by nobles and patricians of various cantons who facilitated management of common interests and ensured peace on mountain trade routes. The Federal Charter of 1291
15246-503: The few women in the labor force, layoffs were less common in the white-collar jobs and they were typically found in light manufacturing work. However, there was a widespread demand to limit families to one paid job, so that wives might lose employment if their husband was employed. Across Britain, there was a tendency for married women to join the labor force, competing for part-time jobs especially. In France, very slow population growth, especially in comparison to Germany continued to be
15400-505: The first week of June, 540 million in the second, and 150 million in two days, 19–20 June. Collapse was at hand. U.S. President Herbert Hoover called for a moratorium on payment of war reparations . This angered Paris, which depended on a steady flow of German payments, but it slowed the crisis down, and the moratorium was agreed to in July 1931. An International conference in London later in July produced no agreements but on 19 August
15554-606: The government tried to reshape private household consumption under the Four-Year Plan of 1936 to achieve German economic self-sufficiency. The Nazi women's organizations, other propaganda agencies and the authorities all attempted to shape such consumption as economic self-sufficiency was needed to prepare for and to sustain the coming war. The organizations, propaganda agencies and authorities employed slogans that called up traditional values of thrift and healthy living. However, these efforts were only partly successful in changing
15708-661: The headwaters of several major rivers, such as the Rhine , Inn , Ticino and Rhône , which flow in the four cardinal directions, spreading across Europe. The hydrographic network includes several of the largest bodies of fresh water in Central and Western Europe, among which are Lake Geneva (Lac Léman in French), Lake Constance (Bodensee in German) and Lake Maggiore . Switzerland has more than 1500 lakes and contains 6% of Europe's freshwater stock. Lakes and glaciers cover about 6% of
15862-607: The highest costs of living . Switzerland holds an international reputation for its established banking sector, alongside its distinctive recognition for their watchmaking and chocolate production. It has four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh . Although most Swiss are German-speaking, national identity is fairly cohesive, being rooted in a common historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy , and Alpine symbolism. Swiss identity transcends language, ethnicity, and religion, leading to Switzerland being described as
16016-519: The home, or took boarders, did laundry for trade or cash, and did sewing for neighbors in exchange for something they could offer. Extended families used mutual aid—extra food, spare rooms, repair-work, cash loans—to help cousins and in-laws. In Japan, official government policy was deflationary and the opposite of Keynesian spending. Consequently, the government launched a campaign across the country to induce households to reduce their consumption, focusing attention on spending by housewives. In Germany,
16170-590: The initial crisis spread to the rest of the world. In the aftermath of World War I , the Roaring Twenties brought considerable wealth to the United States and Western Europe. Initially, the year 1929 dawned with good economic prospects: despite a minor crash on 25 March 1929, the market seemed to gradually improve through September. Stock prices began to slump in September, and were volatile at
16324-464: The international financial markets recovered from the 1997/1998 Asian crisis and the 1998 Russian crisis , there was a period of two years of lasting bull market from October 1998. This bull market was mainly driven by the new economy boom and transition of this time. However, the boom was more limited on Swiss stock indices, since they are dominated by pharmaceutical, food and financial values, while Internet companies and technology companies play only
16478-563: The lack of an adequate response to the crises of liquidity that followed the initial economic shock of 1929 and the subsequent bank failures accompanied by a general collapse of the financial markets. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929 , when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped from 381 to 198 over the course of two months, optimism persisted for some time. The stock market rose in early 1930, with
16632-563: The last widely recognised state without full UN membership. Switzerland is a founding member of the EFTA but not the European Economic Area (EEA). An application for membership in the European Union was sent in May 1992, but did not advance since rejecting the EEA in December 1992 when Switzerland conducted a referendum on the EEA. Several referendums on the EU issue ensued; due to opposition from
16786-465: The market entered a period of recovery from 14 November until 17 April 1930, the general situation had been a prolonged slump. From 17 April 1930 until 8 July 1932, the market continued to lose 89% of its value. Despite the crash, the worst of the crisis did not reverberate around the world until after 1929. The crisis hit panic levels again in December 1930, with a bank run on the Bank of United States ,
16940-414: The mid-1930s, a severe drought ravaged the agricultural heartland of the U.S. Interest rates dropped to low levels by mid-1930, but expected deflation and the continuing reluctance of people to borrow meant that consumer spending and investment remained low. By May 1930, automobile sales declined to below the levels of 1928. Prices, in general, began to decline, although wages held steady in 1930. Then
17094-423: The monetary base and by not injecting liquidity into the banking system to prevent it from crumbling, the Federal Reserve passively watched the transformation of a normal recession into the Great Depression. Friedman and Schwartz argued that the downward turn in the economy, starting with the stock market crash, would merely have been an ordinary recession if the Federal Reserve had taken aggressive action. This view
17248-502: The most to make recovery possible. Every major currency left the gold standard during the Great Depression. The UK was the first to do so. Facing speculative attacks on the pound and depleting gold reserves , in September 1931 the Bank of England ceased exchanging pound notes for gold and the pound was floated on foreign exchange markets. Japan and the Scandinavian countries followed in 1931. Other countries, such as Italy and
17402-487: The most. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 ended the Depression, as it stimulated factory production, providing jobs for women as militaries absorbed large numbers of young, unemployed men. The precise causes for the Great Depression are disputed. One set of historians, for example, focuses on non-monetary economic causes. Among these, some regard the Wall Street crash itself as the main cause; others consider that
17556-762: The national territory. Lake Geneva is the largest lake and is shared with France. The Rhône is both the main source and outflow of Lake Geneva. Lake Constance is the second largest and, like Lake Geneva, an intermediate step by the Rhine at the border with Austria and Germany. While the Rhône flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the French Camargue region and the Rhine flows into the North Sea at Rotterdam , about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) apart, both springs are only about 22 kilometres (14 miles) apart in
17710-582: The need to balance the national budget and was unwilling to implement expensive welfare spending . In 1930, Hoover signed the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act , which taxed imports with the intention of encouraging buyers to purchase American products, which worsened the Depression because foreign governments retaliated with tariffs on American exports. In 1932, Hoover established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation , which offered loans to businesses and support to local governments. In
17864-533: The oil shock led to such a rush on investment money that it was considered to close the exchanges. The Geneva Stock Exchange , the Basel Stock Exchange and the Zürich stock exchange merged into SWX Swiss Exchange in 1993. On 16 August 1995, the closing bells rang for the last time on the trading floors, ending an era spanning more than a century. They were superseded with the world's first automated trading, clearing and settlement system. After
18018-653: The other hand to mitigate the migration of the trading volume on SMI stocks to the London exchange . The listed companies were offered the choice between two market segments for SMI stocks: The EU-regulated market segment and the UK-exchange-regulated market segment. Both segments were subject to the regulations of the British Financial Services Authority, and the EU segment was in addition subject to EU regulations. Virt-x
18172-582: The patriciate was only temporary. After a period of unrest with repeated violent clashes, such as the Züriputsch of 1839, civil war (the Sonderbundskrieg ) broke out in 1847 when some Catholic cantons tried to set up a separate alliance (the Sonderbund ). The war lasted less than a month, causing fewer than 100 casualties, most of which were through friendly fire . The Sonderbundskrieg had
18326-483: The physical volume of exports fall, but also the prices fell by about 1 ⁄ 3 as written. Hardest hit were farm commodities such as wheat, cotton, tobacco, and lumber. Governments around the world took various steps into spending less money on foreign goods such as: "imposing tariffs, import quotas, and exchange controls". These restrictions triggered much tension among countries that had large amounts of bilateral trade, causing major export-import reductions during
18480-539: The plateau, which hosts its largest cities and economic centres, including Zurich , Geneva , and Basel . Switzerland originates from the Old Swiss Confederacy established in the Late Middle Ages , following a series of military successes against Austria and Burgundy ; the Federal Charter of 1291 is considered the country's founding document. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire
18634-480: The policies prolonged the Depression instead of shortening it. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an estimated 15%; in the U.S., the Depression resulted in a 30% contraction in GDP. Recovery varied greatly around the world. Some economies, such as the U.S., Germany and Japan started to recover by the mid-1930s; others, like France, did not return to pre-shock growth rates until later in
18788-459: The political situation in Europe. In their book, A Monetary History of the United States , Milton Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz also attributed the recovery to monetary factors, and contended that it was much slowed by poor management of money by the Federal Reserve System . Chairman of the Federal Reserve (2006–2014) Ben Bernanke agreed that monetary factors played important roles both in
18942-414: The right to vote . Some Swiss cantons approved this in 1959, while at the federal level, it was achieved in 1971 and, after resistance, in the last canton Appenzell Innerrhoden (one of only two remaining Landsgemeinde , along with Glarus ) in 1990. After obtaining suffrage at the federal level, women quickly rose in political significance. The first woman on the seven-member Federal Council executive
19096-434: The scale necessary to make the grand experiments which would prove my case—except in war conditions." According to Christina Romer , the money supply growth caused by huge international gold inflows was a crucial source of the recovery of the United States economy, and that the economy showed little sign of self-correction. The gold inflows were partly due to devaluation of the U.S. dollar and partly due to deterioration of
19250-778: The sixth century, following Clovis I 's victory over the Alemanni at Tolbiac in 504 AD, and later Frankish domination of the Burgundians. Throughout the rest of the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries, Swiss regions continued under Frankish hegemony ( Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties) but after its extension under Charlemagne , the Frankish Empire was divided by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. The territories of present-day Switzerland became divided into Middle Francia and East Francia until they were reunified under
19404-681: The southeast the long Engadin Valley, encompassing St. Moritz , is also well known; the highest peak in the neighbouring Bernina Alps is Piz Bernina (4,049 m or 13,284 ft). The Swiss Plateau has greater open and hilly landscapes, partly forested, partly open pastures, usually with grazing herds or vegetable and fruit fields, but it is still hilly. Large lakes and the biggest Swiss cities are found there. Switzerland contains two small enclaves : Büsingen belongs to Germany, while Campione d'Italia belongs to Italy. Switzerland has no exclaves. Great Depression The Great Depression
19558-542: The top exchanges in the world by capitalization. On 23 August 2023, the company formed EuroCTP as a joint venture with 13 other bourses, in an effort to provide a consolidated tape for the European Union , as part of the Capital Markets Union proposed by the European Commission . The first exchanges in Switzerland were created locally in major Swiss cities throughout Switzerland, with
19712-633: The two names even in writing. The Latin name Confoederatio Helvetica was neologised and introduced gradually after the formation of the federal state in 1848, harking back to the Napoleonic Helvetic Republic . It appeared on coins from 1879, inscribed on the Federal Palace in 1902 and after 1948 used in the official seal (e.g., the ISO banking code "CHF" for the Swiss franc , the Swiss postage stamps ('HELVETIA') and
19866-698: The wars until 1929. This development continued until the Kennedy Slide of 1962 , which was triggered by measures against the economic slowdown, the New York crash, and the Cuban Missile Crisis . Following the deregulation and the termination of the Bretton Woods System (fixed exchange rates) by the United States , in the 1970s, a fundamental transformation of the economy and of the financial landscape started, which
20020-695: The wider world by Axis-controlled territory. Over the course of the war, Switzerland interned over 300,000 refugees aided by the International Red Cross , based in Geneva. Strict immigration and asylum policies and the financial relationships with Nazi Germany raised controversy, only at the end of the 20th century. During the war, the Swiss Air Force engaged aircraft of both sides, shooting down 11 intruding Luftwaffe planes in May and June 1940, then forcing down other intruders after
20174-476: The world, recovery from the Great Depression began in 1933. In the U.S., recovery began in early 1933, but the U.S. did not return to 1929 GNP for over a decade and still had an unemployment rate of about 15% in 1940, albeit down from the high of 25% in 1933. There is no consensus among economists regarding the motive force for the U.S. economic expansion that continued through most of the Roosevelt years (and
20328-624: The world. The financial crisis escalated out of control in mid-1931, starting with the collapse of the Credit Anstalt in Vienna in May. This put heavy pressure on Germany, which was already in political turmoil. With the rise in violence of National Socialist ('Nazi') and Communist movements, as well as investor nervousness at harsh government financial policies, investors withdrew their short-term money from Germany as confidence spiraled downward. The Reichsbank lost 150 million marks in
20482-778: The worldwide economic decline and eventual recovery. Bernanke also saw a strong role for institutional factors, particularly the rebuilding and restructuring of the financial system, and pointed out that the Depression should be examined in an international perspective. Women's primary role was as housewives; without a steady flow of family income, their work became much harder in dealing with food and clothing and medical care. Birthrates fell everywhere, as children were postponed until families could financially support them. The average birthrate for 14 major countries fell 12% from 19.3 births per thousand population in 1930, to 17.0 in 1935. In Canada, half of Roman Catholic women defied Church teachings and used contraception to postpone births. Among
20636-560: Was Elisabeth Kopp , who served from 1984 to 1989, and the first female president was Ruth Dreifuss in 1999. In 1979 areas from the canton of Bern attained independence from the Bernese, forming the new canton of Jura . On 18 April 1999, the Swiss population and the cantons voted in favour of a completely revised federal constitution . In 2002 Switzerland became a full member of the United Nations, leaving Vatican City as
20790-405: Was $ 2.8 billion and it was financed through Eurex , which was then owned 85% by Deutsche Börse and 15% by SWX Swiss Exchange. The revenue of ISE was about $ 178 million in 2006, and the profit around $ 55 million. The ISE remains independent and keeps its structure and branding . On 1 January 2007, SWX Swiss Exchange and Deutsche Börse jointly started and managed an exchange for structured products,
20944-658: Was a scramble to deflate prices to get the gold standard's conversation rates back on track to pre-WWI levels, by causing deflation and high unemployment through monetary policy. In 1933 FDR signed Executive Order 6102 and in 1934 signed the Gold Reserve Act . The two classic competing economic theories of the Great Depression are the Keynesian (demand-driven) and the Monetarist explanation. There are also various heterodox theories that downplay or reject
21098-443: Was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty; drastic reductions in liquidity , industrial production, and trade; and widespread bank and business failures around the world. The economic contagion began in 1929 in the United States , the largest economy in the world, with the devastating Wall Street stock market crash of October 1929 often considered
21252-478: Was a small part of overall economic activity in the U.S. and was concentrated in a few businesses like farming, it was a much larger factor in many other countries. The average ad valorem (value based) rate of duties on dutiable imports for 1921–1925 was 25.9% but under the new tariff it jumped to 50% during 1931–1935. In dollar terms, American exports declined over the next four years from about $ 5.2 billion in 1929 to $ 1.7 billion in 1933; so, not only did
21406-515: Was also discussed, but not introduced. Finally, Swiss exchanges were required to unite under a securities exchange association in order to set up a registration office, so that the Swiss National Bank could have the desired influence. After the Second World War , banking fees for trades on exchanges were unified in a broker conference. In the middle of the 1950s, the revenues of the exchanges reached new highs as in times before or between
21560-575: Was complicated and controversial; over the course of the war, it admitted as many as 300,000 refugees while refusing tens of thousands more, including Jews persecuted by the Nazis. After the war, the Swiss government exported credits through the charitable fund known as the Schweizerspende and donated to the Marshall Plan to help Europe's recovery, efforts that ultimately benefited
21714-474: Was endorsed in 2002 by Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke in a speech honoring Friedman and Schwartz with this statement: Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression, you're right. We did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again. The Federal Reserve allowed some large public bank failures – particularly that of
21868-462: Was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes , perhaps related to swedan 'to burn' (cf. Old Norse svíða 'to singe, burn'), referring to the area of forest that was burned and cleared to build. The name was extended to the area dominated by the canton, and after the Swabian War of 1499 gradually came to be used for the entire Confederation. The Swiss German name of
22022-530: Was formally recognised in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Switzerland has maintained a policy of armed neutrality since the 16th century and has not fought an international war since 1815 . It joined the United Nations only in 2002 but pursues an active foreign policy that includes frequent involvement in peace building . Switzerland is the birthplace of the Red Cross and hosts the headquarters or offices of most major international institutions including
22176-685: Was founded in 1884. Smaller exchanges were also created in Lausanne in 1873, in St. Gallen in 1887 and in Neuchâtel in 1905. The exchanges were subject by the Cantons to a value added tax . During the First World War , all Swiss exchanges were closed, with the exception of bond trading in the Geneva exchange. The depression of 1920–21 was followed by a bull market in the 1920s, during which
22330-464: Was founded in 1993 by merging the Geneva Stock Exchange , the Basel Stock Exchange and the Zürich stock exchange into the Verein Schweizerische Effektenbörse (German for "Swiss Securities Exchanges Association"), publicly known in English as Swiss Exchange . The newly created association took over trading in 1995. It was the first stock exchange in the world to incorporate a fully automated trading, clearing and settlement system. The association
22484-426: Was given by American economists Milton Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz . They argued that the Great Depression was caused by the banking crisis that caused one-third of all banks to vanish, a reduction of bank shareholder wealth and more importantly monetary contraction of 35%, which they called "The Great Contraction ". This caused a price drop of 33% ( deflation ). By not lowering interest rates, by not increasing
22638-427: Was in the form of Federal Reserve demand notes. A "promise of gold" is not as good as "gold in the hand", particularly when they only had enough gold to cover 40% of the Federal Reserve Notes outstanding. During the bank panics, a portion of those demand notes was redeemed for Federal Reserve gold. Since the Federal Reserve had hit its limit on allowable credit, any reduction in gold in its vaults had to be accompanied by
22792-405: Was integrated into the Roman province of Raetia . Sometime around the start of the Common Era , the Romans maintained a large camp called Vindonissa , now a ruin at the confluence of the Aare and Reuss rivers, near the town of Windisch . The first and second century AD was an age of prosperity on the Swiss Plateau. Towns such as Aventicum , Iulia Equestris and Augusta Raurica reached
22946-446: Was intended. It exacerbated the Great Depression by preventing economic recovery after domestic production recovered, hampering the volume of trade; still there is disagreement as to the precise extent of the Act's influence. In the popular view, the Smoot–Hawley Tariff was one of the leading causes of the depression. In a 1995 survey of American economic historians, two-thirds agreed that the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act at least worsened
23100-438: Was mandated by the Zürich stock exchange to investigate how computer technologies could be used on the exchange. Only in the 1980s did computers finally find their way into exchanges. On 8 December 1995, an advanced electronic system for the processing of foreign stock in the domestic exchange market was introduced, on 2 August 1996 that of Swiss stock and options. Finally, on 16 August 1996, bonds were also electronically traded and
23254-403: Was part of the territory of the Kings of the Burgundians , who introduced the French language to the area. The Alemanni settled the Swiss Plateau in the fifth century and the valleys of the Alps in the eighth century, forming Alemannia . Modern-day Switzerland was then divided between the kingdoms of Alemannia and Burgundy . The entire region became part of the expanding Frankish Empire in
23408-400: Was renamed to SWX Europe in 2008. SWX Europe came to a halt in 2009 and the trading was transferred to SIX Swiss Exchange. On 30 April 2007, SWX Swiss exchange acquired, jointly with Deutsche Börse , the US option exchange ISE . With the acquisition of International Securities Exchange Holding (ISE), one of the largest trading platforms for finance derivatives emerged. The price for ISE
23562-438: Was renamed to SWX Swiss Exchange in 1999. In 2002, the association was changed to a public limited company called SWX Swiss Exchange AG. In July 2004, it rejected a merger proposal from Deutsche Börse , which analysts anticipated as profitable for many small companies listed on SWX Swiss Exchange. In 2008, SWX Swiss Exchange merged with SIS Group and Telekurs into the new SIX Group , and was renamed as SIX Swiss Exchange, which
23716-411: Was the rollback of those same reflationary policies that led to the interruption of a recession beginning in late 1937. One contributing policy that reversed reflation was the Banking Act of 1935 , which effectively raised reserve requirements, causing a monetary contraction that helped to thwart the recovery. GDP returned to its upward trend in 1938. A revisionist view among some economists holds that
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