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Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

swissinfo.ch

141–150 of 153 posts

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#141
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Swiss franc is currently pegged 1:1 with USD, having ditched Euro peg almost 5 years ago. It's not.

The Swiss central bank actively tries to maintain parity Use whatever word you want to quickly convey that thought to a broad population “Peg” also does that.

Over the last four years the USD has moved in the range 0.92-1.03 CHF (a +/- 5.6% interval around the midpoint). The average rate is 0.985, the standard deviation 0.019 (2.0%).

Over the last four years the EUR has moved in the range 1.06-1.20 CHF (a +/- 6.0% interval around the midpoint). The average rate is 1.117, the standard deviation 0.034 (3.1%).

Even though the exchange with the USD is slightly more stable in this case (it depends on the period and metric chosen) saying that it's pegged is an exaggeration.

By the way, the CHF was not pegged to the EUR either. There was a minimum rate set by the SNB at 1.20 but it floated as high as 1.26 in 2013.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#142
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first thought was "wow, it would be cool if we had something like this in the US". But after a second, I realized that probably many people in the US are so rabidly nationalistic that if this were ever proposed, they would be against it, because "if you don't want to live in our great country, why do you deserve representation?" It's sad, really.

I’m not entirely convinced it’s fair for non residents to vote, especially those that have no intentions of coming back. Election results for French expats are typically very different from those back home. LePen was not even close to be qualified for a second turn in the last presidential elections in London. Unless you live in France you would typically not be subject to any of the laws the new government would ena…

[deleted]

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Multi-citizenship is a very strange concept anyway. Sure you can check the boxes and countries A and B consider you a citizen, but it's bizarre to me that one nation would let you swear loyalty to another without revoking your citizenship. The naturalization oath of allegiance, at least the American one, is very explicit about conflicts of interest like that but we've just sort of chosen not to enforce those parts of…

Citizenship is a very strange concept to me. The fact of a person being born in a specific geographic location giving the surrounding nation-state the right to claim some sort of perpetual jurisdiction over that person to the exclusion of all other nation-states seems, upon reflection, quite bizarre.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe most Western democracies freely allow people to renounce their citizenship.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#144
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Swiss central bank actively tries to maintain parity Use whatever word you want to quickly convey that thought to a broad population “Peg” also does that.

Over the last four years the USD has moved in the range 0.92-1.03 CHF (a +/- 5.6% interval around the midpoint). The average rate is 0.985, the standard deviation 0.019 (2.0%). Over the last four years the EUR has moved in the range 1.06-1.20 CHF (a +/- 6.0% interval around the midpoint). The average rate is 1.117, the standard deviation 0.034 (3.1%). Even though the exchange with the USD is slightly more stable in t…

> ... but it floated as high as 1.26 in 2013.

Just before they abandoned the peg as too hard to maintian.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#145
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Swiss central bank actively tries to maintain parity Use whatever word you want to quickly convey that thought to a broad population “Peg” also does that.

Over the last four years the USD has moved in the range 0.92-1.03 CHF (a +/- 5.6% interval around the midpoint). The average rate is 0.985, the standard deviation 0.019 (2.0%). Over the last four years the EUR has moved in the range 1.06-1.20 CHF (a +/- 6.0% interval around the midpoint). The average rate is 1.117, the standard deviation 0.034 (3.1%). Even though the exchange with the USD is slightly more stable in t…

I mean I've seen state sponsored pegs that had a greater standard deviation than this non-peg.

Thanks for the quantitative response, I just don't find it a productive conversation to what the point was.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#146
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume you've never been in a foreign country when it fell apart and the US government had to evacuate their citizens. Some other expatriates weren't so lucky.

I have, actually (Kenya). I'm also lucky enough to hold the passport of another developed country that helps its expatriates and doesn't have a regressive expatriate tax system , so I can compare.

I need to add that a country providing expatriate safety services has nothing to do with a tax system and everything to do with supporting the country's imperialist interests.

It's much harder to get your citizens to work in your interest in risky foreign countries if you aren't willing to back them up.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#147
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over the last four years the USD has moved in the range 0.92-1.03 CHF (a +/- 5.6% interval around the midpoint). The average rate is 0.985, the standard deviation 0.019 (2.0%). Over the last four years the EUR has moved in the range 1.06-1.20 CHF (a +/- 6.0% interval around the midpoint). The average rate is 1.117, the standard deviation 0.034 (3.1%). Even though the exchange with the USD is slightly more stable in t…

> ... but it floated as high as 1.26 in 2013. Just before they abandoned the peg as too hard to maintian.

Maintaining the 1.20 floor (not peg) is not hard when the CHF is weakening against the EUR, the SNB doesn’t need to do anything at all when the exchange rate is moving in the direction they want.

They abandoned the floor more that a year and a half later, in January 2015, when the exchange rate was back at 1.20 despite their efforts to keep CHF appreciation under control.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#148
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first thought was "wow, it would be cool if we had something like this in the US". But after a second, I realized that probably many people in the US are so rabidly nationalistic that if this were ever proposed, they would be against it, because "if you don't want to live in our great country, why do you deserve representation?" It's sad, really.

I’m not entirely convinced it’s fair for non residents to vote, especially those that have no intentions of coming back. Election results for French expats are typically very different from those back home. LePen was not even close to be qualified for a second turn in the last presidential elections in London. Unless you live in France you would typically not be subject to any of the laws the new government would ena…

I disagree incredibly strongly with this idea - I'm Polish and Poland wasn't even on the map of the world for over a 100 years, yet the country survived. Then again during the communist rule we had a proxy government formed in London. Polish expats living abroad are definitely still Poles and as a nation we have a history of those people carrying what made our nation come back from the brink of destruction over and over again - the idea that as a Pole living abroad you couldn't vote is almost repulsive to me.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#150
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suggest not admitting this publicly.

I'm curious: why?

My concern originates with this statement [1]:

> If the Department of Homeland Security determines that the renunciation is motivated by tax avoidance purposes, the individual will be found inadmissible to the United States under Section 212(a)(10)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(10)(E)), as amended.

[1] https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-lega...

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