Swiss Capitalism, or the Significance of Small Things

Abstract

Abstract:"Small is beautiful," believedthe economist Ernst Friedrich Schumacher.For him, a more humane society required favoring smaller scales over gigantism. In the following essay, I reflect on the political economy of one of the smallest, and certainly the richest, of places on earth: Switzerland. I consider in particular older (Peter Katzenstein, Corporatism and Change) and newer (Lea Haller, Transithandel) literature on Swiss capitalism, and discuss the global impact of its powerful business lobbies, trading companies, and banks. I argue that the great power wielded by capitalists in Swiss politicshas translated into Switzerland's becoming an important cog in the machinery of global capitalism, a stronghold for neoliberalism, and a global warden of conservatism.