Switzerland one of the most competitive economies
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked Switzerland the world’s second most competitive economy after the United States.
According to WEF Chief Economist Margareta Drzeniek:
“Switzerland is still a good place to do business. In terms of public institutions, red tape etc. it is very well managed. It is also a very good environment for innovation, where it has even improved since last year.”
The top ten in 2007 remain the same as in last year, just in a different order. Europe is strongly represented by Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Finland from third to sixth place. Singapore and Japan are seventh and eight places while Britain and the Netherlands were ranked ninth and tenth.The main change from 2007 is that the USA have moved up from sixth to first place. The economies of China and India were placed 34th and 48th respectively this year.
The report also says that Switzerland is characterised by an excellent capacity for innovation and a very sophisticated business culture.
“iconomix” makes complex economics exciting for high school students
Teaching economics to high school students can be tedious for both teacher and student. But these days are over: The Swiss National Bank, responsible for the money policy in Switzerland, has recently launched a website called www.iconomix.ch that offers a wide range of interactive, fun and exciting materials for teachers and students.
The National Bank has created a fabulous interactive teaching site here with tons of interesting materials that are not only available for teachers and students, but for anyone who wants to know how markets operate, how risks can be minimised, how prices are established, or, even more basic, why societies use money to pay for goods. Some materials are worksheets, but there are also very detailed simulations, games and group tasks to keep you going for ages. Enjoy!
BrainStore has been involved in naming the website. The winner name, “iconomix” is the German way you would write the word “economics” phonetically. It also reminds young people of characters from the very popular “Asterix” cartoons.
We are Time Travelers
In a recent Time article two Harvard professors of psychology talk about how seldom our mind is actually focussing on the here and now. If our environment doesn’t draw our attention, we keep wandering off: Traveling back (and forth) in time, browsing through experiences and thoughts – “moving across the landscape of our history to see what we can learn — for free”. We learn by trial and error. By reviewing our experiences and previewing the consequences of our actions, we save a lot of real life trial and error that could lead to mistakes.
