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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Privacy & Prosperity in the Offshore World
Thursday, September 22, 2005 - Vol. 7 No. 192
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In This Issue:
* COMMENT: Swiss Eye World's Oldest Profession.
* OFFSHORE: Record Hong Kong Jobs. More Bahamas Blues.
* WEALTH: Anti-Money Laundering Mess. Missing Billions. AIB Branch.
* PRIVACY & RIGHTS: EU's Dead Constitution. PATRIOT Act Costs.
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COMMENT: Swiss Eye World's Oldest Profession.
Dear A-Letter Reader:
Switzerland and the Swiss are subjected, more than most peoples, to global stereotypical ideas and opinions, probably because they have been around a millennium or so, long enough to become the stuff of legends -- William Tell and all that.
We at the Sovereign Society, ever aware of our purpose and goals, see Switzerland as the leading financial haven in the world, with especiallyappealing strict bank secrecy. (Asks us about that.)
Mention Switzerland and the average American or Brit conjures up mental visions of secret bank accounts, cheese and Alpin horns. If you're of a literary bent, you may envision Sherlock Holmes and the evil Moriarity going over the precipice at Rikenbach Falls.
A few months ago in this space I quoted Orson Welles' famous line from the 1949 film, 'The Third Man,' (based on the Graham Greene's book) as follows: "In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock."
But those who know them will admit that not all the Swiss wear dirndls and lederhosen, nor conservative banker's Italian silk threads. Underneath that reserved exterior, the Swiss can be much more playful.
Thus it is that the Swiss will vote this Sunday, Sept. 25, on whether to open their borders to workers from ten new EU states: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus.
But is the heated debate preceding the vote about being overwhelmed by too many Gypsies, peasants, cheap laborers, or even Slavs per se?
Not at all! Get real! -- The burning question is: will Switzerland be overrun by a flood of prostitutes from Eastern Europe?
Prostitution is legal in Switzerland but prostitutes must register and get regular health checks (Nevertheless, Switzerland has one of the highest rates of genital herpes in the western world; an estimated 19% of its 7,489,370 residents are infected).
It seems there has been a recent deluge of female prostitutes (no numbers were given for males) moving into the Confederation Helvetica. In Geneva the number is up by 50% since June 2004, from 700 to over 1000, while in Basel, the epitome of world banking probity, they rose from 500 to 750. Last year, 399 women in Zurich got into prostitution, swelling the number of 'sex workers' to more than 3,500.
A Zurich vice policeman blames the sex influx on "the EU bilateral agreements allowing the free movement of people." He may be right, but this kind of free movement has been around for a long time, and historically it has proven difficult to control, cross border or in any other direction.
But we do like the Swiss free market solution to what probably is a non-problem. A police official says: "Women will not sell themselves for nothing. Prices have been going down because there are a lot more women than before. If there's more supply than demand, then prices could drop further and fewer will arrive here."
We can't argue with the basic law of supply and demand, in this case or elsewhere. But we fondly recall a bit we heard Ronald Reagan use now and again when he first ran for governor of California. The Gipper would smile at his audience and intone: "Now that I am a politician, I guess that makes me a member of the world's second oldest profession." Then amid the audience chuckles, he would do that famous head tilt and add: "And I think the other one begins with the letter "p" also and they have some similarities."
Prostitution is not just defined as engaging in sex for hire. It can also be devoting one's energies to an unworthy use or cause. In Switzerland, as in America, some folks regularly ply both those professions -- without having to register -- or admit it.
Watch that Sunday vote. We bet the free market wins.
That's the way that it looks from here,
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
PS: There's a lot about Switzerland in my book on offshore havens. Click
here: LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/190STHOW/W190F916/