Saturday, July 01, 2006
Traveling around by train
As you would easily notice train system here is very efficient and comprehensive. SBB, railway authority, has a very good web site as well. For best train deals you should check clickandrail Switzerland. It is an e-ticket system and you must have Acrobat software and a printer to print the ticket beforehand. From time to time they are offering other good deals. For instance last winter they offered a country-wide first class day-pass for only 55CHF.
For best international train deals you should check clickandrail international. You get very good deals even if you don't have halbtax card. Travelling from Zurich to Dusseldorf on a ICE for a mere 40 CHF makes you feel good. In the past it was only towards Germany. Now Italy and Austria were also added. You can also check DB Surf&Rail to find similar internet-only deals and travel easily.
For France there is a fast TGV train between Geneva and Paris. And for Italy Cisalpino Express service is also convenient. It is a private company where SBB is a partner.
For best international train deals you should check clickandrail international. You get very good deals even if you don't have halbtax card. Travelling from Zurich to Dusseldorf on a ICE for a mere 40 CHF makes you feel good. In the past it was only towards Germany. Now Italy and Austria were also added. You can also check DB Surf&Rail to find similar internet-only deals and travel easily.
For France there is a fast TGV train between Geneva and Paris. And for Italy Cisalpino Express service is also convenient. It is a private company where SBB is a partner.
State of the rich
I guess the state of the rich has always been an interesting topic ( publication of the first “rich list” goes back to 1892.) as a Turkish saying goes “the wealth of the rich, makes poor man’s tongue tired (or busy)”.
The recent announcements of the wealthiest about their philanthropy initiatives attracted lots of media coverage -and some interesting statistics. So, as any statistics on the wealth related issues obviously cite Zurich, I decided to make my tongue (or keyboard) busy.
There are a lot of rich –with liquid financial assets of more than $1Million- people in the world. Swiss Unit of Merrill Lynch says there are 8.7M of them controlling a whopping $33Trillion in assets. Among them 85,000 of them are the super rich (over $30M)
185,000 of the $ millionaires are Swiss (excluding their primary house) and the top 100 of them hold CHF370Billion in assets. But the remaining part of the population must be doing well too.
According to a World Bank report Swiss people are the wealthiest in the World. (in 1928 was the 2nd ) per capita Wealth is 816,913 CHF or 648,241USD. Second richest is Denmark with 575k$. Germans’ wealth is almost 30% less with 496k$. Another study shows Zurich is the city with the highest net income.
On the other hand Mercer’s recent study claims that Zurich is now 9th most expensive city (down from 7th) trailing Geneva and far behind of Moscow..
For those of you who like to go further and read about IQ-wealth relation may read this article written by some weird guys. It claims there is a direct link.
The recent announcements of the wealthiest about their philanthropy initiatives attracted lots of media coverage -and some interesting statistics. So, as any statistics on the wealth related issues obviously cite Zurich, I decided to make my tongue (or keyboard) busy.
There are a lot of rich –with liquid financial assets of more than $1Million- people in the world. Swiss Unit of Merrill Lynch says there are 8.7M of them controlling a whopping $33Trillion in assets. Among them 85,000 of them are the super rich (over $30M)
185,000 of the $ millionaires are Swiss (excluding their primary house) and the top 100 of them hold CHF370Billion in assets. But the remaining part of the population must be doing well too.
According to a World Bank report Swiss people are the wealthiest in the World. (in 1928 was the 2nd ) per capita Wealth is 816,913 CHF or 648,241USD. Second richest is Denmark with 575k$. Germans’ wealth is almost 30% less with 496k$. Another study shows Zurich is the city with the highest net income.
On the other hand Mercer’s recent study claims that Zurich is now 9th most expensive city (down from 7th) trailing Geneva and far behind of Moscow..
For those of you who like to go further and read about IQ-wealth relation may read this article written by some weird guys. It claims there is a direct link.
