Pratique du Shadowing: Why is Switzerland home to so many billionaires? - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube

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Think of Switzerland and you might think of fine cheese,
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Think of Switzerland and you might think of fine cheese,
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luxury chocolate and snow-capped mountains.
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But you may also think of money.
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Switzerland has one billionaire for every 80,000 people,
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making it the third most dense billionaire population in the world.
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Only Luxembourg and Hong Kong have a higher proportion of individuals with a net worth of at least 10 figures.
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Do you feel like you know any billionaires?
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I personally know quite many billionaires, yes, and millionaires, yes.
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I do not know any billionaires,
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no, no, no. Plenty of millionaires, but no billionaires.
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No, I don't.
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I wish I did, but I really don't.
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Swiss residents are also among the richest in the world,
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with a mean net worth of almost $700,000 ahead of the US and Hong Kong.
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That makes the country stand out on several key wealth metrics.
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If you look at the income distribution,
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it has remained relatively stable over many decades now.
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It is much less unequal than many other countries.
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The average person has it quite good here,
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but I mean, that doesn't mean there aren't poor either.
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And then the super future falls.
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And I mean, that difference is, of course, huge.
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So what makes Switzerland such an attractive place for the uber wealthy?
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And what does that extreme wealth mean for the rest of Swiss society?
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As of 2022, Switzerland was home to an estimated 110 billionaires,
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with a combined wealth of $338 billion.
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That's well above other super-rich hotspots like Saudi Arabia,
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Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
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Among some of the country's wealthiest residents are Chanel co-owner Gerard Wertheimer,
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the heirs of IKEA creator Ingvar Kamprod,
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and the founders of homegrown healthcare giant Roche.
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Switzerland is considered one of the most politically stable countries with a strong reputation for political neutrality.
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It means wealthy individuals can trust that their assets will be safe from any sudden leadership and policy changes.
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The country also benefits from an attractive tax system with low rates for both corporations and individuals,
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giving Switzerland a competitive advantage versus other locations.
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The tax aspect is one part of the equation of rich individuals in the form of income
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that very rich individuals tend to have is not labour income.
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Most of their income tends to be capital income or capital gains on the companies they hold.
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And there is no capital gains tax on financial assets here in Switzerland,
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which of course is attractive for these kinds of rich individuals.
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This means the Swiss aren't getting taxed on the profit they make when selling an asset that's increased in value.
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And while there is no capital gains tax,
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Switzerland is one of the few European countries with a wealth tax,
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but it is set at a relatively low level of 0.1% to 1.1% of an individual's net wealth.
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That tax is levied by individual cantons,
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or regions, of which Switzerland has 26.
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Martin Buller, finance chief for the canton of Grisson,
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told me this system helps boost competitiveness.
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The cantons are responsible for everything that's not delegated to the confederation or delegated to the municipalities.
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We are able to shape our financial policy independently,
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but we have some law confederation-wide where we have to be in line with.
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We have the very globalized urban centers like Zürich, like Basel, Geneva.
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And Grisons is a very big on-surface canton,
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but in the periphery it's more rural.
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Means we need other goodies to find the people to attract people to live here
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and the way we do it is we have for example by the wealth tax
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so we have this competition between the cantons on one hand
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but we also are all interested
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that this is not exaggerating Switzerland also benefits from a strong Swiss franc
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which lowers the cost of foreign goods and services while raising the price of Swiss exports.
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The country's currency has steadily strengthened over recent decades,
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reaching parity with the euro.
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Meanwhile, it has held steady against a strong dollar.
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You don't have to be afraid of a major depreciation of the currency here,
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which is kind of related also of course to the political stability,
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to the strong legal and institutional setting here.
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The century is also considered a leading business destination with world-class financial services,
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pharmaceuticals and chemical sectors.
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It is also home to major business institutions such as the World Economic Forum,
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which famously gathers global industry leaders for its annual event here in Davos.
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Switzerland's banking sector developed a reputation over the 20th century as a place of privacy and anonymity,
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making it a particularly attractive location for wealthy individuals to store their cash and potentially avoid taxes.
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That system came under scrutiny following the global financial crisis and the failure of several major Swiss banks,
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forcing the industry to clean up its act and require greater transparency from clients.
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But still, it has retained its status as a hub for wealth management.
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Historically, that has been part of what the Swiss banks have been doing,
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essentially helping rich individuals evade their taxes in other countries.
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They've moved away from that business model and tried to keep moving away from it because,
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you know, the international regulations have become stricter.
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The shift comes as governments face increasing pressure to rein in the so-called billionaire class,
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as many continue to struggle with the cost of living crisis.
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A 2024 Oxfam report found
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that the combined fortunes of the world's five richest men have more than doubled to $869 billion since 2020,
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while 5 billion people have been made poorer.
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So what does Switzerland's ultra-rich population mean for the rest of the country?
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And social cohesion overall?
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To focus only on rich people would not fit anymore.
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So we have to rethink,
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we have to get attractive for all parts,
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for young people, for low qualified personnel.
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It's not that easy anymore to say we can focus on this and the rest is okay.
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It's a problem that there are so big differences,
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but we're lucky that we're living in Switzerland.
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It's definitely true that Switzerland does have a bigger gap between the richer ones and,
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not poor because they're not,
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but the less wealthy ones, you could say.
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Despite the extremes, however, Switzerland continues to rank highly on livability and social harmony indices.
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That is seen as being down to the country's social policies and labour laws,
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which ensure decent living standards for the less well-off too.
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So you see that the workings of the labour market,
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the education system that makes sure
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that even people further down the distribution actually make good incomes has worked for a long time very well.
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If you think about the system in which there is a social structure
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so that people who don't earn that much can still live quite well,
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that is probably a key element to the society.
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you

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Why practice speaking with this video?

This video provides an engaging and informative context for English speaking practice, particularly focusing on wealth distribution and the socio-economic dynamics of Switzerland. By exploring why Switzerland is a hub for billionaires, learners can enhance their vocabulary related to finance, politics, and social issues. Practicing with this video allows you to build confidence in discussing complex topics, which is valuable not only in everyday conversation but also for academic purposes like IELTS speaking practice. Implementing the shadowing technique with this video can help refine your pronunciation and rhythm, making your spoken English sound more natural and fluent.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

  • Comparative Structures: The speaker highlights the density of billionaires by stating, "Switzerland has one billionaire for every 80,000 people, making it the third most dense billionaire population in the world." This structure is effective for making comparisons and can be useful in your discussions about different countries or cities.
  • Conditional Statements: Phrases like "If you look at the income distribution..." provide a way to discuss hypothetical situations and their outcomes. Understanding how to use conditional forms allows you to express possibilities in conversation.
  • Use of Passive Voice: The statement "that system came under scrutiny following the Global Financial Crisis" employs the passive voice, which is often used in formal or academic writing. Mastering this structure can improve your English clarity, particularly in written form.
  • Descriptive Language: The speaker uses adjectives such as "politically stable" and "luxurious" to convey the characteristics of Switzerland. Incorporating descriptive language into your speech will enhance your vocabulary and improve your ability to paint vivid pictures with your words.

Common Pronunciation Traps

Several words and phrases in this video might present challenges for English learners. For instance, "billionaires," "income distribution," and "political stability" feature complex syllable stress that can trip up non-native speakers. Additionally, the crisp pronunciation of "Switzerland" can be particularly difficult due to the combination of consonants and vowels. Utilizing a shadowing app can help you practice these tricky pronunciations effectively. By repeating after the speaker, you can capture the nuances of intonation and stress, which are critical for sounding fluent. Incorporating shadow speech in your practice will further aid in mastering these potentially challenging terms, ultimately enhancing your overall speaking proficiency.

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.

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