What Broken Democracies Can Learn from Switzerland | Phil Lojacono x Peter McCormack Show

Phil Lojacono is a Swiss entrepreneur and political thinker with deep insights into how Switzerland has built one of the most stable, decentralised, and citizen-focused democracies in the world.

In this interview, we explore what broken democracies like the UK and US can learn from the Swiss model: from localism and tax competition to limited government, civic maturity, and referendums that actually hold power to account. Phil explains why decentralisation works, how Switzerland avoids political extremism, and why trust in government must be earned, not assumed.

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00:00:00 – People First, Government Last
00:01:48 – How Swiss Democracy Really Works
00:05:40 – Decentralisation Starts With Culture
00:09:53 – Competition Between Cantons
00:14:00 – Swiss Taxation and Incentives
00:21:09 – The Wrong People Run Government
00:26:42 – From Virtue Signalling to Suicidal Empathy
00:31:31 – Why Swiss Politics Limits Ambition
00:34:28 – Seven Leaders, Shared Power
00:38:35 – Referendums Keep Government in Check
00:41:07 – Four National Votes a Year
00:46:26 – Swiss Maturity on Policy Tradeoffs
00:47:35 – Poverty, Crime, and Social Order
00:53:01 – Local Control Over Public Spending
00:54:10 – The Swiss Debt Brake Explained
01:00:46 – Why the Gold Standard Was Abandoned
01:04:46 – Teach Economics Like Math
01:05:48 – Welfare That Doesn’t Trap People
01:08:44 – Swiss Healthcare: Private and Expensive
01:16:26 – The Glue That Holds Switzerland Together
01:20:14 – Every Country Makes the Same Mistakes
01:23:54 – Swiss Culture of Government Distrust
01:26:51 – Advice for Fixing the UK
01:30:31 – Bitcoin and Swiss Adoption

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