Credit Suisse Group offers private banking

Credit Suisse Group offers private banking, investment banking and asset management services. It acquired The First Boston Corporation in 1988 and merged with the Winterthur insurance company in 1997; the latter was sold to AXA in 2006.^[30] The asset management services were sold to Aberdeen Asset Management in 2008 during the GFC. HP G42-367TU CPU Fan The Swiss National Bank (SNB) serves as the country's central bank. Founded by the Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank (16 January 1906), it began conducting business on 20 June 1907. Its shares are publicly traded, and are held by the cantons, cantonal banks, and individual investors; the federal government does not hold any shares.^[31] Toshiba Satellite P100-238 CPU Fan Although a central bank often has regulatory authority over the country's banking system, the SNB does not; regulation is solely the role of the Federal Banking Commission. The term private bank refers to a bank that offers private banking services and in its legal form is a partnership. The first private banks were created in St. Gallen in the mid-18th century and in Geneva in the late 18th century as partnerships, and some are still in the hands of the original families such as Hottinger and Mirabaud. ACER Aspire 5739 CPU Fan In Switzerland, such private banks are called private bankers (a protected term) to distinguish them from the other private banks which are typically shared corporations. Historically in Switzerland a minimum of CHF1 million was required to open an account, however, over the last years many private banks have lowered their entry hurdles to CHF250,000 for private investors. IBM ThinkPad T40 2678 CPU Fan There are, as of 2006, 24 cantonal banks; these banks are state-guaranteed semi-governmental organizations controlled by one of Switzerland's 26 cantons that engage in all banking businesses.^[33] The largest cantonal bank, the Zurich Cantonal Bank, had a 2005 net income of CHF810 million. Raiffeisen Switzerland "assumes the role of central bank" in providing treasury services, and is the third largest group consisting of 328 banks in 2011, 390 in 2012 with 1,155 branches.^[35][36] During February 2012 P. Vincenz was chief executive.^[37] During January an announcement was made that the non-U.S. businesses ofWegelin & Co, IBM Thinkpad T43 CPU Fan the oldest Swiss bank, would be bought by the Raiffeisen group. The group has 3 million plus clients within Switzerland.Swiss bank secrecy protects the privacy of bank clients; the protections afforded under Swiss law are similar to confidentiality protections between doctors and patients or lawyers and their clients. The Swiss government views the right to privacy as a fundamental principle that should be protected by all democratic countries. IBM ThinkPad T43 2668 CPU Fan While privacy is protected, in practice all bank accounts are linked to an identified individual. Moreover, the bank secrecy is not absolute: a prosecutor or judge may issue a "lifting order" in order to grant law enforcement access to information relevant to a criminal investigation.^[38] In October 2013, the Swiss government stated that it intended to sign an international agreement sponsored by the OECD that, if ratified by Parliament, IBM ThinkPad T43 1871 CPU Fan will align Swiss bank practices with those of other countries and in effect end the special secrecy that clients of Swiss banks had enjoyed in the past. Swiss law distinguishes between tax evasion (non-reporting of income) and tax fraud (active deception). International legal assistance used to be granted only with respect to tax fraud. Under pressure from the OECD and the G20, ACER Travelmate 8104WLMI CPU Fan the Swiss government decided in March 2009 to abolish the distinction between tax evasion and tax fraud in dealings with foreign clients. Switzerland adheres to the international OECD standards with regard to administrative assistance in tax matters (decision to take over the OECD Model Tax Convention, in particular Article 26)^[40] DELL Latitude E4300 CPU Fan For Swiss taxpayers the distinction remains in place. Although not considered a crime and hence not prosecuted in a penal court, tax evasion is a serious offence under Swiss tax law and hefty financial penalties apply. In domestic prosecutions, banking secrecy may be lifted by court order in cases of tax fraud or particularly severe cases of tax evasion. ASUS F80S CPU Fan Pressure on Switzerland has been applied by several states and international organizations attempting to alter the Swiss privacy policy. The European Union, whose member countries geographically surround Switzerland, has complained about member states' nationals using Swiss banks to avoid taxation in their home countries. The EU has long sought a harmonized tax regime among its member states, HP Pavilion dv5-1058eo CPU Fan although many Swiss banking officials (and, according to some polls, the public) are resisting any such changes.^[1] However, Switzerland did not want to be seen as an obstacle to closer tax cooperation among EU-member states and decided to support the international efforts to adequately tax cross-border investment income. IBM 13N5182 CPU Fan The retention tax agreed with the European Union (EU) in the taxation of savings income agreement is a suitable and efficient means of doing so. The EU is committed to eliminating existing loopholes in the system of taxation of savings income. Switzerland has expressed to the EU its willingness in principle to correspondingly adjust the taxation of savings income. IBM Thinkpad T30 2366-AA3 CPU Fan Here it should be noted that Switzerland has adopted the OECD standard on administrative assistance and that the Federal Council rejects the automatic exchange of information.^[43] Since July 1, 2005, Switzerland has charged a withholding tax on all interest earned in the personal Swiss accounts of European Union residents. Switzerland is not a member of the European Union but, since December 2008, is a part of the Schengen agreement. IBM Thinkpad T30 CPU Fan Swiss bank accounts cannot be opened without the holder signing a legal document asserting that they have no outstanding financial obligations to the IRS. Despite this, Swiss banks have been criticized for improperly shielding tax evaders. In January 2003, the United States Department of Treasury announced a new information-sharing agreement under the already extant U.S.- HP 535438-001 CPU Fan Swiss Income Tax Convention;^[45] the agreement was intended to facilitate more effective tax information exchange between the two countries.^[46] However, Swiss policy has continued to come under international criticism, and in March 2009 Switzerland agreed to renegotiate more effective tax cooperation with the United States and other countries.^[47] DELL Inspiron N3010 CPU Fan In 2013, the Swiss Parliament approved a law that allows Swiss banks to cooperate with United States tax authorities as specified in the FATCA. Some bank accounts are afforded an extra degree of privacy. Information concerning such accounts, known as numbered accounts, is restricted to senior bank officers, rather than being accessible to all the employees of a bank. HP Pavilion dv6-3070tx CPU Fan However, the information required to open such an account is no different from that of an ordinary account; completely anonymous accounts are not allowed by law. Should a criminal investigation take place, law enforcement has access to information related to a numbered account in the same way it has access to information about any other account. IBM 41W5269 CPU Fan There are several measures in place to counter money laundering. The Money Laundering Act sets forth requirements of account holders' identification, and requires reporting of any suspicious transactions to the Money Laundering Reporting Office.^[50] According to the CIA World Factbook, Switzerland is "a major international financial center vulnerable to the layering and integration stages of money laundering; ASUS A8H CPU Fan despite significant legislation and reporting requirements, secrecy rules persist and nonresidents are permitted to conduct business through offshore entities and various intermediaries..."^[51] However, Switzerland's cooperation in transnational financial issues has been praised by several major U.S. officials. SONY UDQFRZH13CF0 CPU Fan A Federal Bureau of Investigation anti-terrorism official noted that Switzerland was one of several countries to participate in joint task forces targeting financing of Al-Qaeda terrorist cells; a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury praised Swiss cooperation and the country's assistance in the finding and freezing of terrorist and Iraqi assets. HP COMPAQ 2510P CPU Fan Swiss bank secrecy was dealt a severe setback by the revelations made by ex-UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld, who blew the whistle on UBS providing Americans with vehicles to hide up US$20 billion in assets to avoid taxes.^[53][54][55] Birkenfeld's revelations to the U.S. government concerning UBS's practices led to a massive fraud investigation against the Swiss bank UBS.^[56][57][58] As a result of the information he gave U.S. authorities, the DOJ announced it had reached adeferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with UBS that resulted in a $780 million fine and the release of previously privileged information on American tax evaders.^[59][60] On 11 September 2012, the U.S. IRS Whistleblower Office paid Birkenfeld a $104 million award for acting as a corporate whistleblower.^[61] APPLE 661-4951 CPU Fan The Swiss media credit Birkenfeld's act with affecting a sea change in Swiss banking. After Birkenfeld's award, the Swiss newspaper Blick claimed, “Birkenfeld was a blessing for the Swiss financial industry,” in that his revelations helped accelerate the industry's transition away from from its reliance on “dirty” money by dooming the bank secrecy laws that enabled tax evasion.^[62] HP Pavilion dv6-3034ca CPU Fan Birkenfeld has compared the Swiss banking industry with gangsters. "In essence, bank secrecy is analogous to criminal racketeering — and the Swiss government, along with every Swiss private banker, is a co-conspirator. Swiss Banks are alleged to stash black money (money not reported to the government for tax purposes);^[64][65] reportedly, the value of deposits in Swiss banks by Indians exceeds the value of deposits by any other nationality.^[64] HP G56-126NR CPU Fan Editor-in-chief for WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, noted that, as per documents of bank accounts by a former banker and whistleblower Rudolf Elmer, the "names in the documents came from 'US, Britain, Germany, Austria and Asia' – from all over". Several inquiries have been made into the conduct of Swiss banks during the Nazi Germany period (1933–1945), especially regarding funds deposited by or allegedly stolen from victims of the Holocaust. Compaq Presario C556CA CPU Fan The campaign causing the highest outlays (US$1.25 billion in 1999) on the part of the Swiss banking industry as of 2009 was the World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss banks launched by Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress, in concert with US Senator Alfonse d'Amato of New York.^[72] The audit run by the Volcker commission which resulted from this lawsuit cost CHF300 million and gave its final report in December 1999. SONY Vaio VGN-NR360E CPU Fan It determined that the 1999 book value of all dormant accounts possibly belonging to victims of Nazi persecution that were unclaimed, closed by the Nazis, or closed by unknown persons was CHF95 million. Of this total, CHF24 million were "probably" related to victims of Nazi persecution.^[73] In addition the commission found "no proof of systematic destruction of records of victim accounts, organized discrimination against the accounts of victims of  persecution, HP Pavilion dv5170us CPU Fan or concerted efforts to divert the funds of victims of Nazi persecution to improper purposes." It also "confirmed evidence of questionable and deceitful actions by some individual banks in the handling of accounts of victims".^[73] In response to the lawsuit, the Swiss government commissioned an independent panel of international scholars known as the Bergier Commission to study the relationship between Switzerland and the Nazi regime. SONY Vaio VPC-EE3WFX/WI CPU Fan It reached similar conclusions about the banks' conduct in its final report,^[74] and found that trade with Nazi Germany did not significantly prolong the war. With recent changes in the Swiss bank secrecy regime the assets held by foreign persons in Swiss bank accounts declined according to data by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) by 28.1% between January 2008 and November 2009.^] Other states, such as Singapore, have attracted depositors seeking privacy and protection. HP G56-126NR CPU Fan Having taken steps to make its banks more attractive, Singapore strengthened penalties for violators of bank secrecy (and now imposes steeper fines and longer jail sentences for offenders), and modified its laws on trusts and inheritance. Singapore is also now the location of Credit Suisse's international banking headquarters.^[75] Despite these changes, however, Switzerland still ranks at the top of the Tax Justice Network's "Financial Secrecy Index" as of 2011. HP 3MLX8TATP20 CPU Fan A numbered bank account is a type of bank account where the name of the account holder is kept secret, and they identify themselves to the bank by means of a code word known only by the account holder and a restricted number of bank employees, thus providing accountholders with a degree of bank privacy in their financial transactions. SONY Vaio VGN-NW240F/S CPU Fan Numbered bank accounts are frequently associated in the public mind with a desire by the account holder to either minimize governmental scrutiny and taxation, perhaps to conceal an illegal or unethical origin of the money in the account or to avoid arbitrary government interference in the affairs of a political dissident. For this reason, numbered bank accounts are illegal in most banking jurisdictions, SONY Vaio VPC-EB1Z0E/B CPU Fan but are available (subject to heavy international regulations) in some Western European countries with a long tradition of specializing in international banking, such as Switzerland and Austria; the holder has to be fully identified but there is no law that enforces the bank to fix the name of the holder in the title of the account.^[1] Compaq Presario CQ60-514NR CPU Fan Modern numbered bank accounts are not fully "anonymous", but they do serve to provide the account holder with a greater degree of protection from scrutiny while minimizing the exposure of the account holder's name in public settings. For example, the Swiss banking system (in contrast to banks in other countries) will not reveal information about an account (whether "numbered" or not) Toshiba Satellite X205-S9800 CPU Fan ASUS G2P CPU Fan to any governmental agency unless proof of deliberate fraud is established, not merely thenon-reporting of assets in order to avoid taxation. However, bilateral treaties negotiated in 2009 between Switzerland and a number of countries may weaken this type of protection from scrutiny,^[2] as did a special agreement negotiated in 2009 between the United States and Switzerland concerning clients of the bank UBSSA.^[3] Compaq Presario CQ60-430SA CPU Fan In order to restrict the use of numbered accounts for money laundering and other forms of financial fraud, the Council of Europe mandated in 1980 that numbered bank accounts be subject to international and domestic regulations pertaining to the verification of the identities of account holders and their activities.^[4][5] Under these regulations, DELL BFB0505HA CPU Fan banks which operate numbered accounts may be required by a court order to reveal the owner's name and financial details, and the identity of the holder or beneficial owner must be examined for obvious fraudulent intentions at the start of the banking relationship.^[6][7]Since July 1, 2005, Switzerland (as the largest holder of European numbered bank accounts) HP Pavilion dv5-1272et CPU Fan has also charged a withholding tax on all interest earned in the personal Swiss accounts of European Union residents, a measure designed to satisfy EU tax requirements while still preserving account holder anonymity. With the advent of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, users store digital currency in numbered accounts. These accounts are not managed by any central authority and do not have any personal identification attached to them. Toshiba AB7005HX-SB3 CPU Fan However, it should be noted that in some instances an identity could be connected to these types of numbered accounts. For example: Bitcoin uses a public ledger called the blockchain to determine what accounts have ownership of currency. By tracing known transactions to and from the account an identity could be established. Toshiba Satellite A500-18T CPU Fan Also, if an account is controlled by an entity on behalf of a user for whom the entity has identity information (such as a currency exchange) that entity could reveal the ownership of the account. The Swiss economy is characterised by a skilled and generally 'peaceful' workforce. One quarter of the country's full-time workers are unionised. Labour and management relations are amicable, characterised by a willingness to settle disputes instead of resorting to labour action. HP Pavilion dv5-2135dx CPU Fan They take place between trade unions and branch associations, that are themselves often grouped in Union of Employers, like the Fédération patronale vaudoise or the Fédération des Entreprises Romandes Genève. About 600 collective bargaining agreements exist today in Switzerland and are regularly renewed without major problems. ASUS EEE PC 1201NL CPU Fan With the peak of the number of bankruptcies in 2003, however, the mood was pessimistic. Massive layoffs and dismissals by enterprises resulting from the global economic slowdown, major management scandals and different foreign investment attitudes have strained the traditional Swiss labour peace. Swiss trade unions have encouraged strikes against several companies, including Swiss International Air Lines, Coca-Cola, and Orange. Total days lost to strikes, however, remain among the lowest in the OECD. SONY Vaio VGN-NW240D/T CPU Fan Switzerland is among the world's most prosperous countries in terms of private income. In 2007 the gross median household income in Switzerland was an estimated 107,748 CHF, or USD 137,094 at purchasing power parity (PPP).^] The median income after social security, taxes and mandatory health insurance was 75,312 CHF, or USD 95,824 at PPP.^{][dubious – discuss]} Compaq Presario CQ60-418DX CPU Fan In October 2011, Switzerland had the highest average wealth per adult, at USD 540,000 (c. 325,000 at PPP)^[32] This development was tied to the exchange rate between the US Dollar and the Swiss franc, which caused capital in Swiss francs to more than double its value in dollar terms during the 2000s and especially in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007–2008, without any direct increase in value in terms of domestic purchasing power.^[33] SONY Vaio VGN-NW240D CPU Fan At the same time, wealth distribution of Switzerland has the high Gini coefficient of 0.8, indicating unequal distribution, see list of countries by distribution of wealth.^[34] The high average wealth is explained by a comparatively high number of individuals who are extremely wealthy and says nothing about a typical Swiss citizen. The median wealth of a Swiss adult (50th percentile) is five times lower than the average, at USD 100,900 (c. USD 61,000 at PPP). SONY VGN-BX197XP CPU Fan This article is about the demographic features of the population of Switzerland, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Switzerland has a population of 8.02 million as of 2012. Its population has quadrupled over the period 1800 to 1990 (average doubling time 95 years). Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4056 CPU Fan Population growth was steepest in the period after World War II (1.4% per annum during 1950-1970, doubling time 50 years), it slowed down during the 1970s to 1980s and has since again picked up to 1% during the 2000s (doubling time 70 years). More than 75% of the population live in the central plain, which stretches between the Alps and the Jura Mountains and from Geneva in the southwest to the Rhine River and Lake Constance in the northeast. Toshiba AB7805HX-GB3 CPU Fan Resident foreigners and temporary foreign workers make up about 20% of the population. Encompassing the Central Alps, Switzerland sits at the crossroads of several major European cultures. Its population includes a two-thirds majority of Alemannic German speakers and a one-quarter Latin minority (French, Italian and Romansh), see linguistic geography of Switzerland. 10% of the population natively speak an immigrant language. Toshiba Satellite L500-208 CPU Fan Switzerland consistently ranks high on quality of life indices, including per capita income, concentration of computer and internet usage per capita, insurance coverage per individual, and health care rates. For these and many other reasons, such as the four languages, it serves as an excellent test market for businesses hoping to introduce new products into Europe. HP 535441-001 CPU Fan The Federal Population Census (German: Eidgenössische Volkszählung, French: Recensement fédéral de la population, Italian: Censimento federale della popolazione, Romansh: Dumbraziun federala dal pievel) has been carried out every 10 years starting in 1850.^[1] The census was initiated by Federal CouncillorStefano Franscini, who evaluated the data of the first census all by himself after Parliament failed to provide the necessary funds.^[2] Toshiba Satellite P100-444 CPU Fan The census is now being conducted by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, which makes most results available on its website. Collected data includes population data (citizenship, place of residence, place of birth, position in household, number of children, religion, languages, education, profession, place of work, etc.), household data (number of individuals living in the household, etc.), accommodation data (surface area, amount of rent paid, etc.) HP Pavilion dv7-3114eo CPU Fan and building data (geocoordinates, time of construction, number of floors, etc.). Participation is compulsory and reached 99.87% of the population in 2000.^[3] Since 2010, the population census has been carried out and analysed annually in a new format by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). In order to ease the burden on the population, the information is primarily drawn from population registers and supplemented by sample surveys. HP Mini 110-1125SA CPU Fan Only a small proportion of the population (about 5%) are surveyed in writing or by telephone. The first reference day for the new census was 31 December 2010. During the 19th and 20th centuries, population growth rate has been at 0.7% to 0.8%, with a doubling time of ca. 90 years. In the later 20th century, the growth rate has fallen below 0.7% (1980s: 0.64%; 1990s: 0.65%), and in the 2000s it has risen again slightly (2000–2006: 0.69%), mostly due to immigration. HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan In 2007 the population grew at a much higher 1.1% rate, again mostly due to immigration. For 2008, the population grew 1.6%, a level not seen since the early 1960s. As population growth curbs, the percentage of elderly people increases. In July 2006, the Swiss Federal Office of Statistics published a projection estimating that by 2050, one in three adult Swiss will be of retirement age (as opposed to one in five in 2005). Compaq Presario CQ60-210eo CPU Fan Total population was projected to stagnate in 2036 at around 8.1 million and fall slightly to 8 million in 2050. The number of registered resident foreigners was 1,001,887 (16.17%) in 1970. This amount decreased to 904,337 (14.34%) in 1979, and has increased steadily since that time, passing the 20% mark during 2001 and rising to 1,524,663 (20.56%) in 2004. HP Pavilion dv7-2250sf CPU Fan The number of Swiss citizens thus numbered about 5.9 million in that year. In 2007, 1.45 million resident foreigners (85.4%, or 19.1% of the total population^[12]), had European citizenship (Italian: 295,507; German: 224,324; citizens of Serbia and Montenegro: 196,078; Portuguese: 193,299; French: 83,129; Turkish: 75,382; Spanish: 66,519, Macedonian: 60,509; Bosnian: 41,654; HP 434678-001 CPU Fan Croatian: 38,144; Austrian: 36,155; British: 32,207). ; 109,113 residents were from Asia; 69,010 from the Americas; 66,599 from Africa; and 3,777 from Oceania.^[13] In 2004, 35,700 people acquired Swiss citizenship according to Swiss nationality law, a figure slightly larger than that of the previous year (35,424), and four times larger than the 1990 figure (8,658). HP G60-230us CPU Fan About a third of those naturalized are from a successor state of Former Yugoslavia: 7,900 Serbia-Montenegro, 2,400 Bosnia-Herzegowina, 2,000 Macedonia, 1,600 Croatia. 4,200 were from Italy, 3,600 from Turkey, 1,600 from Sri Lanka, 1,200 from Portugal, and 1,200 from France.^[14] The yearly rate of naturalization has quintupled over the 1990s and 2000s, from roughly 9,000 to 45,000. HP Pavilion dv6365us CPU Fan Relative to the population of resident foreigners, this amounts to an increase from 8‰ in 1990 to 27‰ in 2007, or relative to the number of Swiss citizens from 1.6‰ in 1990 to 7.3‰ in 2007. The following table shows the historical development of the rate of naturalization. In recent decades, many Portuguese and Ukrainians represent large immigrant communities in the country^]. HP 535439-001 CPU Fan Tamil refugees fleeing from war in Sri Lanka are the largest number of Asians, while Albanians and other former Yugoslavians continue to grow in number. Switzerland is also the second largest European country in number of acceptance of Iraqi refugees fleeing from the violence in Iraq since 2003, but behind Great Britain, Germany and Sweden in the number of Iraqis taken residence for a European country. COMPAQ 6910c CPU Fan In 2004, 623,100 Swiss citizens (8.9%) lived abroad, the largest group in France (166,200), followed by the USA (71,400) and Germany (70,500). (see Swiss diaspora). Switzerland has no state religion, though most of the cantons (except for Geneva and Neuchâtel) recognize official churches (Landeskirchen), in all cases including the Catholic Church and the Swiss Reformed Church. IBM Lenovo IdeaPad G510 CPU Fan These churches, and in some cantons also the Old Catholic Church and Jewish congregations, are financed by official taxation of adherents.Christianity is the predominant religion of Switzerland but is slowly shrinking over the decades (74% of total resident population in 2010). 20% of the total population were irreligious in 2010. The largest minority religion is Islam: 4,5% (2010 census). HP G62-110SO CPU Fan DELL Precision M6400 CPU Fan In 2000, 5.78 million residents (79.2%, compared to 93.8% in 1980) were Christian (Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Orthodox1.8%). 809,800 (11.1%, compared to 3.8% in 1980) were without any religious affiliation. 310,800 (4.3%) were Muslim (compared to 0.9% in 1980), 17,900 (0.2%) were Jewish. The 2005 Eurobarometer poll^[16] found 48% of Swiss residents to be theist, 39% expressing belief in "some sort of spirit or life force", 9% atheist and 4% said that they "don't know".SONY Vaio VPC-EB290X CPU Fan The four national languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansh. Native speakers number about 64% (4.6 million) for German (mostly Swiss German dialects), 20% (1.5 million) for French (mostly Swiss French, but including some Franco-Provençal dialects), 7% (0.5 million, mostly Swiss Italian, but including Insubricdialects) for Italian and less than 0.5% (35,000) for Romansh. HP Envy 17-1090eo CPU Fan The non-official language with the largest group of native speakers is Serbo-Croatian with 103,000 speakers in 2000, followed by Albanian with 95,000, Portuguese with 89,500, Spanish with 77,500, English with 73,000,Macedonian 61,300,^[18] and a total of 173,000 speakers of other languages, amounting to roughly 10% of the population with a native language not among the four official languages. Toshiba Satellite A210-1CF CPU Fan Almost all Swiss are literate. Switzerland's 13 institutes of higher learning enrolled 99,600 students in the academic year of 2001-02. About 25% of the adult population hold a diploma of higher learning. According to the CIA World Factbook data for 2003, 99% of the Swiss population aged 15 and over could read and write, with the rate being identical for both sexes.^[20] Dell Vostro 3450 CPU Fan During the 2008/09 school year there were 1,502,257 students in the entire Swiss educational system. In kindergarten or pre-school, there were 152,919 students (48.6% female). These students were taught by 13,592 teachers (96.0% female) in 4,949 schools, of which 301 were private schools. There were 777,394 students (48.6% female) in the obligatory schools, which include primary and lower secondary schools. Toshiba Satellite A10-103 CPU Fan

Economy of Switzerland

http://www.all-laptopfan.com/,http://www.all-keyboard.com/ The economy of Switzerland is one of the world's most stable economies. Its policy of long-term monetary security and political stability has made Switzerland a safe haven for investors, creating an economy that is increasingly dependent on a steady tide of foreign investment. Because of the country's small size and high labor specialization, industry and trade are the keys to Switzerland's economic livelihoodACER Aspire 4743 CPU Fan . Switzerland has achieved one of the highest per capita incomes in the world with low unemployment rates and a balanced budget. The service sector has also come to play a significant economic role. Switzerland as a federal state was established in 1848. Before that time, the city-cantons of Zurich and Basel in particular began to develop economically based on industry and trade, while the rural regions of Switzerland remained poor and under-developed. HP Pavilion dv6-2170us CPU Fan While a workshop system had been in existence throughout the early modern period, the production of machines began in 1801 in St. Gallen, with the third generation of machines imported from Great Britain. But in Switzerland, hydraulic power was often used instead of steam-engines because of the country's topography while there are no significant deposits of coal. Toshiba Satellite L675-S7018 CPU Fan By 1814, hand weaving had been mostly replaced by the power loom. Both tourism and banking began to develop as an economic factor from about the same time. Its industrial sector began to grow in the mid-19th century, but Switzerland's emergence as one of the most prosperous nations in Europe, sometimes termed the "Swiss miracle" was a development of the short 20th century, among other things tied to the role of Switzerland during the World Wars. ASUS F80Q CPU Fan During World War I, Switzerland suffered an economic crisis. It was marked by a decrease in energy consumption, energy being mostly produced by coal in the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. The war tax^[specify] was introduced. As imports were difficult, attempts were made to strengthen the Swiss economy. The cultivation of grain was promoted, and the Swiss railway became the first to use electric instead of coal-burning, steam-driven engines. ACER TravelMate 4200 CPU Fan In the 1920s Switzerland's energy consumption increased^.Throughout the 1930s Switzerland's energy consumption stagnated^.In the 1940s, particularly during World War II the economy profited from the increased export and delivery of weapons to the German Reich, France, Great Britain, and other neighbouring and close countries. However, Switzerland's energy consumption decreased rapidly. HP 434678-001 CPU Fan The conduct of the banks cooperating with the Nazis, but not exclusively, they also cooperated extensively with the British and French. and the commercial relations with the axis powers during the war became the subject of sharp criticism, resulting in a short period of international isolation of Switzerland from the world. After World War II, Switzerland's production facilities remained to a great extent undamaged which facilitated the country's swift economic resurgence^.、HP G70-120EA CPU Fan In the 1950s, annual GDP growth averaged 5% and Switzerland's energy consumption doubled. Coal lost its rank as Switzerland's primary energy source, as other fossil fuels such as crude and refined oil and natural and refined gas imports increased. This decade also marked the transition from an industrial economy to a service economy. Since then the service sector has been growing faster than the agrarian and industrial sectors. Toshiba Satellite A300-034 CPU Fan In the 1960s, annual GDP growth averaged 4% and Switzerland's energy consumption doubled. By the end of the decade oil was Switzerland's primary energy source^。 In the 1970s GDP growth rates gradually declined from a peak of 6.5% in 1970 until contracting 7.5% in 1975 and 1976. Switzerland became increasingly dependent on oil imported from its main supplier, the OPEC cartel. HP 606609-001 CPU Fan The 1973 international oil crisis caused Switzerland's energy consumption to decrease from 1973 to 1977. In 1974 there were three nationwide car-free Sundays when private transport was prohibited as a result of the oil supply shock. From 1977 onwards GDP grew, however Switzerland was also affected by the 1979 energy crisis which resulted in a short term decrease of Switzerland's energy consumption^[Compaq Presario CQ60-301sl CPU Fan In the 1980s, Switzerland was affected by the hike in oil prices which resulted in a decrease of energy consumption until 1982 when the economy contracted by 1.3%. From 1983 on both GDP and energy consumption grew^]. In the 1990s, Switzerland's economy was marred by slow growth, having the weakest economic growth in Western Europe. The economy was affected by a 3-year-recession from 1991 to 1993 when the economy contracted by 2%, TOSHIBA Satellite L300 CPU Fan which also became apparent in Switzerland's energy consumption and export growth rates. Switzerland's economy averaged no appreciable increase (only 0.6% annually) in gross domestic product (GDP). After having unemployment rates lower than 1% prior to 1990, the 3-year-recession also caused the unemployment rate to rise to its all-time-peak of 5.3% in 1997. And thus, as of 2008, ASUS Eee PC 701 CPU Fan Switzerland is at the second place among European countries with populations above one million in terms of nominal and purchasing power parity Gross Domestic Product per capita, behind Norway (see list). On numerous occasions in the 1990s real wages decreased since nominal wages couldn't keep up with inflation. However, beginning in 1997, a global resurgence in currency movement provided the necessary stimulus to the Swiss economy. Compaq Presario CQ60-305sa CPU Fan It slowly gained momentum and peaked in the year 2000 with 3.7% growth in real terms. In the early 2000s recession, being so closely linked to the economies of Western Europe and the United States, Switzerland was not able to escape the slowdown felt in these countries. After the worldwide stock market crashes in the wake of the 9/11 terrorism attacks there were more announcements of false enterprise statistics and exaggerated managers' wages. HP 637607-001 CPU Fan In 2001 the rate of growth dropped to 1.2%, to 0.4% in 2002 and in 2003 the real GDP contracted by 0.2%. That economic slowdown had a noticeable impact on the labour market. Many companies announced mass dismissals and thus the unemployment rate rose from its low of 1.9% in June 2000 to its peak of 3.9% in October 2004, although well below the European Union (EU) unemployment average of 8.9%. HP Pavilion dv7-3067nr CPU Fan The consumer mood worsened and domestic consumption decreased The exports of goods and services in the EU and the USA decreased as a result of the Swiss Franc's appreciation in value which caused an increase in prices of exported goods and services. On the other hand Switzerland's tourism sector slumped and room occupation rates by foreign guests decreased. HP Pavilion dv5-1210ez CPU Fan Besides that a deficit of market competition in many branches of Switzerland's economy persisted^]. On the 10.11.2002 the economics magazine Cash published 5 measures which political and economic actors were suggested to implement so that Switzerland would once again experience an economic revival: 1. Private consumption should be promoted with decent wage increases. In addition to that families with children should get discounts on their health insurances. Compaq Presario CQ50-211nr CPU Fan 2. Switzerland's national bank should revive investments by lowering interest rates. Besides that monetary institutes should increasingly credit consumers and offer cheaper land zones which are to be built on. 3. Switzerland's national bank is asked to devalue the Swiss Franc, especially compared to the Euro. 4. The government should implement the anti-cyclical measure of increasing budget deficits. Government spending should increase in the infrastructural and educational sectors. HP G56-114SA CPU Fan Lowering taxes would make sense in order to promote private household consumption. 5. Flexible work schedules should be instituted, thus avoiding low demand dismissals. These measures were applied with successful results along with the government's policy of the Magical Hexagon which consists of full employment, social equality, economic growth, environmental quality, positive trade balance and price stability. SONY Vaio VGN-CR21Z/N CPU Fan The rebound which started in mid-2003 saw growth rate growth rate averaging 3% (2004 and 2005 saw a GDP growth of 2.5% and 2.6% respectively; for 2006 and 2007, the rate was 3.6%). In 2008, GDP growth was modest in the first half of the year while declining in the last two quarters. Because of the base effect, real growth came to 1.9%. While it contacted 1.9% in 2009, the economy started to pick up in Q3 and by the second quarter of 2010, it had surpassed its previous peak. Growth for 2010 stood at 2.6%^[11] HP Pavilion dv7-4060eo CPU Fan The stock market collapse has deeply affected investment income earned abroad. This has translated to a substantial fall in the surplus of the current account balance. In 2006, Switzerland recorded a 15.1% per GDP surplus. It went down to 9.1% in 2007 and further dropped to 1.8% in 2008. It recovered in 2009 and 2010 with a surplus of 11.9% and 14.6% respectively. As of the first quarter 2010, Switzerland house prices are still edging up.^[12] Toshiba Satellite M70-252 CPU Fan This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Switzerland at market prices estimated^[11] by the Swiss Government with figures in millions of Swiss Francs. The Swiss economy follows the typical First World model with respect to the economic sectors. Only a small minority of the workers are involved in the Primary or Agricultural sector (1.3% of the population, in 2006) while a larger minority is involved in the Secondary or Manufacturing sector (27.7% in 2012). Toshiba Satellite A100-455 CPU Fan The majority of the working population are involved in the Tertiary or Services sector of the economy (71.0% in 2012).^[13] While most of the Swiss economic practices have been brought largely into conformity with the European Union's policies, some trade protectionism remains, particularly for the small agricultural sector. HP Pavilion dv5-2112br CPU Fan Switzerland is one of the leaders in exports of high-end watches as well as clocks, companies such as TAG-Heuer, Hublot, Zenith amongst others produce most of the world's high-end watches, in 2011, the exports of Switzerland reached nearly 19.3 billion CHF. Swiss watch manufacturers exceeded their previous annual result by 19.2%. The exports of those watches mainly go to Asia (55%), Europe (29%), America (14%), Africa and Oceania (both 1%).^[DELL BFB0505HA CPU Fan In USD, Switzerland has an export, in 2011, of over USD$20 billion, making it the country with the highest export value of watches, followed by Hong Kong, at under USD$10 billion.^[15] However, China export the most watches (all watches), at a total of 682.1+ units (in millions), followed by Hong Kong at 402.7, then Switzerland at 29.8 million units. HP Pavilion dv6-3299en CPU Fan Switzerland has an extensive industrial sector, it is not very well known around the world but present with companies in different industrial sectors such as food processing like Nestlé, chemical for industrial and construction use like Sika AG, pharmaceutical like Novartis and Roche, roof coating Sarnafil, among many others. SONY Vaio VGN-NW11Z/T CPU Fan Switzerland is extremely protective of its agricultural industry. High tariffs and extensive domestic subsidisations encourage domestic production, which currently produces about 60% of the food consumed in the country. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Switzerland is subsidising more than 70% of its agriculture compared to 35% in the EU. Toshiba Satellite L550-20W CPU Fan The 2007 Agricultural Program, recently adopted by the Swiss Federal Assembly, will increase subsidies by CHF 63 million to CHF 14.092 billion. Protectionism acts to promote domestic production, but not to reduce prices or the cost of production, and there is no guarantee the increased domestic production is actually consumed internally; it may simply be being exported, to the profit of the producers. HP Pavilion dv7-4183sf CPU Fan 90 to 100% of potatoes, pork, veal, cattle and most milk products, are produced in the country. Beyond that, Swiss agriculture meets sixty-five per cent of the domestic food demand.^[16] The first reform in agricultural policies was in 1993. Among other changes, since 1998 Switzerland has linked the attribution of farm subsidies with the strict observance of good environmental practice. HP Pavilion dv7-3190ev CPU Fan Before farmers can apply for subsidies, they must obtain certificates of environmental management systems (EMS) proving that they: "make a balanced use of fertilizers; use at least 7% of their farmland as ecological compensation areas; regularly rotate crops; adopt appropriate measures to protect animals and soil; make limited and targeted use of pesticides."^[17] HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan 1,500 farms are driven out of business each year. But the number of organic farms increased by 3.3 percent between 2003 and 2004, and organic sales increased by 7 percent to $979 million.^[18] Moreover, Swiss consumers consider less important the drawback of higher prices for organic food compared to locally produced, conventional food. The CIA World Factbook estimates Switzerland's 2011 exports at $308.3 billion and the 2010 exports at $258.5 billion. HP G62-244CA CPU Fan Imports are estimated to be $299.6 billion in 2011 and $246.2 billion in 2010. According to the World Factbook numbers, Switzerland is the 20th largest exporter and the 18th largest importer.^[14] The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database has lower numbers for Switzerland's exports and imports. The UN calculates exports at $223.5 billion in 2011 and $185.8 billion in 2010. HP Pavilion dv7-3190ei CPU Fan The value of all imports in 2011 was $197.0 billion and in 2010 it was $166.9 billion.^[19] Switzerland's largest trading partner is Germany. In 2009, 21% of Switzerland's exports and 29% of its imports came from Germany. The United States was the second largest destination of exports (9.1% of total exports) and the fourth largest source of imports (6.7%).^[20] HP G62-244CA CPU Fan Switzerland's neighbors made up next largest group; Italy was third for exports (8.6%) and second for imports (10%), France was fourth for exports (8%) and third for imports (8.1%) and Austria was fifth for exports (4.6%) and sixth for imports (3.7%). Major non-European trading partners included; Japan (seventh for exports with 3.6% and twelfth for imports with 2%), ASUS A6000R CPU Fan China (eighth for exports and imports with 3.1% and 2.5% respectively) and Turkey (sixteenth for exports with 1.2% and ninth for imports with 2.3%).^[20] As a first world country with a skilled labor force, the majority of Swiss exports are precision or 'high tech' finished products. Switzerland's largest specific SITC categories of exports include;medicaments, glycosides and vaccines, watches, orthopaedic appliances and precious jewellery. HP Pavilion dv7-6011sg CPU Fan Some raw ores or metals are exported, but the majority of the exports in this category are finished jewellery or other finished products. Agricultural products that Switzerland is famous for, such as cheese (0.29%), wine (0.05%) and chocolate (0.39%) all make up only a small portion of Swiss exports and agricultural products make up only a small portion of all exports.^[20] Toshiba Satellite L300D-01P CPU Fan Switzerland's main imports include; medicaments, cars, precious jewellery and other unclassified transactions. While Switzerland has a long tradition of manufacturing cars,^[21] there are currently no large-scale assembly line automobile manufacturers in the country. Switzerland has a highly developed tourism infrastructure, especially in the mountainous regions and cities, making it a good market for tourism-related equipment and services. Compaq Presario CQ60-409CA CPU Fan 14% of hotels were in Grisons, 12% each in the Valais and Eastern Switzerland, 11% in Central Switzerland and 9% in theBernese Oberland. The ratio of lodging nights in relation to resident population ("tourism intensity", a measure for the relative importance of tourism to local economy) was largest in Grisons (8.3) and Bernese Oberland (5.3), compared to a Swiss average of 1.3. HP Mini 110-3010sf CPU Fan 56.4% of lodging nights were by visitors from abroad (broken down by nationality: 16.5% Germany, 6.3% UK, 4.8% USA, 3.6% France, 3.0% Italy) ^[22] The total financial volume associated with tourism, including transportation, is estimated to CHF 35.5 billion (as of 2010) although some of this comes from fuel tax and sales of motorway vignettes. The total gross value added from tourism is 14.9 billion. Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4056 CPU Fan Tourism provides a total of 144,838 full time equivalent jobs in the entire country. The total financial volume of tourist lodging is 5.19 billion CHF and eating at the lodging provides an additional 5.19 billion. The total gross value added of 14.9 billion is about 2.9% of Switzerland's 2010 nominal GDP of 550.57 billion CHF. Tourists are drawn to Switzerland's Alpine climate and landscapes, in particular for skiing and mountaineering. Toshiba Satellite M70-142 CPU Fan As of 2011, tourism accounted for an estimated 2.9% of Switzerland's gross domestic product. Tourism begins with British mountaineers climbing the main peaks of the Bernese Alps in the early 19th century (Jungfrau1811, Finsteraarhorn 1812). The Alpine Club in London is founded in 1857. Reconvalescence in the Alpine climate, in particular from Tuberculosis, DELL Inspiron E1505 CPU Fan is another important branch of tourism in the 19th and early 20th centuries for example inDavos, Graubünden. Because of the prominence of the Bernese Alps in British mountaineering, the Bernese Oberland was long especially known as a tourist destination. Meiringen's Reichenbach Falls achieved literary fame as the site of the fictional death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (1893). HP 532613-001 CPU Fan The first organised tourist holidays to Switzerland were offered during the 19th century by the Thomas Cook and Lunn Travel companies. Official statistics of tourism were planned since 1852, but were only realized from 1934, and continued until 2003. Since 2004, the Federal Statistical Office had discontinued its own statistics, but collaborates with Switzerland Tourism in the publication of yearly "Swiss Tourism Figures". HP Envy 14-1080eo CPU Fan In the year 2011 as a total number of 4,967 registered hotels or hostels, offering a total of 240,000 beds in 128,000 rooms. This capacity was saturated to 41.7% (compared to 39.7% in 2005), amounting to a total of 38.8 million lodging nights. 14% of hotels were in Grisons, 12% each in the Valais and Eastern Switzerland, 11% in Central Switzerland and 9% in the Bernese Oberland. ACER TravelMate 5230 CPU Fan The ratio of lodging nights in relation to resident population ("tourism intensity", a measure for the relative importance of tourism to local economy) was largest in Grisons (8.3) and Bernese Oberland (5.3), compared to a Swiss average of 1.3. 56.4% of lodging nights were by visitors from abroad (broken down by nationality: 16.5% Germany, 6.3% UK, 4.8% USA, 3.6% France, 3.0% Italy) ^[2] Lenovo 3000 G430 CPU Fan The total financial volume associated with tourism, including transportation, is estimated to CHF 35.5 billion (as of 2010) although some of this comes from fuel tax and sales of motorway vignettes. The total gross value added from tourism is 14.9 billion. Tourism provides a total of 144,838 full time equivalent jobs in the entire country. The total financial volume of tourist lodging is 5.19 billion CHF and eating at the lodging provides an additional 5.19 billion. ASUS EEE PC 1215N CPU Fan The total gross value added of 14.9 billion is about 2.9% of Switzerland's 2010 nominal GDP of 550.57 billion CHF.The major airport of Switzerland is at Zurich, main railway connections are to Geneva, Zurich and Basel. The main connection across the Alps is via the Gotthard tunnels (road and railway).The most visited Swiss tourist attractions are first, the Rhine Falls, second, the Berne Bear exhibit (both for free), and third, with over 1.8 million paid entries: Zoo Basel. Dell Vostro 3750 CPU Fan In 2003, the financial sector comprised an estimated 11.6% of Switzerland's GDP and employed approximately 196,000 people (136,000 of whom work in the banking sector); this represents about 5.6% of the total Swiss workforce.^[25] Swiss neutrality and national sovereignty, long recognized by foreign nations, have fostered a stable environment in which the banking sector was able to develop and thrive. Toshiba Satellite L500-018 CPU Fan Switzerland has maintained neutrality through both World Wars, is not a member of the European Union, and was not even a member of the United Nations until 2002.^[26][27] Currently an estimated 28 percent of all funds held outside the country of origin (sometimes called "offshore" funds) are kept in Switzerland.^[28] In 2009 Swiss banks managed 5.4 trillion Swiss Francs.^[29] COMPAQ Presario CQ42-116TU CPU Fan The Bank of International Settlements, an organization that facilitates cooperation among the world's central banks, is headquartered in the city of Basel. Founded in 1930, the BIS chose to locate in Switzerland because of the country's neutrality, which was important to an organization founded by countries that had been on both sides of World War I.^[30] HP Pavilion dv6-2115eg CPU Fan Foreign banks operating in Switzerland manage 870 billion Swiss francs worth of assets (as of May 2006). Banking in Switzerland is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), which derives its authority from a series of federal statutes. The country's tradition of bank secrecy, which dates to the Middle Ages, was first codified in the Banking Law of 1934.^[1] Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4056 CPU Fan In 2011, banks represented 59.4% of the total value added of the Swiss financial sector, totalling CHF 35.0 billion representing 6.2% of the country's GDP.^[2] UBS and Credit Suisse, the two largest banks in Switzerland, were ranked globally at #19 and #25 among banks, with assets of approximately US$1.375 trillion and US$1.090 trillion, respectively.^[3] HP 646578-001 CPU Fan As of 11 October 2008, the banking industry in Switzerland has an average leverage ratio (assets/networth) of 29 to 1, while the industry's short-term liabilities are equal to 260 percent of the Swiss GDP or 1,273 percent of the Swiss national debt. Banking began in the eighteenth century by way of the riches of merchants. SONY VAIO PCG-6L2L CPU Fan Wegelin & Co., established in 1741, was the oldest bank in Switzerland  until it restructured into a new legal entity in 2013.^[8] Hentsch & Cie and Lombard Odier were both founded in 1796 in Geneva as private banks, and Pictet and Cie was established in 1805 as a merchant bank.Hentsch & Cie was a founding member of the Swiss National bank during 1852. Toshiba Satellite X205-S9349 CPU Fan Switzerland is a prosperous nation with a per capita gross domestic product higher than that of most western Europeannations. In addition, the value of the Swiss franc (CHF) has been relatively stable compared with that of othercurrencies.^[15] In 2009, the financial sector comprised 11.6% of Switzerland's GDP and employed approximately 195,000 people (136,000 of whom work in the banking sector); this represents about 5.6% of the total Swiss workforce. Furthermore, Swiss banks employ an estimated 103,000 people abroad.^[16] Swiss neutrality and national sovereignty, long recognized by foreign nations, have fostered a stable environment in which the banking sector was able to develop and thrive. HP Pavilion dv7-3020es CPU Fan Switzerland has maintained neutrality through both World Wars, is not a member of the European Union, and was not a member of the United Nations until 2002.^[17][18] Currently an estimated one-third of all worldwide funds held outside their country of origin (sometimes called "offshore" funds) are kept in Switzerland. In 2001 Swiss banks managed US$2.6 trillion. HP G62-369TX CPU Fan The following year they handled US$400 billion less which has been attributed to both a bear market and stricter regulations on Swiss banking.^[19] By 2007 this figure has risen to roughly CHF6.7 trillion (US$6.4 trillion).^] The Bank of International Settlements, an organization that facilitates cooperation among the world's central banks, is headquartered in the city of Basel. HP 13.V1.BJ195.F.GN CPU Fan Founded in 1930, the BIS chose to locate in Switzerland because of the country's neutrality, which was important to an organization founded by countries that had been on both sides of World War I.^[20]Foreign banks operating in Switzerland manage CHF870 billion Swiss worth of assets (as of May 2006).The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is a public law institution that supervises most banking-related activities as well as securities markets and investment funds.^[22] Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7016 CPU Fan Regulatory authority is derived from the Swiss Financial Market Supervision Act (FINMASA) and Article 98 of the Swiss Federal Constitution. The office of the Swiss Banking Ombudsman, founded in 1993, is sponsored by the Swiss Banking Ombudsman Foundation, which was established by the Swiss Bankers Association. HP Pavilion dv7-1451nr CPU Fan The ombudsman's services, which are offered free of charge, include mediation and assistance to persons searching for dormant assets. The ombudsman handles about 1,500 complaints raised against banks yearly.^[23] In October 2013, the Swiss government stated that it intended to sign an international agreement sponsored by the OECD that, if ratified by Parliament, will align Swiss bank practices with those of other countries and in effect end the special secrecy that clients of Swiss banks had enjoyed in the past. HP G62-a57SG CPU Fan In 1934, the Swiss Federal Assembly passed the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks (colloquially known as the Banking Law of 1934), which mainly concerned administrative matters such as bank supervision. The provisions found in Article 47(b), were added before passage of the bill due to Nazi authorities' attempts to investigate the assets of Jews and "enemies of the state" held in Switzerland. SONY Vaio VGN-NR31S/S CPU Fan Swiss banks, as well as the post office (which handles some financial transactions) use an electronic payments system known as Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC). The system is supervised by the Swiss National Bank and is operated via a joint venture.^[26] SIC handled over 250 million transactions in 2005, with a turnover value of 41 trillion Swiss francs. IBM 91P9252 CPU Fan As of 2008, there are 327 authorized banks and securities dealers in Switzerland,^[28] ranging from the "Two Big Banks" down to small banks serving the needs of a single community or a few special clients. UBS and Credit Suisse are respectively the largest and second largest Swiss banks and account for over 50% of all deposits in Switzerland; each has extensive branch networks throughout the country and most international centres. Toshiba Satellite M70-122 CPU Fan Due to their size and complexity, UBS and Credit Suisse are subject to an extra degree of supervision from the Federal Banking Commission. UBS came into existence in June 1998, when Union Bank of Switzerland, founded in 1862, and Swiss Bank Corporation, founded in 1872,merged. Headquartered in Zurich and Basel, it is Switzerland's largest bank. SONY UDQFWPH22FQU CPU Fan It maintains seven main offices around the world (four in the United States and one each in London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong) and branches on five continents. Credit Suisse is the second-largest Swiss bank. Based in Zurich, it was founded in 1856; its market capitalization (as of 2007) is US$95.2 billion, and the company has about 40,000 employees. HP Pavilion dv6-2150ei CPU Fan

In short, this energy relationship has enhanced U.S. energy security

In short, this energy relationship has enhanced U.S. energy security and provided Canada with security of demand for its energy exports. Yet, this highly integrated U.S.-Canada energy relationship may change dramatically in the near future. U.S. oil and natural gas production and reserves are expanding because of growing shale oil and gas developmentsHP G62-b16ST CPU Fan . Furthermore, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts slower growth in U.S. oil and natural gas consumption in the coming decades to 2035. Consequently, the United States no longer appears to be an unlimited market for Canadian energy, leaving Canada seeking new destinations. In addition, imminent policy decisions in the United States, such as whether to approve Keystone XL, HP 580696-001 CPU Fan may have profound effects on the U.S.-Canada energy relationship for decades and will have a significant impact on energy markets beyond North America. Both Canada and the U.S. are increasingly reliant on foreign investment to develop their resource sectors, and Asia has been an important source of capital. Asian investors initially focused on project investments as minority jointventure partners but are showing increasing interest in owning production companies. HP Pavilion dv6-3049tx CPU Fan HP G42-380LA CPU Fan Asian investors' objectives for investing in the North American energy sector include both attractive financial returns on investment as well as an interest in North America as an energy supply source for their economies. The expanding energy investment and trade between North America and Asia can be mutually beneficial. Toshiba Qosmio G30-167 CPU Fan Because English is the majority language in both countries, and accents and dialects on both sides of the border are (relatively) similar (as compared to the British or Australian English), both high culture and mass media are easily traded between the two countries. Both countries have minority-language media, of course: Canada has a large francophone population and the United States a large hispanophone population, HP Pavilion dv7-1157cl CPU Fan and both countries have other immigrant and indigenous language populations; however, cultural trade is mostly through the English-language media. The major difference is that America's English-language media market is more fifteen times as large, meaning that American producers of books, newspapers, magazines, radio programs, songs, films, and websites have an in-built advantage over their Canadian competitors. Compaq Presario CQ40-408AX CPU Fan This has been the case since the nineteenth century when Canada was flooded with American books. It was also the case in the 1920s when Canada's radio market was dominated by American broadcasts, leading cultural nationalists to form the Canadian Radio League, a pressure group demanded that the Canadian government create a publicly funded broadcaster to compete with the American stations. HP Mini 110-1110ET CPU Fan   This was the beginning of a pattern Canadian cultural protectionism, which has caused frequent trade disputes between the two nations. During the 1950s, the pattern was repeated in television, with Canadian stations airing US programming and US stations broadcasting into Canada, leading to the creation of CBC Television in response. Since the 1970s, Canadian radio and television stations have been required to air a minimum percentage of Canadian Content. HP Pavilion dv7-1157cl CPU Fan One source of tension is a difference in philosophy: the Canadian position is that Canada's culture must be protected to preserve Canada's nationhood and should therefore be excluded from free trade agreements, whereas Americans negotiators have claimed that media is a commodity like any other. This difference came light during the dispute over "split-run" magazine during the 1990s. HP Pavilion dv6-3163eo CPU Fan Split-runs are American or other foreign magazines which produce a slightly modified Canadian edition and which re-sell much of the advertising space in the magazine to Canadian advertisers. Publishers of Canadian magazines argued that the Americans were poaching all their advertising revenue without producing substantial Canadian content. HP Pavilion dv9740us CPU Fan The American publishers and the US government claimed that banning "split-runs" was illegal under international trade law. There have also been disputes over the generous tax credits that the Canadian federal and provincial governments give to television and film productions. This, combined with a weaker Canadian dollar caused American filmmakers to complain during the 1990s that "runaway productions" were hurting American employment in the film industry, especially in California. HP COMPAQ NX9420 CPU Fan The economies of Canada and the United States are similar because they are both developed countries and are each other's largest trading partners. However, key differences in population makeup, geography, government policies and productivity all result in different economies. In Canada total tax and non-tax revenue for every level of government equals about 38.4% of GDP,^[1] compared to the U.S. rate of 28.2%.^[2] HP Pavilion dv7-4150ec CPU Fan A significant portion of this tax differential is due to spending differences between the two countries. While the US is running deficits of about 4% of GDP,^[3] Canada's Federal government posted a budget surplus of around 1% of GDP per year from the mid-1990s until 2008, and is projected to enter back into a surplus by 2016.^[4] The deficit patterns and indebtedness of Canada's individual provinces vary like they do in the US among different states. HP Pavilion dv5-1102tu CPU Fan Considered in a revenue-neutral context, the differential is much smaller - Canada's total governmental spending was about 36% of GDP^[5]vs. 31% in the US.^[3] In addition, caution must be used when comparing taxes across countries, due to the different services each offers. Whereas the Canadian healthcare system is 70% government-funded, the US system is just under 50% government-funded (mostly via Medicare and Medicaid); SONY VGN-SZ220 CPU Fan adding the additional healthcare-spending burden to the above figures to obtain comparable numbers (+3% for Canada, +7% for the US) gives adjusted expenditures of 38–39% of GDP for each of the two nations. The taxes are applied the same as well. Canada's income tax system is more heavily biased against the highest income earners, thus while Canada's income tax rate is higher on average^[, the bottom fifty percent of the population is roughly taxed the same on income as in the United States. HP Pavilion dv7-6011tx CPU Fan However, Canada has a national goods and services tax (GST) of 5% on most purchases, while the U.S. federal government does not, increasing the tax burden on Canadian low-income earners due to the proportional nature of a sales tax. Canadian GST does not tax food and other essentials and a GST rebate for low-income earners mitigates regressiveness.^[6] HP Pavilion dv5-1040eb CPU Fan In addition to the 5% GST levied on most purchases, some Canadians also pay a provincial sales tax at a rate that varies by province and can be as high as 10%. In Ontario, for example, where the provincial sales tax (PST) is 8%, consumers must pay a total of 13% sales tax on top of the purchase price. (It should be noted that Ontario has eliminated both the PST and GST, ASUS F3Jv CPU Fan replacing them with harmonized sales tax, or HST, of 13%, which changes the sales tax on some items.) There are some purchases which are PST exempt, such as children's clothing. In the U.S., most states impose a sales tax, and cities and counties are often permitted to levy taxes as well, which can exceed 10% on purchases but realistically average at about 6-8%. Five U.S. states do not have any sales tax imposed.^[7] IBM ThinkPad R50p 2887 CPU Fan The Canadian province of Alberta and all three territories have no provincial or territorial sales tax on top of the GST. Government spending at all levels (federal, state/provincial and local) has traditionally been higher in Canada than the United States. In Canada, government spending as a percentage of GDP peaked at 53% in 1992. Since 1992 spending has steadily declined in Canada to just below 40 percent in 2008.^[8] SONY VGN-CS36GJ/R CPU Fan Spending in the United States fluctuated narrowly around 34-38 percent of GDP over the same period.^[9] However, starting in 2008 US spending has turned sharply upwards to reach an estimated 42.7% of GDP in 2009^{[dated info] [10]} from 39% in 2008. Spending is expected to reach 45% of GDP in 2011^{[dated info]},^[11] and stabilize at that level. For its higher taxes Canada has a larger system of social programs than the United States. Toshiba Satellite A215-S4807 CPU Fan This includes having a national broadcaster in the CBC, a largely government-funded health care system, and having all major universities receive partial government funding. The United States, however, does have most of its major universities subsidized by state government. The US also has two national public broadcasters which receive partial government funding, PBS (television) and NPR (radio). The greatest difference in social programs is in health care. Toshiba Satellite Pro M10-SP405 CPU Fan Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. Government spends as much on health care, 7% of GDP, as the Canadian government does,^[12] and total healthcare spending is much higher - 14.6% of GDP in the US vs. 10% in Canada.^[13] Canadians, however, receive comparable care to those Americans who receive treatment, and result measures. HP Pavilion dv4-1120us CPU Fan The Canadian health care system is said by some also to be attractive to employers, as in Canada health care is mostly paid through employee income taxes, while in the United States most companies choose to extend health benefits to full-time employees. Many employers in Canada do offer employees some additional medical coverage, for non-necessary treatments, and for pharmaceuticals which are not universally covered by the government-paid health insurance system. Compaq Presario C550EM CPU Fan The most common complaint regarding the Canadian system are the long lines and waiting periods that have appeared for minor and non-life threatening procedures over the last 15 years, since the introduction of widespread cuts to public funding. Separately, a number of medical tests and screenings are not covered (or due to increasing costs, are no longer covered) by the Canadian health system, forcing patients to pay for these services out of their own pockets. Toshiba Qosmio E15-AV101 CPU Fan For these reasons, some relatively wealthy Canadians undergo treatment at private healthcare facilities at their own expense, either in Canada, in India, or in other nations^[14] to avoid waiting for medical treatment, joining "medical tourists" from many nations, including the US.^[14] Despite these sporadic problems, Canada's healthcare performance is generally on par with the US.^[ Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4056 CPU Fan Efforts were made to reduce wait times by many provincial governments in the 1990s and 2000s, in an effort to improve care. Furthermore, healthcare coverage is universal for Canadians, and transferable outside a home province within Canada. In the United States, however, the most common complaint is that approximately 50 million people are uninsured, and thus do not have access to even the most basic healthcare services which Canadians have access to. Toshiba Satellite A305-S6837 CPU Fan This puts a burden on the emergency room services in the States and causes increases in healthcare costs significantly. The United States has since the Sherman Anti-Trust Act been strongly opposed to monopolies. In Canada this has been far less of an issue, and Canada has never had rigorously enforced rules against monopolization, and in certain situations the government has even encouraged monopolies. HP Pavilion dv7-4087cl CPU Fan However, the Canadian government is more willing to interfere in the operations of large, integrated firms where they appear to be acting against the public interest, offsetting in part one reason that American law prevents large-scale monopolization. Historical transport policy led to the promotion of one railway operator & one dominant flag carrier and the promotion of bus carriers through the suppression of other bus-like services. HP Pavilion dv5-1118es CPU Fan In telecommunications policy, oligopoly conditions are reinforced through the actions of the Canada Radio and Telecommunications (CRTC). Foreign ownership has been banned in Canada's cell phone market (Though one Egyptian-owned entrant, WIND mobile, has led to a possibility of a liberalization of telecommunications) Banking policy has been regulated through Bank Acts passed by Parliament. Toshiba Satellite A665-S6050 CPU Fan Canada is generally forced to follow American monetary policy quite closely, any large difference in interest rates could quickly lead to large problems for the Canadian economy. The U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada both staunchly believe in fighting inflation while neither aggressively pursue policies offull employment. HP Pavilion G72-259WM CPU Fan One difference that has emerged recently is that while Canada is still hewing closely to the balanced budgets policies of the 1990s the United States has moved into a heavy deficit, a policy both countries followed in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the most important differences historically between Canada and the United States was the size of the two markets. When both nations had high tariffs the two countries did not have a unified market. HP Pavilion dv6-3109ca  CPU  Fan Canada's smaller market led to higher prices and greater inefficiency. A good example of this is the automobile industry, which can be clearly demarcated into two periods: before and after the free trade creating Auto Pact of 1969. Before this, Canada had its own production lines creating each of the models that would be sold in Canada. HP Pavilion dv6782eg CPU Fan These branch plant factories would only make small production runs of each vehicle, requiring frequent, and expensive retoolings. The factories would also generally be smaller. Fewer varieties were available to Canadian consumers and prices were generally higher. However, these cars were almost all still made by American companies. After the Auto Pact, the industry was transformed as a unified North American market was created. SONY UDQF2PH52CF0 CPU Fan The Canadian factories were rebuilt to be much larger, but to make only one model that would be sold in both countries creating large economies of scale. The prices of cars fell in Canada as wages and total employment in the automobile sector increased. After the Second World War tariffs between the two countries gradually fell, with full free trade being established by the 1988 Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. Toshiba UDQFRPH33CCM CPU Fan Some industries are still protected, however. These are mostly perceived as sensitive areas such as cultural industries including publishing, television, and newspapers, all of which have stringent foreign ownership rules. Other areas such as the transport industry are also protected with Canadian control of the airlines and trains being viewed as in the national interest. Toshiba Satellite A505-S6980 CPU Fan This tends to create far more monopolies in Canada. For instance the air travel industry in Canada until recently was dominated by a single airline, Air Canada. Canada has long had to make a trade-off between monopolization and efficiency which the United States has not. The United States can support a number of airlines that are big enough to operate efficiently, and still have a competitive market (although in recent years the competitiveness of the major US airlines declined sharply). HP Pavilion dv7-2025es CPU Fan Canadians are forced to choose between small inefficient airlines that would be competitive, or monopolistic airlines that will generate their own inefficiency. Canada and the United States have long had very different banking systems. The United States' was copied from England, while Canada's was taken from Scotland. The United States traditionally has had a plethora of banks, some with very few branches. TOSHIBA Satellite L300 CPU Fan The U.S. system continues to support the creation of numerous small banks through both government-sponsored institutions like the Federal Home Loan Banks and similar non-government entities like Bankers' bank, that does not exist in markets like Canada. This has led to a more competitive but less stable system, with many thousands of banks having collapsed during U.S. history. HP G62-a10EJ CPU Fan TheGlass–Steagall Act and other laws and regulations prevented U.S. banks from growing beyond certain limits. Changes allowed U.S. banks to grow and the Glass–Steagall Act was repealed in 1999. Canada has always had far fewer banks per capita, but the banks have been larger and quickly expanded nationwide. Canadian banks have many branches and distributed assets. Canada has only had one major bank, the Home Bank, collapse in its history. Dell MF60100V1-Q000-G99 CPU Fan This concentration of banks in Canada relative to the U.S. has continued to this day. In 2002, Canada's the six largest banks controlled 90 percent of Canadian domestic banking assets, while the five largest U.S. banks controlled only 9.7 percent of their domestic assets. There are several subsidies in the U.S. system that do not exist in Canada. In terms of direct impact to consumers, DELL R859C CPU Fan mortgage interest is a tax deductible in the U.S. (a market distortion designed to encourage home ownership), but is not in Canada. The U.S. also indirectly subsidizes mortgages through a plethora ofgovernment sponsored enterprises. The U.S. entities do much more than provide mortgage insurance, and use their own huge balance sheets to purchase mortgages. Toshiba Satellite A105-S2101 CPU Fan The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation historically was mainly limited to providing mortgage insurance, although now facilitates funding of mortgages also through the Canada Mortgage Bond program, which has also grown to be quite large. Canada's banks have traditionally been fierce competitors internationally, while America's largest banks have had a more significant presence overseas. SONY Vaio VGN-FW140E CPU Fan In part, the history of this situation is rooted in Canada's smaller market. For Canadian banks, international exchange was always a central concern. For American banks, domestic banking was paramount. In the 1920s, Canadian banks dominated the international banking sector due to greater expertise and focus in the American economic centre of New York. Thus Canadian banks came to have a wider spread networks. ACER Aspire 5730Z CPU Fan Much of the banking system in the West Indies is controlled by the Canadian banks. Canadian banks also have far more of a presence in the United States than American firms do in Canada. In part, this is because American firms cannot buy Canadian banks, but Canadian banks have, at times, been able to buy American ones. Since the large Canadian banks already operated nationwide chains of a thousand or more branches, SONY Vaio VPC-EB4S1E/WI CPU Fan they find it relatively easy to integrate smaller chains of American banks into their systems. In recent years this advantage has disappeared as American banks have also grown substantially in size and today have many branches, and the large American banks are now operating over 2000 branches each. In fact, the ten largest banks in North America today are all U.S.-based. HP Pavilion dv9580ed CPU Fan Overseas, American banks have a larger presence than Canadian banks. Only Royal Bank of Canada's RBC Capital Markets division has a global scale that even approaches that of the U.S. investment banks. Until recently, Canadian banks had historically been far less strictly regulated than their American counterparts. Canadian banks had, until the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999, been freer to participate in the financial planning and insurance industries than their American counterparts. Toshiba Satellite L305D-S5934 CPU Fan In the 1980s and 1990s, the large Canadian banks acquired almost all significant trust and brokerage companies in Canada. They also started their own mutual fund and insurance businesses. As a result, Canadian banks broadened out to become supermarkets of financial services, a trend that started later in the U.S. market. The average U.S. bank is a domestic banking operation. SONY Vaio VGN-CR31S/P CPU Fan The large Canadian banks are financial conglomerates, with large domestic Canadian banking operations. Bank regulation in the United States is highly fragmented compared to Canada which has only OSFI as the bank regulator (although credit unions are provincially regulated). In the U.S., a bank's primary regulator could be the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, HP Pavilion dv5-1210et CPU Fan the Office of Thrift Supervision, or any one of 50 state regulatory bodies, depending on the charter of the bank. And within the Federal Reserve Board, there are 12 districts with 12 different regulatory staffing groups. The U.S. is also one of the most highly regulated banking environments in the world; however, many of the regulations are not safety and soundness related, but are instead focused on privacy, SONY Vaio VGN-FW465J/B CPU Fan disclosure, fraud prevention, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism, anti-usurylending, and promoting lending to lower-income segments. Even individual cities enact their own financial regulation laws (for example, for usury lending). Canadian banks have not faced laws against usury, or interest guarantees on deposits. Return on equity for Canadian banks were generally comparable to U.S. banks (with return on assets lower, but with Canadian banks using more leverage to compensate). HP Envy 15 CPU Fan Credit unions in Canada are tax-paying entities, while they have been tax-exempt in the U.S. However, as restrictions on the size of credit unions in the U.S. have eased, the American Bankers Association has lobbied to have credit unions taxed to level the playing field. In Canada prices have long tended to be higher. This is partly because of structural issues in Canada such as low population densityand harsher weather , HP Pavilion dv7-1190er CPU Fan and partly due to Canada's tax system, which depends more heavily on sales taxes relative to income taxes than the US. This has contributed to phenomena such as cross-border shopping. Since the early 1990s this has not been the case^[as the Canadian dollar had fallen low enough^[vague] that it more than made up for price differences^[Today prices are somewhat lower in Canada for at least one item: Toshiba Satellite A105-S4074 CPU Fan the Big Mac Index shows that in January 2006 a Big Mac cost $3.15 in the States and only $3.01 in Canada [1] (both figures in USD). In October, 2007 a strong Canadian dollar rose to parity with a weak American dollar, benefiting Canadian travelers and consumers. However, this was not favorable to Canadian manufacturers and exporters who do most of their business south of the border.  IBM MCF-208AM05-1 CPU Fan As the economic conditions decayed in 2008, a flight to safety in the American dollar and lower prices^[quantify] for Canadian commodities^[which?] reversed some of the growth in the Canadian dollar relative to the American dollar. Fuel prices have always been higher in Canada, even though Canada is a net exporter of energy. This is because Canada, unlike many oil producers, does not heavily subsidize fuel. Prices are based on the world market price. IBM MCF-217PAM05 CPU Fan Canadian workers are estimated to be 82% as productive per hour as their American counterparts.^[15] The industries with the largest productivity advantages for the U.S. are the manufacturing (particularly electronics and computer), finance, and service sectors. Industries where Canada is more productive than the U.S. are the construction and natural resources sectors with Canadian workers achieving 129% relative productivity.^[16]  HP GB0507PGV1-A CPU Fan The productivity gap had been even larger in the 1950s but the difference has been narrowing, aided by the elimination of the smaller market problem through free trade. The gap was still closing somewhat in the 1980s but at a much slower pace than in the 1960s. From 1961 to 1973 labour productivity rose annually by 3.3 percent in Canada and 1.7 percent in the United States. IBM MCF-217PAM05 CPU Fan From 1973 to 1995 productivity growth was 1.1% in Canada and 0.8% in the United States.^[17] The productivity gap began to widen again in the 1990s, particularly in the manufacturing sector. By 2000, this was called Canada's "Excellence Gap" by the Chief Economist of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters.^[18] The United States has the second-highest productivity of the G8 countries,^[19] while Canada's is 5th based on the 1997 estimate.^[20] HP Pavilion dv6-3385la CPU Fan Five main reasons for the productivity gap: the lower capital intensity of economic activity in Canada; an innovation gap in Canada relative to the United States; Canada's relatively underdeveloped high-tech sector; less developed human capital in Canada in terms of proportionately fewer university graduates and scientists and engineers in research and development; and more limited economies of scale and scope in Canada. HP Pavilion tx2510us  CPU  Fan Both Canada and the U.S. follow the Wagoner Act model of regulating trade unions and collective bargaining, though legislation regulating organized labor principally falls under provincial jurisdiction in Canada. That North American model differs significantly from patterns of organized labor found in other developed countries. For several decades Canada typically had reported its unemployment rate as somewhat higher than the US rate. HP G62-b55EV CPU Fan For example, in June 2008 the reported unemployment in the US was 5.5 percent and 6.1% in Canada. However, a closer examination reveals that the two countries measure the unemployment rate differently. Craig Riddell, a University of British Columbia economist, found that a 0.9% difference was caused by the differing measurement systems.^[21] HP Pavilion dv6-2145sf CPU Fan Statistics Canada has also acknowledged this, and it now publishes a second unemployment rate using the same methodology as the Americans. Using the American methodology, the June 2008 Canadian unemployment rate was 5.3%, which was 0.2% lower than the American rate.^[22] Prior to the identification of the difference in methodologies, some politicians claimed that higher income taxes, HP Pavilion dv7-1120ew CPU Fan restrictive labour laws, unions, universal healthcare, and greater unemployment benefits in Canada were causing a higher actual unemployment rate. However, when unemployment insurance and welfare were sharply cut in many parts of Canada during the 1990s there was little gain in employment relative to the Americans. Others attempted to explain the reported difference in terms of the large number of seasonal workers in trades such as fishing and logging who are unemployed for a portion of the year. HP 538340-001 CPU Fan\ While the United States has in recent years had a large trade deficit, Canada had for several decades maintained a trade surplus, which turned to a deficit since 2006.^[23] The Canadian surplus had been almost entirely due to trade with the United States. Canada has trade deficits with Europe and Asia, just as the Americans do. In 2005, Canada exported about $109 billion worth of goods more than they imported from the U.S. HP 535766-001 CPU Fan With the rest of the world, Canada had a trade deficit of $47 billion creating an overall surplus of some $62 billion. Although wealth is more highly concentrated in the U.S., the median (50th percentile) worker has essentially the same purchasing power in each nation. In terms of purchasing power parity, the most recent statistics from the IMF has Canada (US $35,494) lower than that in the United States (US $43,444).^[25] HP 535442-001 CPU Fan In the late 1990s, the GDP gap widened. In this period, GDP increased by 5% annually in the United States, and 2% in Canada. Earlier, it had been narrowing between 1961 and 1995. However, it was closing at a much faster rate in the 1960s than the early 1990s. From 1961 to 1973, real GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% in Canada and 4.0% in the United States. From 1973 to 1995 it was 2.6% in Canada and 2.3% in the USA. [2HP 535441-001 CPU Fan ] Canada was not hit as hard by the economic downturn in 2001, however, so cumulative growth in real GDP has been almost exactly the same amount in each country over the last 15 years. The United Nations Human Development Index ranks the United States (fourth) higher than Canada (eighth).^[26] Other independent groups, such as the Economist have ranked each of Canada's four largest cities as better places to live than any American city. HP 535439-001 CPU Fan In their 2005 ranking, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa ranked within the top 10 livable cities while the highest-ranked American cities, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, were tied at 26th place.^[27] Canada ranks higher than the U.S. in statistics such as life expectancy (80.22 years in Canada versus 77.85 in the U.S.) and infant mortality (4.75 Canadian deaths per 1000 versus 6.50 in the States). HP 535438-001 CPU Fan Both countries rank highly with 99% literacy rates. The United States has more major consumer goods per capita than Canada. For instance, while Canada had only 297 computers per 1000 people in 1996, the United States had 403. Average income is slightly higher in the United States. However, as of 2009, Canada's median family income surpassed that of the USA by approximately 10%.HP 533736-001 CPU Fan In terms of racial disparity, United States African-Americans and Hispanics have a lower standard of living than the rest of the population; in Canada, Aboriginal peoples and Black Canadians are disproportionately likely to live in poverty, although these groups represent 25% of the US population and only 6% of Canada's. In both countries, recent immigrants tend to have lower earnings than more established residents. IBM 13R2760 CPU Fan Canada's French-Canadians also used to be a poorer group, but since the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s this has been partially remedied.The United States measures poverty, while Canada does not have an official measure (see Poverty in Canada#Measures of poverty in Canada), although Statistics Canada measures something called the Low-Income Cutoffs, ACER LU.S040A.067 CPU Fan the statistical agency repeatedly states that this is not a poverty measure (it is an income dispersion measure like the Gini coefficient). In the United States the poverty line is set at triple the "minimum adequate food budget." When a common measure is used, such as that of the Luxembourg Income Study, the United States has higher rates. The LIS reports that Canada has a poverty rate of 15.4% and the United States 18.7%. [3] ACER LU.S050B.078 CPU Fan In both countries lower incomes are found in those most affected by poverty include single-parent families and single elderly people. It may be said the cost of absorbing lower skilled, poorer workers in the US skews comparison studies downward for the United States^[28] (see also Economic impact of illegal immigrants in the United States). DELL Studio 1535 CPU Fan In recent years, what otherwise would have been a reduction in the low-income cutoff, was more than offset by the impact of immigration. According to a 2003 study by Statistics Canada "The rise in the low-income rates in the three major Canadian cities, and in Ontario and B.C. during the 1990s in particular, was largely concentrated among the immigrant population. HP Pavilion dv6736nr CPU Fan Basically, low-income rates have been falling over the past two decades among the Canadian born, and rising among immigrants."^[29] A more recent January 2007 study by Statistics Canada explains that the low-income rates of new immigrants has deteriorated by yet another significant amount from 2000 to 2004^[30] (see also Economic impact of immigration to Canada). HP Envy 15-1050ca CPU Fan,HP Pavilion dv7-6100et CPU Fan,APPLE 661-4951 CPU Fan