Geneva

This past weekend was quite possibly one of the most intense 4 day periods of my life. On Thursday we made our way from Freiburg via double decker bus to Geneva Switzerland. I think it was about a 4 hour drive, but I slept the entire way so I don't really know.

Anyways, we made it to the United Nations at Geneva shortly before our meeting with Heiner Flassbeck. Who is one of the chief economists for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. He typically deals with developing economies, but recently he has dealt with the Greece/Europe Bailout. His main argument is that ultimately it is Germany's fault for the huge trade imbalances. Germany (interestingly at the request of the labor unions) has essentially left wages flat for the past 10 years. Coupled with inflation and increases in efficiencies, this has left Germany operating with an undervalued currency and essentially an absolute advantage over the other European economies. It is an interesting theory and I think per unit wage differences between the European economies will be an important component of the European economic restructuring currently taking place. After our meeting we went to the U.N. Cafeteria where I was accosted by the French speaking cashier for trying to pay with Euro coins (I soon learned they only used Euro Bills). So with none of my peers in eyesight and the line growing ever longer behind me, I rushed up stairs to an ATM I had seen earlier. Pulled out some cash and with a slight look of disgust, the cashier lady let me pay for my lunch. After lunch we took a tour of the UN facilities and learned about the history of the building and location.


Thursday evening was spent exploring Geneva and a trip to the bell tower of the Geneva Cathedral.

Friday, we spent the morning at the World Trade Organization (WTO). There someone from their external communications department walked us through the WTO history and how agreements and meetings were conducted. He started us off with a slide which simply said, "It's more complicated than that." and it most certainly was. But, pretty much the WTO is a meeting place for all the members to negotiate trade agreements. Overall it seemed a little superficial to me, but I guess that is diplomacy for you.