A Swiss economist at the heart of the drama of North American relations

“Here, you feel a bit like you’re in Europe,” says Daniela Hauser in an interview with swissinfo.ch in the lively ByWard Market district, in the heart of the Canadian capital Ottawa. And as in the Swiss capital of Bern, where she is from, the 43-year-old economist prefers to get around on foot in her adopted country: “I love walking, in cities as well as outside in the wilderness or even in the Bernese Oberland.

Daniela Hauser was seized with a “want to travel” shortly after her economic maturity. At the Bernese gymnasium in Neufeld, her interest in major economic issues had been awakened and, just across the linguistic border between French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland, she began studying political economy at the University of Fribourg.

Monetary economics and fiscal policy

After stages in Lausanne and Geneva, Daniela Hauser finally obtained her doctorate in Barcelona: “I am interested in the broad outlines of monetary economics and the importance of fiscal policy,” explains Daniela Hauser, without forgetting her pleasure and his interest in the local and the human. Thus, during her studies, she engaged in child protection projects for several years in Ecuador, a country in South America. It was as a doctoral student in Barcelona that she met her partner, an economist from Italy.

Swiss economist Daniela Hauser in front of the main entrance of the Bank of Canada in Ottawa, her employer since 2013.

SWI swissinfo.ch / Bruno Kaufmann

On her way, Daniela Hauser learned and reflected on how economics and democracy are two sides of the same coin and influence each other: “For economic development, it is important to have framework conditions attractive and stable democratic systems, for example a guaranteed property right and a stable rule of law which applies laws objectively”, she underlines, citing Switzerland as a good example of a dynamic and democratic State which contributes to a stable environment.

According to a compilation by the Varieties of Democracy Institute at the University of Gothenburg, strengthening democracy in a country also helps to strengthen economic performance and, conversely, autocracies are much more often faced with negative growth rates than democracies*.

Speeddating for economists

After finishing their studies in Barcelona, ​​Daniela Hauser and her husband went straight to looking for a job: they chose the annual congress of the “American Economic Association” (AEA), which always takes place at the beginning of the year. year in a major American city. On the sidelines of conferences and workshops, employers such as central banks and large companies meet ambitious candidates, fresh from the world’s most renowned economic universities.

“We had several offers and decided to go on an adventure to Canada,” says Daniela Hauser. Her life, she readily admits, is marked by three things: curiosity, efficiency and determination. The dual offer of the Canadian central bank at the time also had a great advantage: “Here we can reconcile our professional and private ambitions.” Since their first participation at the AEA in 2013, the couple have been part of the fixed circle of participants at what is, according to Daniela Hauser, “the world’s most important job fair for economists”. They are now participating as employers looking for new talent.

Canada is the United States’ largest trading partner – and vice versa. 60% of fossil fuel imports into the United States come from Canada.

SWI swissinfo.ch / Bruno Kaufmann

While Daniela’s husband heads the research department for national economic analyzes at the Bank of Canada, Daniela Hauser coordinates the international team: “We are evaluating different scenarios for future economic relations with the United States.”

With this role, the Bernese economist currently finds himself at the heart of the drama of North American relations: this after the American president-designate Donald Trump announced at the end of November that he wanted to increase customs duties to 25% on imports from the countries neighbors like Mexico to the south and Canada to the north, from the first day of his mandate.

“Canada as non-United States”

To justify such punitive tariffs, Donald Trump cited an “invasion of drugs and illegal aliens across ridiculously open borders.” Exactly what Canada must do to prevent such taxes, however, remains unclear, although Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Trump shortly afterward for an interview at his home in Florida. On the other hand, the idea put forward by Donald Trump of wanting to integrate Canada as the 51st federal state caused a sensation.

This does not go down well in Canada: “Despite all the points in common with the United States, we like to define ourselves here in Canada in relation to our neighbor to the south, so to speak as non-USA,” notes Daniela Hauser, who has held Canadian nationality since 2021 in addition to his Swiss nationality. “For this, I had to take, among other things, an online test on Canadian geography and history,” she explains. Like Switzerland, Canada is now preparing intensively for Donald Trump’s second presidency.

Like Daniela Hauser’s city of Bern, Ottawa was only designated the capital of the new federal state in the mid-19th century, after a long political tug of war between different interests within the capital of the newly federal state. shape. Today, more than a million people live in Canada’s fourth largest city, where street signs are in both English and French. Yet the city is not officially considered “bilingual.”

“Canada has more difficulty than Switzerland with multilingualism,” explains Daniela Hauser, who speaks five languages, in addition to English, French and German, also Spanish and Italian. She has an explanation for this: “The Canadian political system is based on the British majoritarian electoral system, in which the winner of an election gets all the power.”

After almost a decade with Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a change of power in favor of the conservative party of opposition leader Pierre Poilievre is now taking shape during the new elections scheduled for 2025: “This reminds me of the situation of ten years ago when we arrived in Canada and long-time Conservative leader Stephen Harper was ousted. People want a breath of fresh air.”

Plus

For Daniela Hauser, it is important to clear the mind and find new impulses after long days spent in meetings and in front of the computer, filled with economic figures and possible scenarios: “Magnificent nature connects me to nature. earth, and that does me a lot of good in view of the major questions of democracy, economics and world politics that I deal with.

Furthermore, despite her Canadian presence, identity and role, the Bernese economist still considers herself resolutely a “Swiss” economist in Ottawa.

A Swiss network with global influence

She is therefore involved in the “Swiss Economists Abroad” network. This network was created in 2006 and today has more than 200 members from all over the world. Financially supported by the Swiss National Bank, the network meets once a year in Switzerland for an exchange: soon in December at the University of Lucerne.

“Many Swiss economists who work in different institutions and universities around the world are very influential,” explains Aline Bütikofer, who coordinates the network and is professor of labor market economics at the University of Economics in Bergen in Norway. From the latter’s point of view, two qualities contribute to the success of Swiss economists in the world: the desire to perform and diligence. In the case of Daniela Hauser, at least three others are added: curiosity, efficiency and determination.

*The Case for Democracy Report External link(2022). Varieties of Democracy Institute. University of Gothenburge. Université de Gothenburg.

Proofread and verified by Mark Livingston / translated from German by Mary Vacharidis