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Re:The new tax havens by yummyfajitas on Sunday August 21, 2011 @08:15AM (#2909050)
They can achieve some efficiencies by "freeloading" that bigger countries cannot match, for example Switzerland doesn't train enough doctors at their own universities but relies heavily on hiring doctors from Germany.

How is this "freeloading"? Medical schools located in Germany train doctors, who then pay the medical school. People in Switzerland pay the doctors for services.

Is Germany also freeloading on Switzerland if they purchase Swiss chocolates or watches? Is the US freeloading off India because the US buys BPO services from India?

Re:The new tax havens by Atropos on Sunday August 21, 2011 @08:33AM (#2909073)
Not entirely comparable. Most universities don't have tuition fees in Germany, the highest fees are 1000€/year, while it is estimated that the costs of educating a medical student are at least 30,000€ / year. Basically the education is heavily subsidized by the German taxpayer, so if a huge number of doctors later work and pay taxes in Switzerland it is somewhat suboptimal.
Re:The new tax havens by yummyfajitas on Sunday August 21, 2011 @09:03AM (#2909111)
Ok, so the real problem is that Germany is forcing it's citizens to subsidize doctors and the Swiss, rather than that the Swiss are freeloading.

The obvious solution (for Germany's citizens, if not their politicians) would be to charge market rates for medical education.