The first article you have quoted does not support your claim that the reporting was that it was an obviously bad decision to not join. In fact, here’s the firs

The first article you have quoted does not support your claim that the reporting was that it was an obviously bad decision to not join. In fact, here’s the first half of the first sentence from that article: > Choosing the security of their traditional isolation and neutrality over the risks and opportunities offered by Europe It mentions both risks and opportunities, which hardly sounds like a claim that there is an obvious economic cost. Most of the article was about how it reflects a growing divide between the industrial/business and rural sides of Switzerland. The closest statement claiming that there would be downsides refers not to joining the EEC specifically, but regional blocs in general. > The country's political and economic establishment argued that the country would lose its competitive edge if it resisted the movement toward regional economic blocs. Some leading business executives and bankers even warned that investment would drop and unemployment would grow. And while Switzerland has not joined the EU, it has definitely greatly integrated with the EU, even adopting EU laws in order to be access the single market.