A key question is, what makes a socio-political system more efficient than others? As one can read in WP1, the difference between two similar countries (Switzerland and Belgium) can be significant. The comparison can be made using several metrics but in the end it’s always the output level that counts, for example the GDP per capita. In this case Switzerland performs 20 to 30% better than Belgium (section 5.6 in WP1) Hence, the country produces more wealth. More wealth that can be used to improve the life and environment for all. Think about better roads, public transport, culture, innovation, etc. A lesser performance also translates in lesser performance in other metrics like unemployment rate, public debt and inflation. Hence, the wealth is also less well spend, not on innovation and quality of life but on non-productive expenditures. The latter starts a vicious cycle as the growing budget deficits shows in Belgium.
To illustrate and analyse this further, we look at the performance in education. While not listed in WP1, Belgium spends 6,6% of its GDP on education while Switzerland 5,6% but in nominal terms the figures per capita are €3386 and €5280 respectively which means 56% more for Switzerland. Swiss students consistently outperform their Belgian counterparts in mathematics. While Belgium’s science scores have declined by 11 points since 2015, Swiss performance in science has remained remarkably stable.
This situation is well known in Belgium and its not only related to the expenditures. For example, from 2014 to 2024, the total education workforce in Flanders (teachers and administrators) grew by nearly 13% to 14% over a single decade while the number of pupils only rose by 7%. Despite having more staff per student than 50 years ago, educational outcomes (PISA scores) in both Flanders and Wallonia have reached historical lows in 2025.
A deeper analysis points to a structural cause. In 1975 (Flanders) and 1978 (French Community) a “Reformed Secondary Education” (RSE) was introduced to replace traditional rigid tracks with a more flexible, comprehensive system aimed at increasing “social equality”. This had multiple effects that reduced the efficiency. Both regions centralised education away from the schools and teachers and imposed rather inflexible teaching programs while burdering them with many more administrative tasks. In the Flemish Community (2024–2025 school year), the workforce has grown to approximately 179,205 full-time equivalents (FTE) with 13,243 FTE or 7,4% strictly dedicated to non-teaching positions such as principals, inspectors, student counselors, and Centre for Educational Guidance (CLB) staff. Worse is that teaching staff is burdened with what teachers call “excessive administrative work”. One result is that many leave the profession and there is a shortage of staff. If only a quarter of the administrative staff would return to teaching, the gaps would be filled.
This highlights the structural differences between the bottom-up and decentralised subsidiarity in Switzerland and the top-down centralised subsidiarity in Belgium. In a decentralised system the responsibility is mostly with the citizens away from central planners dictating every detail. It is motivating to be responsible and being able to apply one’s education and skills for the best as one sees fit. While not everyone is perfect and makes mistakes, the correction loop is short. A teacher knows his class and a school knows his teachers. The central ministry has to rely on reports. By imposing how and what teachers should do, a mistake was made that only becomes visible years later in e.g. international scores. The cost of excessive administration has wide-spreading effects not only by taking away resources from teaching, but also by demotivating teachers and producing less educated students. The goal of achieving of “social equality” by imposing equal teaching was a failure that affected everyone. And while some reforms are now underway to correct this view, it took 50 years and affected a whole generation. This also contributed to the lower economical performance we mentioned at the beginning of this post. A well performing country is the work of qualified people, whether they work in the public or private sector.