 Given the shocking lack of growth in the EU, the promises of prosperity and security seem empty. But if we left, would we cope? Are we too small? If we're outside the EU, will anyone trade with us? To find out, I'm heading to a European country which has steadfastly refused to join the EU. Switzerland. It's very pleasant arriving in Zurich. The station's lovely. The bit round it's lovely. In fact, everything's lovely. But then, this is the wealthiest city in the world. Ranked as having the highest quality of life in the world. All the cliches are true. Everything is so neat and efficient that people are so polite and obliging. And the buildings are beautiful. This place is wealthy and it's obviously been wealthy for centuries. I want to know how the Swiss are managing to cope without the glorious benefits of EU membership. So I've come to one of Zurich's many lovely coffee houses to meet the veteran Swiss economist and writer, Beat Kappeler. So Switzerland is not in the European Union. Is that a problem for you? No, because Switzerland has free trade agreements with many countries in the rest of the world. Japan, China, Latin America. We're told we need to be in the EU for trade. But Swiss exports per head are five times higher than ours. In fact, they're about the most successful exporting nation in the world. Then we're told we need to be in the EU for jobs. We have a very high labour market participation. 83% of all people in working age work. That's much higher than the rest of Europe. Switzerland has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world, lower than any country in the EU. Don't be fooled by the mountains, the cows and the coogal clocks, which are German, by the way. Switzerland is an industrial giant. You might have heard of Nestle and Novartis and Roche. The mining firm Glencore, Libre Cranes. The high-tech engineering firm ABB. And of course every posh watch firm you can think of. From Rolex and Omega and Tag Hauer to Patek Philippe and Zenith and Breitling. These are all world-beating giants. Just look at the most valuable companies in Europe. Novartis, Roche, Nestle, they're all Swiss. Europe's biggest companies aren't even in the EU. Zurich is also one of the world's largest financial centres. Despite having a population of less than two million, with global firms like UBS and Credit Suisse. Per million of inhabitants, Switzerland has more multinationals than I think all other countries. No surprise then that Switzerland is about the richest country in the world, with a GDP per head around twice as high as ours. To make the point that actually if we left the EU, we'd be just like another Switzerland, I think it's totally bizarre. It is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Switzerland doesn't just do a bit better than us, it does fantastically better than us. Needless to say, the Swiss are better paid than us, with average wages again around twice as high as ours. What's more, there is far greater income equality here. Labour incomes are about as equally distributed as in Scandinavia. If you think high tax rates lead to equality, look at Switzerland. They have far lower tax rates than we do, but very high levels of income equality. So, without the EU's help, the Swiss seem to be scraping long just fine. But how do we account for Switzerland's truly staggering success? I've come to the offices of the Swiss magazine Die Weltvoch, all the world this week. The reason why Switzerland is successful economically is that Switzerland is not a member of the European Union. In the EU its politicians and bureaucrats determine what the people have got to do. I mean it's a top-down system in the EU and Switzerland is, I would say, the epitome of a bottom-up system. Switzerland is the perfect opposite to the European Union's crumbling model. Switzerland is a kind of super-democracy. Far more democratic than Britain, let alone the EU. Switzerland is one of the oldest constitutions in the world and it's one of the most democratic. It's not up to the Prime Minister whether a referendum should be held. It's up to the people. You get 50,000 signatures and they have to hold one. The people in Switzerland decide everything. It's very different to an elite conception of politics where an enlightened elite decides and knows better. Here the people knows better and politicians have to conform. Why is the Swiss state successful? Because our politicians are forced to fulfil the interests of the people. Key to their success is the fact that their class of bureaucrats and politicians' view is kept on a much tighter rail and much greater control by the public. You simply cannot get away with the kind of grandiose plans that you find, say, in France. In Switzerland, the Swiss public simply will not tolerate that. The Swiss economy ranks as one of the least regulated in the world and according to the EU itself, Swiss industry is also Europe's most innovative. Too much regulation stifles innovation, limits creativity and so we think this should be the foremost endeavour of politicians to eliminate regulations and not to create them. Switzerland is one of the least regulated economies in the world and it's also one of the richest countries in the world. This is no coincidence. Do it like the Swiss? Have some arrangements with Europe but be independent and look to the world.