Economies: if there's an economic crisis, no one told Zurich

It's a strange thing about the world's financial centres. All of them (at least all of them we have been to in the past month or so) think they are insulated from the world's economic woes. Dubai thought so in the middle of November (but that faith has since been proved to have been misplaced), Jersey thought so at the beginning of December and the Cayman Islands in the middle. But at least they were talking about the global economic downturn, and there were some signs of preparation.

Zurich, on the other hand, is not in denial - it just seems not to have noticed.

The airport is full, inbound and out. Taxis are in short supply. Hotel rooms are selling at near rack-rents and hotels are at near seasonal norms.

Restaurants are full - in some cases to overbooking, bars are a little quiet in the supposedly trendy "Western District" but in the city, the ladies of a certain age still crowd into coffee shops and tea-rooms. The shops are full - and the carrier bag count in the street - a good basic economic indicator, far more valuable than "footfall" - is high.

Yet unlike London, these are not bargain hunters snapping up the remnants of Woolworths' shelf-clearing or another desperate sale. In fact, unlike London, shop windows are not obscured with "Sale now on" signs. There are a few, but not many. In the banking district, the equivalent of Knightsbridge, there are none of the discrete "Seasonal Reductions" signs that appear in the windows of shops too pretentious to admit to having a sale. Even chain stores have a couple of racks of discounted ends of ranges but none of the wholesale clearance that is common in London where, last week, a firm of accountants said they had worked out that the average discount in London's shops was in excess of 35%.

There are few signs of cost-cutting: airport / hotel shuttles were eschewed in favour of taxis at a significant difference in cost: CHF25 in a shuttle as against CHF100 or more (due to inclement weather, it's usually around CHF80 in a taxi to the Western District) on the meter (although many will fix the fare at around CHF50.)

Switzerland is always expensive - and there is no sign of the austerity pricing so heavily advertised on US TV. Restaurants are still charging full price for their menus, and there are no hints of two-dine-for-one offers so prevalent in the US.

Moods Jazz Club was a little quiet - only about 70 people to hear one of the world's best drummers, Charly Antolini and his latest band Powerband Project. Antolini, incidentally, no longer records - he's been doing it since 1966 and has decided only to play live now so a small crowd was a surprise. But other events in Schiffbau over a couple of nights had queues. The Technopark, however, was quiet - largely due, it was said, to sudden and unexpected (!!) snow.

Basically, it's as if Zurich is on a planet of its own. It's almost a Fawlty Towers sketch: "Don't mention the recession."

Because, if you do, no one will believe you.