Honesty – Lies and Politics 221the Gotthard Tunnel (the "drip-feed system") which had been facing
massive opposition. This was indeed held against me as cynical but in
the moment of shock after the accident, no one dared oppose it, and the
measure, a good measure, I still think today, was able to be implement-
ed.
Machiavelli does not praise cunning, falsehood or even cruelty as
ethically good deeds. He did not even take the view that morality plays
no important role in politics. He places a good cause in the interests of
the state, however, above the moral rules of the Zeitgeist. The best
methods, he believes, are those that secure the desired result for the
state. Little has changed to this day for government representatives, to
whichever party they belong.
If a falsehood is required in the interests of the state, it is also ac-
cepted. In January 2015, the Swiss National Bank gave up pegging the
value of the franc to that of the euro. Although it had been in preparation
this for weeks, two days before it had publicly defended the minimum
exchange rate with conviction. This was a blatant lie. The president of
the National Bank justified this: "Communicating such an exit is a very
delicate matter. If you had communicated openly, there would have
speculative attacks on the minimum exchange rate."
This corresponds exactly to Machiavelli's convictions: He strongly
upheld morality, the moral norm, but he placed the public interest above
it.