Monthly Archive: February 2021

Eurodollar University’s Making Sense; Episode 46; Part 3: Bill’s Reading On Reflation, And Other Charted Potpourri

2021-02-21

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2021-02-21

46.3 On the Economic Road to NothingGoodVilleRecent, low consumer price inflation readings combined with falling US Treasury Bill yields are cautionary sign posts that say this reflationary path may not be the road to recovery but a deflationary cul-de-sac.

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New Opportunities 2021: Covid-19 and the future of shipping and aviation

2021-02-21

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2021-02-21

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted transportation worldwide, sending shockwaves across supply chains, lowering demand and reducing revenue. Shipping and aviation especially experienced a steep financial decline. Companies have had to operate at limited capacity and growth prospects have dropped sharply. 

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Alpine skiing industry faces uphill battle after reopening U-turn

2021-02-20

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2021-02-20

As a fresh covering of snow brought ideal skiing conditions to the Alpine resort of Piani di Bobbio last weekend, facilities manager Massimo Fossati eagerly anticipated the arrival of the first visitors in nearly a year.

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Der Liberalismus hat immer das Wohl des Ganzen im Auge

2021-02-20

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2021-02-20

Weit verbreitet ist die Meinung, der Liberalismus unterscheide sich von anderen politischen Richtungen dadurch, daß er die Interessen eines Teiles der Gesellschaft – der Besitzenden, der Kapitalisten, der Unternehmer – über die Interessen der anderen Schichten stelle und vertrete. Diese Behauptung ist ganz und gar verkehrt.

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What Poisoned America?

2021-02-20

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2021-02-20

America's financial system is nothing more than a toxic waste dump of speculation, fraud, collusion, corruption and rampant profiteering. What Poisoned America?

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Poverty in Switzerland: fresh data on those struggling to get by

2021-02-20

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2021-02-20

In 2019, the poverty line in Switzerland was CHF 27,348 (US$ 30,500) for a single person and CHF 47,712 (US$ 53,200) for a couple with two young children. The figures are calculated by SKOS based on the cost of living in Switzerland. People with incomes below these levels in Switzerland are considered to by living in poverty.

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Episode 12: The Yield Purchasing Power Paradigm

2021-02-20

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2021-02-20

Most people think in terms of purchasing power: how much can one’s cash buy? In this week’s episode, CEO Keith Weiner & John Flaherty discuss an alternate perspective. Instead of spending your capital, what if you invested it to earn a return? What can that return buy?

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FX Daily, February 19: Equities Stabilizing While the Greenback Remains Under Pressure

2021-02-19

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2021-02-19

Overview: The bond and equity markets are trying to stabilize ahead of the weekend.  The dollar remains under pressure.  In the Asia Pacific region, Hong Kong, China, and South Korean markets advanced, but most markets could not overcome the profit-taking pressures.

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The Swiss eID law has flaws, but is another version worth the wait?

2021-02-19

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2021-02-19

The eID is billed as a long-overdue key to the digital world, a single access point for services provided by a range of public and private-sector organisations. But the model proposed by Switzerland – being put to a nationwide referendum in March – is far from watertight.

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Secondary sector with strong production and turnover losses in the 4th quarter and for the whole of 2020

2021-02-19

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2021-02-19

Secondary sector production declined 3.1% in 4th quarter 2020 in comparison with the same quarter a year earlier. Turnover fell by 4.4%. For 2020 as a whole which was shaped by the Covid 19 pandemic, there were strong decreases in production (-3.3%) and turnover (-5.2%).

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Digital Asset Adoption Gains Momentum With US$26 Billion in Bitcoin Transactions

2021-02-19

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2021-02-19

Bitcoin’s recent price surge has accelerated institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies leading to institutional investor pouring an estimated US$26 billion into bitcoin over the past eight months, an analysis by SNGLR Group shows.

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Two Seemingly Opposite Ends Of The Inflation Debate Come Together

2021-02-19

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2021-02-19

US Import Price Index All Commedities, 2019-2021
It’s worth taking a look at a couple of extremes, and the putting each into wider context of inflation/deflation. As you no doubt surmise, only one is receiving much mainstream attention. The other continues to be overshadowed by…anything else.

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Prohibition’s Repeal: What Made FDR Popular

2021-02-19

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2021-02-19

For seventy-plus years, the case of Franklin Delano Roosevelt has vexed people of a libertarian bent. His policies, extending war socialism based on Mussolini's economic structure, expanded the American state to an unthinkable extent and prolonged the Great Depression through the horrific World War II.

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Swiss Trade Balance January 2021: foreign trade starts the year on a positive note

2021-02-18

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2021-02-18

Swiss exports and imports, seasonally adjusted (in bn CHF), January 2021
After declining in December 2020, Swiss foreign trade again showed a strong increase at the start of 2021. In January and in seasonally adjusted terms, exports rose 5.4% to 18.9 billion francs and imports by 3.3% to 15.3 billion. In both directions of trafficking, the boom relied heavily on chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The trade balance closed with a surplus of 3.6 billion francs.

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FX Daily, February 18: Markets Chill

2021-02-18

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2021-02-18

The bout of profit-taking in equities continued today, and most markets in Asia Pacific and Europe are lower. China's markets re-opened but struggled to sustain early gains. However, the Shanghai Composite rose by about 0.5%, and a smaller increase was recorded in Taiwan and an even smaller gain in Australia.

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Switzerland tops global e-commerce index

2021-02-18

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2021-02-18

Switzerland is the best equipped country for online shopping, according to a United Nations comparison of more than 150 states.

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The United Nations in Geneva – before and during the pandemic

2021-02-18

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2021-02-18

With the exception of a few organisations and institutions that continue to operate in person, such as the UN Human Rights Council, which is currently conducting its Universal Periodic Review process, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the WHO and some permanent missions to the United Nations, most day-to-day business and multilateral activities are conducted online.

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If America Splits Up, What Happens to the Nukes?

2021-02-18

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2021-02-18

Opposition to American secession movements often hinges on the idea that foreign policy concerns trump any notions that the United States ought to be broken up into smaller pieces. It almost goes without saying that those who subscribe to neoconservative ideology or other highly interventionist foreign policy views treat the idea of political division with alarm or contempt. Or both.

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Money, Interest, and the Business Cycle

2021-02-18

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2021-02-18

The banks very often expand credit for political reasons. There is an old saying that if prices are rising, if business is booming, the party in power has a better chance to succeed in an election campaign than it would otherwise. Thus the decision to expand credit is very often influenced by the government that wants to have “prosperity.” Therefore, governments all over the world are in favor of such a credit-expansion policy.

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Uncle Sam Was Back Having Consumers’ Backs

2021-02-18

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2021-02-18

US Retail Sales, NSA 1993-2021
American consumers were back in action in January 2021. The “unemployment cliff” along with the slowdown and contraction in the labor market during the last quarter of 2020 had left retail sales falling backward with employment. Seasonally-adjusted, total retail spending had declined for three straight months to end last year.

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