Monthly Archive: February 2021

The Insatiable Appetite to Tax Social Security Benefits

2021-02-09

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2021-02-09

First, it was 10%, then 20%, and today more than 50% of U.S. retirees pay taxes on their Social Security benefits, and the number is expected to go even higher. The cause seems to be that one government hand doesn’t know, or care, what the other government hand is doing.

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Politics and Ideas

2021-02-09

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2021-02-09

In the Age of Enlightenment, in the years in which the North Americans founded their independence, and a few years later, when the Spanish and Portuguese colonies were transformed into independent nations, the prevailing mood in Western civilization was optimistic.

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Covid: Israel’s vaccine experiment looks promising

2021-02-09

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2021-02-09

Israel leads the world in the race to vaccinate against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in what some are calling the world’s leading Covid-19 vaccine experiment. 64 doses of vaccine per 100 people have been administered there, far more than in any other nation.

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Switzerland Unemployment in January 2021: risen to 3.7percent, seasonally adjusted remained at 3.5percent

2021-02-08

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2021-02-08

Switzerland Unemployment Rate n.s.a., October 2020
Registered unemployment in October 2020 - According to surveys by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), 149,118 unemployed people were registered with the regional employment centers (RAV) at the end of October 2020, 558 more than in the previous month. The unemployment rate remained at 3.2% in the month under review. Compared to the same month last year, unemployment increased by 47,434 people (+ 46.6%).

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FX Daily, February 8: Limited Follow-Through Dollar Selling to Start the Week

2021-02-08

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2021-02-08

Overview: The US dollar has drifted higher against the major currencies and most of the freely accessible emerging market currencies, paring the losses seen before the weekend in response to the disappointing employment report. Easing pressure from the pandemic as the surge in cases after the holidays may also be encouraging risk-taking to extend the global equity rally.

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Switzerland experiences highest unemployment rate in a decade

2021-02-08

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2021-02-08

The unemployment rate in Switzerland rose again in January, reaching 3.7% - the highest level since April 2010. 

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„Hayek und die Pandemie“: Das irreführende Narrativ des Neo-Keynesianismus in der F.A.Z.

2021-02-08

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2021-02-08

Was sagt Hayeks Liberalismus dazu? Am 5. Februar 2021 hat der Ökonom Arash Molavi Vasséi den Aufsatz „Hayek und die Pandemie“ in der F.A.Z. veröffentlicht. Er will darin aufzeigen, wie seiner Meinung nach Friedrich August von Hayek (1899–1992) die Politiken, zu denen die Staaten in der Coronavirus-Pandemie greifen, vor dem Hintergrund „liberaler Prinzipien“ beurteilen würde.

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Gold Could Offer A Way Out Of Switzerland’s Failing Inflationist Experiment

2021-02-08

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2021-02-08

Authored by Brendan Brown via The Mises Institute,Never mind that the US Treasury’s indictment late last year of Switzerland as a currency manipulator rested on some flawed evidence and does not identify the crime.

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Did You Make Janet Yellen Rich?

2021-02-08

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2021-02-08

The Stress of Losing Billions. Up until the WallStreetBets crowd short squeezed Melvin Capital for a $7 billion loss, Robinhood had it made. But losing billions is stressful. And when your product blows up your customer the clucking that follows comes hot and heavy.

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Protecting livestock from predators costs Swiss taxpayers millions

2021-02-07

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2021-02-07

The federal government spends CHF4 million (around $4.4 million) a year to minimise the damage caused by predators like wolves and lynx.

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Episode 11: The Common Ground Between Bitcoin & Gold

2021-02-07

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2021-02-07

Is there common ground the among proponents of gold and bitcoin? John Flaherty and CEO Keith Weiner take on that question in this episode.

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Even The People ‘Printing’ The ‘Money’ Aren’t Seeing It

2021-02-07

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2021-02-07

Inflation Europe, 2007-2020
Everyone in Europe has long forgotten about what was going on there before COVID. First, an economy that had been stuck two years within a deflationary downturn central bankers like Italy’s new recycled top guy Mario Draghi clumsily mistook for an inflationary takeoff. Both the inflation puzzle and ultimately a pre-pandemic recession have taken a back seat to everything corona.Whereas Draghi spent those years howling for inflationary conditions...

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Switzerland and Estonia Among Europe’s Most Advanced Blockchain Ecosystems

2021-02-07

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2021-02-07

In Europe, Switzerland, Estonia, Malta and Cyprus have the most advanced and mature blockchain ecosystems with well-developed startup scenes and high levels of regulatory maturity, a paper by the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum says.

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Title IX Will Become a Vehicle of More Injustice

2021-02-07

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2021-02-07

President Joe Biden vowed to put a “quick end” to the Trump administration’s Title IX regulations and return to Obama-era ones at universities. If this happens, the sexual misconduct hearings will be deeply impacted.

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Monetary Metals Renews Financing to Investopedia’s Best Online Gold Dealer

2021-02-06

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2021-02-06

Scottsdale, Ariz, February 5, 2021—Monetary Metals® announces the renewal and expansion of its gold, silver & platinum leases to Money Metals Exchange, to finance the Idaho-based business’ bullion inventory.

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The Top 10percent Is Doing Just Fine, The Middle Class Is Dying on the Vine

2021-02-06

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2021-02-06

Please study these charts as a means of understanding the inevitability of economic stagnation and a revolt of the decapitalized middle class.

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A Penchant for Controlling Others

2021-02-06

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2021-02-06

We all want freedom for ourselves, but many people have doubts about the way others might use their own freedom. Under these conditions, the state is there to help. Get enough people to favor enough restriction, and the state is good to go, administering every aspect of life from its smallest to its largest detail.

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Vaccine delays costing Switzerland up to 100 million francs a day

2021-02-06

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2021-02-06

A recent study by Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force calculates that vaccination delays are reducing Switzerland’s national output (GDP) by between CHF 50 – 100 million per day, according to RTS.

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FX Daily, February 05: Position Squaring Weighs on the Dollar Ahead of the Jobs Report

2021-02-05

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2021-02-05

Overview:  While equities continue to march higher, the dollar is softer amid position squaring ahead of the US jobs data.  Gold has stabilized after yesterday's shellacking.  Estimates for US nonfarm payrolls appear to have been creeping higher, encouraged by the ADP, PMI, and weekly initial jobless claims.

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Dollar Consolidates Its Gains Ahead of Jobs Report

2021-02-05

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2021-02-05

German Data, 2016-2021
Senate Democrats are setting the table for passage of President Biden’s proposed $1.9 trln relief bill; there were glimmers of possible bipartisanship in some of the votes; US January jobs data is the highlight; Canada also reports January jobs data; Colombia reports January CPI.

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