Monthly Archive: July 2021

Human Rights Sports Body granted Upgraded Swiss Legal Status

2021-07-10

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2021-07-10

An organisation set up in Switzerland to prevent sport from harming society and athletes has been granted full association status in Geneva. The Centre for Sport and Human RightsExternal link was awarded the status of an independent non-profit association under Swiss law on Thursday. It has been running since 2018 under a different legal status.

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The Phillips Curve Myth

2021-07-10

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2021-07-10

According to a popular way of thinking, the central bank can influence the rate of economic expansion by means of monetary policy. It is also held that this influence carries a price, which manifests itself in terms of inflation.

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FX Daily, July 09: PBOC Cuts Reserve Requirements after Inflation Measures Ease

2021-07-09

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2021-07-09

The capital markets are winding down what has been a challenging week that has seen equity markets slide and the dollar and bonds rally. The MSCI Asia Pacific fell for the fourth consecutive session, but the more interesting story may be the intrasession recovery that could set the stage for a better performance next week.

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Visa Customers Spent More Than US$1 Billion on Crypto-Linked Cards in 2021

2021-07-09

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2021-07-09

Visa revealed that its customers had spent more than US$1 billion on its crypto-linked cards in the first half of 2021. The payments giant reported that it had partnered with 50 leading crypto platforms on card programmes that make it easy to convert and spend digital currency at 70 million merchants worldwide.

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Bond Reversal In Japan, But Pay Attention To It In Germany

2021-07-09

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2021-07-09

Japanese Gov't Bond Yields, Jan 2016 - Jul 2021
Yield curve control, remember that one? For a little while earlier this year, the modestly reflationary selloff in bonds around the world was prematurely oversold as some historically significant beginning to a massive, conclusive regime change.

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Swiss Unemployment back below 3% again

2021-07-09

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2021-07-09

On 8 July 2021, the Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) published unemployment figures for June 2021. By the end of June 2021, there were close to 132,000 people registered as unemployed across Switzerland, 11,000 fewer than at the end of May 2021, bringing Switzerland’s overall unemployment rate down from 3.1% to 2.8%.

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Swiss Narrowly Miss CO2 Emission Targets

2021-07-09

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2021-07-09

Switzerland has again failed to meet its goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, prompting a rise in CO2 taxes. Last year emissions from fuel, including heating oil and gas, were 31% lower than 1990 levels, according to data released by the Federal OfficeExternal link for the Environment on Wednesday. This is unchanged from 2019 and falls short of the required 33%.

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FX Daily, July 08: Capital Markets Remain Unhinged

2021-07-08

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2021-07-08

The dramatic move in the capital markets continues. The US dollar is soaring as yields and equities slide. The US 10-year yield has fallen below 1.30 to 1.26%  European benchmark yields are 1-4 bp lower, while Australia and New Zealand have seen a 7-9 bp drop today.

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The Pandemic has Widened the Wealth gap. Should Central Banks be Blamed?

2021-07-08

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2021-07-08

Central Bankers Inequality, 2004 - 2021
Jul 10th 2021THE GLOBAL financial crisis of 2007-09 was socially divisive as well as economically destructive. It inspired a resentful backlash, exemplified by America’s Tea Party. That crisis at least had the tact to spread financial pain across the rich as well as the poor, however.

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Keynes Said Inflation Fixed the Problems of Sticky Wages. He Was Wrong.

2021-07-08

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2021-07-08

Britain’s economy had been suffering chronic unemployment for a decade prior to 1936. Economic theory as it was then understood clearly showed that the cause of a market surplus was sellers asking a price in excess of what buyers are willing to pay.

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Money Supply Growth Dropped in May to a 15-Month Low

2021-07-08

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2021-07-08

Money Supply, M2 and TMS YoY Change, Jan 1998 - 2021
Money supply growth slowed again in May, falling for the third month in a row, and to a 15-month low. That is,  money supply growth in the US has come down from its unprecedented levels, and if the current trend continues will be returning to more "normal" levels.

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Covid: Swiss Health Minister Concerned by Rest Home Staff Vaccine Refusal

2021-07-08

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2021-07-08

In Switzerland, 20% of people over 80 have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 at a time when the fast spreading Delta variant is gaining ground, said Alain Berset, Switzerland’s health minister, in an interview with the NZZ reported RTS.

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FX Daily, July 07: Dollar Stabilizes at Elevated Levels After Surging Yesterday

2021-07-07

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2021-07-07

The dollar has steadied after surging yesterday and has so far retained the lion's share of its gains, though it remains lower against most major currencies today. The dollar-bloc and Norwegian krone are the best performers while the yen is underperforming.

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ISM’s Nasty Little Surprise Isn’t Actually A Surprise

2021-07-07

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2021-07-07

U.S. ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI, Employment, Jan 2017 - May 2021
Completing the monthly cycle, the ISM released its estimates for non-manufacturing in the US during the month of June 2021. The headline index dropped nearly four points, more than expected. From 64.0 in May, at 60.1 while still quite high it’s the implication of being the lowest in four months which got so much attention.

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Nearly 40% have Long Covid after 7 months, finds Swiss study

2021-07-07

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2021-07-07

The longer term effects of Covid-19 can take many forms and there are numerous definitions of the disease. A study undertaken by HUG and UNIGE in Geneva, published on 6 July 2021, found that 39% of a group of Covid-19 patients still had symptoms after 7 months.

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Weekly Market Pulse (VIDEO)

2021-07-07

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2021-07-07

Weekly Market Pulse interview with Joe Calhoun.

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FX Daily, July 06: Greenback Shows Some Resilency after Follow-Through Selling Dried up

2021-07-06

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2021-07-06

Follow-through dollar selling stalled as key levels were approached, including $1.19 in the euro, $1.3900 in sterling, $0.7600 in the Australian dollar, and CAD1.2300. Sentiment is mixed after the greenback sold-off before last weekend despite the fastest jobs growth in 10-months.

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A Few Things About Reinforced Concrete High-Rise Condos

2021-07-06

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2021-07-06

The second most remarkable thing about the sudden collapse of the Florida condo building was the rush to assure everyone that this was a one-off catastrophe: all the factors fingered as causes were unique to this building, the implication being all other high-rise reinforced concrete condos without the exact same mix of causal factors were not in danger.

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Swiss social spending up nearly 60 percent in 20 years

2021-07-06

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2021-07-06

In 1999, social expenditure in Switzerland was CHF 13,370 per resident. By 2019, the same figure had reached CHF 21,300, a rise of nearly 60%. Over the same period, total inflation was around 11%. Applying inflation to CHF 13,370 brings the figure to CHF 14,480. Why has the cost risen beyond this and how has the extra spending been funded?

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Covid: Swiss Government sets out Autumn Scenarios and Measures

2021-07-06

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2021-07-06

On 30 June 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Council discussed ways of preparing Switzerland for the autumn and winter months and a possible renewed rise in the number of coronavirus cases. From the meeting ministers produced a report setting out various scenarios and response plans.

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