Tag Archive: Featured

China’s Hole Puzzle

2020-09-16

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2020-09-16

China Fixed Asset Investment, 2012-2020
One day short of one year ago, on September 16, 2019, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported its updated monthly estimates for the Big 3 accounts. Industrial Production (IP) is a closely-watched indicator as it is relatively decent proxy for the entire goods economy around the world. Retail Sales in the post-Euro$ #2 context give us a sense of the Chinese economy’s persistent struggle to try to “rebalance” without the pre-2008 boost...

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FX Daily, September 15: The Dollar Softens Ahead of the FOMC

2020-09-15

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2020-09-15

The capital markets are relatively quiet so far today as the FOMC meeting gets underway. Equity markets in the Asia Pacific region, but Japan and Australia advanced, and the regional benchmark rose for the fourth consecutive session. European stocks are a little firmer. 

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Switzerland ranked 4th for economic come back, according to study

2020-09-15

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2020-09-15

A report published this week places Switzerland fourth on a list of countries best positioned to make an economic rebound after the coronavirus downturn. The analysis looks at overall health resilience, pre-existing structural strengths and weaknesses in 122 countries.

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It’s Far Too Late to Think Lockdowns Can Make Covid-19 Go Away

2020-09-15

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2020-09-15

In the early days of the coronavirus crisis, the rationale given for lockdowns was that it was necessary to stay at home for "fifteen days to slow the spread." The idea was that social distancing was necessary so that hospitals and other healthcare resources would not be overwhelmed.

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Inflation Karma

2020-09-15

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2020-09-15

CPI Changes on Energy, 1995-2020
There is no oil in the CPI’s consumer basket, yet oil prices largely determine the rate by which overall consumer prices are increasing (or not). WTI sets the baseline which then becomes the price of motor fuel (gasoline) becoming the energy segment. As energy goes, so do headline CPI measurements.

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The US Dollar Collapse Is Greatly Exaggerated

2020-09-15

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2020-09-15

The US Dollar Index has lost 10 percent from its March highs and many press comments have started to speculate about the likely collapse of the US dollar as world reserve currency due to this weakness. These wild speculations need to be debunked.

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FX Daily, September 14: UK Presses Ahead, China Strikes Out at German Pork Producers, and Moody’s Weighs on Turkey

2020-09-14

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2020-09-14

A flurry of deals, including the still-evolving Oracle-TikTok tie-up, helped lift equity markets in the Asia Pacific region. South Korea's Kospi, and Indonesia, which had been battered last week, led the advance. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose for the third consecutive sessions. European bourses are little changed while US stocks are firmer.

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Wieviel Hypothek?

2020-09-14

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Wir machen ein paar Rechnungen für Sie, um mögliche Risiken zu quantifizieren.

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Hayek’s Plan for Private Money

2020-09-14

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2020-09-14

The most famous Austrian economist is 1974 Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek. Because of his moderate views excusing state interventions in various circumstances, hardcore Rothbardians tend to regard Hayek as less than pure in many areas.

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Swiss Tourism Industry demands new Covid-19 Quarantine Regime

2020-09-14

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2020-09-14

Swiss Tourism Industry
Foreign visitors from Covid-19 high risk countries should be able to travel to Switzerland with negative corona tests and not have to go into quarantine, say tourism officials. Under Swiss regulations, anyone entering Switzerland from one of the high risk coronavirus countries on a list regularly updated by the Federal Office of Public Health must go into quarantine for ten days to help curb the spread of Covid-19, or risk a fine.

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The Four D’s That Define the Future

2020-09-14

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2020-09-14

When the money runs out or loses its purchasing power, all sorts of complexity that were previously viewed as an essential crumble to dust. Four D's will define 2020-2025: derealization, denormalization, decomplexification and decoherence. That's a lot of D's. Let's take them one at a time.

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Credit Suisse makes digital push as it closes down branches

2020-09-14

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2020-09-14

Credit Suisse is taking on so-called challenger banks with a new digital service for customers, including a debit card with no foreign transaction fees. The bank is closing down branches across Switzerland and is converting others into a “digital bar” concept.

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Fribourg hospital under pressure after Covid-19 outbreak

2020-09-13

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2020-09-13

According to RTS, a branch of the HFR hospital in the Swiss canton of Fribourg has reached full capacity after a rise in Covid-19 patients following an outbreak in a local nursing home.

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No wave of coronavirus bankruptcies so far, study finds 

2020-09-13

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2020-09-13

Government credits and employment support measures have helped stave off a wave of bankruptcies, but they could rise over the longer term, says a survey. 

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Dollar Bounce Ends Ahead of ECB Decision

2020-09-13

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2020-09-13

FX Implied Volatility, 2019-2020
The dollar rally ran out of steam; US Senate will hold a vote today on its proposed “skinny” bill. US reports August PPI and weekly jobless claims; US will sell $23 bln of 30-year bonds today after a sloppy 10-year auction yesterday BOC delivered a hawkish hold yesterday; Peru is expected to keep rates steady at 0.25%.

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This Is How It Ends: All That Is Solid Melts Into Air

2020-09-13

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2020-09-13

workers share of national income, 1994-2020
While the Federal Reserve and the Billionaire Class push the stock market to new highs to promote a false facade of prosperity, everyday life will fall apart. How will the status quo collapse? An open conflict--a civil war, an insurrection, a coup--appeals to our affection for drama, but the more likely reality is a decidedly undramatic dissolution in which all the elements of our way of life we reckoned were solid and permanent simply melt into...

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Swiss law reforms make crypto respectable

2020-09-13

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2020-09-13

Bitcoin used to be something of a dirty word, associated with crime and money laundering. Switzerland has now amended its legal code to welcome cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology into the mainstream.

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Switzerland adds 10 more nations to its compulsory quarantine list

2020-09-12

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2020-09-12

On 7 September 2020, Switzerland added to its list of quarantine countries. People entering Switzerland from 55 nations must now quarantine for 10 days. On 7 September 2020, 10 nations were added to the list. These include Croatia, French Polynesia, Guyana, Lebanon, Libya, Paraguay, San Marino, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates.

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Swiss-UK financial services pact antidote to EU intransigence

2020-09-12

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2020-09-12

Switzerland and Britain are thrashing out a post-Brexit financial services treaty that is being billed as a global standard for common sense. It also takes aim at perceived EU inflexibility that has seen the Swiss stock market frozen out of European markets.

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Intolerance and Authoritarianism Accelerate Disunity and Collapse

2020-09-12

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2020-09-12

Scapegoating dissenters only hastens the disunity and disarray that accelerates the final collapse. Authoritarianism is imposed on us, but its sibling intolerance is our own doing. Intolerance and authoritarianism are two sides of the same coin: as intolerance becomes the norm, the intolerant start demanding that the state enforce their intolerance by suppressing their enemies via increasingly heavy-handed authoritarian measures.

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