Tag Archive: Featured

Swiss Producer and Import Price Index in November 2020: -2.7 percent YoY, -0.1 percent MoM

2020-12-15

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2020-12-15

Switzerland Producer Price Index (PPI) YoY, November 2020
The Producer and Import Price Index fell by 0.1% in November 2020 compared with the previous month. The index stood at 97.9 points (December 2015 = 100). This decline was due in particular to lower prices for petroleum products and pharmaceutical preparations.

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Switzerland and UK sign agreement on mobility of service suppliers

2020-12-15

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2020-12-15

An agreement that secures reciprocal, facilitated market access for service providers from Switzerland and Britain from January 1 has been signed by Economics Minister Guy Parmelin and Liz Truss, the British Secretary of State for International Trade.

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FOMC Preview

2020-12-15

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2020-12-15

Coronavirus Daily Change, 2020
The two-day FOMC meeting starts tomorrow and wraps up Wednesday afternoon. While no policy changes are expected, we highlight what the Fed may or may not do. We expect a dovish hold, with Powell underscoring the growing downside risks facing the US economy in the coming months.

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Entrepreneurial Empowerment: You Are Only as Good as Your Employees

2020-12-15

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2020-12-15

As employees are increasingly recognized as an important source of ideas and inspiration, contemporary leadership research finds that the central task of leaders is to empower employees to realize their skills and talents to achieve an organizations’ visions and goals.

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Professor Dr. Hans-Werner Sinn: „Das Klimaproblem und die deutsche Energiewende“

2020-12-15

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2020-12-15

14. Dezember 2020 – Am 10. Oktober 2020 fand im Hotel „Bayerischer Hof“, München, die 8. Jahreskonferenz des Ludwig von Mises Institut Deutschland statt. Das Thema lautete: „Wie der Markt Umwelt und Ressourcen schützt“. Einen Konferenzbericht von Rainer Bieling finden Sie hier.

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One Little Problem with the “All-Electric” Auto Fleet: What Do We Do with all the “Waste” Gasoline?

2020-12-15

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2020-12-15

Primary energy consumption by source, 1965-2018
Regardless of what happens with vaccines and Covid-19, debt and energy--inextricably bound as debt funds consumption-- will destabilize the global economy in a self-reinforcing feedback.

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Cool Video: CNBC-Asia–Brexit, Sterling, the Euro, and Dollar

2020-12-14

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2020-12-14

I had the privilege to join Sri Jegarajah at CNBC Asia at the start of today's Asia Pacific session.  We had a broad chat about the dollar, Brexit, and the euro.  He gave me the opportunity to sketch out my views:1.  The dollar's entered a cyclical decline, and the "twin deficit" issue will likely frame the narrative. 

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FX Daily, December 14: Brexit Deal Hopes Lift Sterling

2020-12-14

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2020-12-14

The fact that the UK and EU negotiators are still talking is seen as a constructive development and has spurred a sharp bounce in sterling.  It traded below $1.3150 before the weekend and is pushing above $1.3400 in the European morning. 

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Switzerland’s population happy with the health system, according to survey

2020-12-14

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2020-12-14

Switzerland’s health system is rated highly by the public, according to the latest survey conducted in eleven countries by the Commonwealth Fund Foundation.

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What “Capitalism” Really Means

2020-12-14

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2020-12-14

Descriptive terms which people use are often quite misleading. In talking about modern captains of industry and leaders of big business, for instance, they call a man a "chocolate king" or a "cotton king" or an "automobile king."

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Drivers for the Week Ahead

2020-12-14

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2020-12-14

The Senate passed a stopgap bill late Friday that will keep the government funded until midnight this Friday; optimism on a stimulus deal appears to be picking up; the two-day FOMC meeting ending with a decision Wednesday will be important.

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Inflation Hysteria #2 (Slack-edotes)

2020-12-13

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2020-12-13

Macroeconomic slack is such an easy, intuitive concept that only Economists and central bankers (same thing) could possibly mess it up. But mess it up they have. Spending years talking about a labor shortage, and getting the financial media to report this as fact, those at the Federal Reserve, in particular, pointed to this as proof QE and ZIRP had fulfilled the monetary policy mandates – both of them.

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New Lockdowns and More Regulations Are Disastrous for US Jobs

2020-12-13

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2020-12-13

United States jobless claims have picked up, since the elections and the second wave of coronavirus have slowed down the economic recovery. Uncertainty about tax increases and changes in labor laws, including an increase in the minimum wage, add to the fear of new lockdowns, as employers see the devastating effects of these lockdowns in European employment.

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Why the Electoral College Matters

2020-12-13

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2020-12-13

We begin to understand the electoral college when we admit the United States is really supposed to be a collection of member states, and not a single unified nation. Abolishing the EC is likely to worsen national conflict and disunity.

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The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economists Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Century

2020-12-12

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2020-12-12

The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economists Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Centuryby Mark ThorntonAuburn, Ala.: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2018. Michael Novak ([email protected]) is a Ph.D. student in entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University. He also holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

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Swiss direct democracy in action

2020-12-12

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2020-12-12

On the last Sunday of November the Swiss citizens once again rejected efforts staged by left-leaning groups and NGOs to chip away at the nation’s long tradition of free enterprise, respect for private property and financial freedom. Two important proposals were brought before the Swiss people in a set of referendums, both targeting private companies and attempting to place unprecedented burdens, threatening their ability to operate freely and...

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Inflation Hysteria #2 (WTI)

2020-12-12

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2020-12-12

Sticking with our recent theme, a big part of what Inflation Hysteria #1 (2017-18) also had going for it was loosened restrictions for US oil producers. Seriously.

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Covid vaccinations will be free in Switzerland

2020-12-12

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2020-12-12

On 9 December 2020, Switzerland’s federal government adopted a change to the rules on healthcare to make vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus free to the public.

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FX Daily, December 11: Brexit Fears Weigh on Sterling

2020-12-11

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2020-12-11

Overview:  The odds of a UK-EU agreement and new stimulus before year-end in the US have faded and are sapping risk appetites ahead of the weekend.  Although most Asia Pacific equity markets gained, China and Australia were notable exceptions, European shares are heavy, and the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is near three-week lows. 

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WEF’s Asian relocation to cost Switzerland tens of millions

2020-12-11

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2020-12-11

Swiss hotels, restaurants and shops are counting up the cost of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) flagship event moving to Singapore next year. This year’s 50th annual meeting realised a net gain of around CHF80 million ($90 million) for the Swiss economy.

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