Tag Archive: newsletter

The Hidden Link Between Fiat Money and the Increasing Appeal of Socialism

2019-11-29

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2019-11-29

What causes the seemingly unfounded confidence in socialism we encounter more and more in the news media and among political activists? In the Extinction Rebellion movement, for example, activists are quite certain they have learned that there is an alternative to markets as the means to economic prosperity. It's a means that does not involve meeting the legitimate needs of one's fellow men in the marketplace.

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Blockchain: your questions answered

2019-11-28

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2019-11-28

Blockchain: the very name fascinates and bamboozles in equal measure. Although businesses based around the technology are popping up all over Switzerland, many still wonder what exactly it does and how it can improve their lives. The potential possibilities are myriad, yet many still appear tantalisingly out of reach.

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Switzerland GDP Q3 2019: +0.4 percent QoQ, +1.1 percent YoY

2019-11-28

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2019-11-28

Switzerland Gross Domestic Product (GDP) QoQ, Q3 2019
Switzerland’s GDP rose by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter of 2019, after increasing by 0.3% in the previous quarter. Exports of chemical and pharmaceutical products and energy were key contributing factors. In other areas, the impact of the subdued international environment was felt more strongly. The economic slowdown is being borne out on the whole.

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Österreichs Notenbankchef: Geldpolitische EZB-Ziele auf den Prüfstand

2019-11-28

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2019-11-28

European Union
Die Europäische Zentralbank (EZB) wird nach Aussagen des Gouverneurs der Oesterreichischen Nationalbank (OeNB) und EZB-Rats Robert Holzmann die geldpolitischen Ziele in den kommenden Monaten auf den Prüfstand stellen. "Alles steht zur Diskussion", sagte Holzmann am Montagnachmittag vor Journalisten in Wien.

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Report: it pays for companies to have apprentices

2019-11-28

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2019-11-28

Firms in Switzerland may benefit annually by over CHF3,000 ($3,000) per apprentice when they train their own apprentices, a report has found. The fourth cost-benefit studyexternal link conducted by the Observatory for Vocational Education and Training of the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (OBS SFIVETexternal link), published on Tuesdayexternal link, revealed that most companies with apprenticeship programmes found it...

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Non-EU foreign worker quotas unchanged for 2020

2019-11-28

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2019-11-28

Switzerland will issue 8,500 work visas to non-EU citizens next year – the same number as in 2019. The Swiss government also confirmed an earlier decision that 3,500 British workers will be welcomed in the event of a no-deal Brexit situation.

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We Can Only Choose One: Our National Economy or Globalization

2019-11-28

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2019-11-28

The World Economy
The servitude of society to a globalized economy is generating extremes of insecurity, powerlessness and inequality. Does our economy serve our society, or does our society serve our economy, and by extension, those few who extract most of the economic benefits? It's a question worth asking, as beneath the political churn around the globe, the issues raised by this question are driving the frustration and anger that's manifesting in social and...

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Capital Accumulation, Not Government, Is the Key To Technological Innovation

2019-11-28

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2019-11-28

According to Mariana Mazzucato, the RM Phillips Professor in the Economics of Innovation at the University of Sussex, government is an important factor in the promotion of innovation and thus economic growth. In particular, she challenges the popular view that innovation happens in the private sector, with governments playing a limited role. Many commentators regard her as a revolutionary thinker that challenges the accepted dogma regarding the...

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FX Daily, November 27: In Search of New Incentives

2019-11-27

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2019-11-27

Overview: The global capital markets are subdued. There have been few developments to induce activity. Even President Trump's claims that the talks with China are in the "final throes" failed to excite. Equities are extending their advance. Bonds are little changed, and the dollar is mostly firmer. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index and Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 advanced for the fourth consecutive session.

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Internet-shunning shoppers are almost extinct

2019-11-27

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2019-11-27

Only 3% of adult internet users buy nothing online, with the elderly most likely to stick to bricks-and-mortar shops, according to a survey. Online comparison service Comparis.ch said on Tuesday that whereas 6% of those aged 56-74 were yet to place an order online, the number of abstainers among 18- to 35-year-olds was less than 1%.

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Lugano Airport gets financial lifeline

2019-11-27

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2019-11-27

Lugano authorities have approved a series of loans to help save Lugano Airport in southern Switzerland, allowing it to operate for at least one more year. The regional airport has struggled since the bankruptcy of Darwin Airline and collapse of Adria Airways in September.

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China’s Financial Stability: A Squeeze and a Strangle

2019-11-27

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2019-11-27

PBOC Balance Sheet, 2006-2019
I do get a big kick out of the way Communists over in China announce how they are dealing with their enormous problems especially as they may be getting worse. Each month, for example, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) will publish figures on retail sales or industrial production at record lows but in the opening paragraphs the text will be full of praise for how the economy is being handled.

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The Evolution Of The Bank Run

2019-11-27

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2019-11-27

There are numerous and wide-ranging reasons why someone may choose to invest in physical precious metals. A deep understanding of monetary history provides plenty of solid arguments, and so do the mounting geopolitical risks, the spiking probability of a recession and the long-term goal of many conservative investors to safeguard their financial self-determination.

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Bitmain-backed crypto firm Matrixport opens Zurich office

2019-11-27

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2019-11-27

Singapore-based crypto financial services company Matrixport is setting up a European operations centre in Switzerland. Matrixport has close links to the Chinese cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain, which is simultaneously winding down its Swiss presence.

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Dollar Builds on Recent Gains

2019-11-26

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2019-11-26

The dollar remains resilient; optimism towards a Phase One deal continues to support risk appetite. There was also optimism from Fed Chairman Powell yesterday; the US economy is not out of the woods yet. Turkish President Erdogan started deploying Russia’s S-400 missile system, raising the specter of sanctions. Hong Kong reported weak October trade data; Philippine central bank Governor Diokno said a December cut was possible.

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FX Daily, November 26: Some Are More Equal Than Others

2019-11-26

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2019-11-26

Overview: Neither optimistic comments from Federal Reserve Chairman, that the economic glass is more than half full, nor a seemingly positive spin on the weekend fall calendar between Chinese and US officials have succeeded in deterring some profit-taking today.

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Swiss wage index 2019: Real and minimum wages increased by 1.1 percent and 0.8 percent respectively in 2019

2019-11-26

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2019-11-26

26.11.2019 - The social partners signatory to Switzerland's main collective labour agreements (CLA) agreed a nominal rise in real wages of 1.1% and a nominal rise in minimum wages of 0.8% for 2019. Real wages increased by 0.5% at collective level and by 0.6% at individual level. These are the some of the results of the wage agreements survey carried out by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

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Employment Barometer in the Q3 2019: Employment higher than ever

2019-11-26

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2019-11-26

Switzerland Employment Level, Q3 2019
26.11.2019 - Total employment rose in the third quarter by 1.3% compared with the same quarter a year earlier. At 5.137 million jobs it reached the highest level since the statistics began. In full-time equivalents, employment in the same period rose by 1.1%. The Swiss economy counted 6900 more vacancies than in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (+9.6%).

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Swiss bankers fined over 1MDB dealings

2019-11-26

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2019-11-26

Two bankers who worked at Coutts private bank in Zurich were fined by the Swiss authorities for failing to report suspicious transactions linked to the sovereign wealth fund 1MDB scandal, it was reported on Sunday. The Sonntag Zeitung and Le Matin Dimanche newspapers reported on Sunday that two Coutts bankers who had dealt with Jho Low, the Malaysian financier allegedly at the heart of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, were fined by...

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The $31 million watch and other Swiss price world records

2019-11-26

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2019-11-26

A CHF640 ($645) bar of chocolate is a sign of either the end of civilisation or a healthy market economy. Whatever your view, Switzerland holds several world records when it comes to expensive goods. “As the hammer came down on $31 million (CHF30.6 million), the audience leapt as one to its feet, erupting in wild cheering and thunderous applause,” the Financial Times wrote on November 11 as a world record was set in Geneva for the highest price of...

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