Tag Archive: Politics

Poll finds early support for pension reform and eco-friendly farming

2022-08-19

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2022-08-19

Despite leading in latest polls, a proposed ban on factory farming in Switzerland has limited chances of success at the ballot box next month, pollsters say. A reform of the old age pension scheme enjoys more solid backing. 

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Winter electricity cuts feared, says head of Swiss commission

2022-08-18

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2022-08-18

Electricity cuts lasting several hours are predicted this winter in Switzerland, according to Laurianne Altwegg, vice president of the Federal Electricity Commission. This winter we should ensure we have enough candles and wood for a wood stove for those who have one, advised Altwegg in an interview with RTS.

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Paving the way for a 2008 déjà vu

2022-08-16

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2022-08-16

It would appear that the central planners of the Bank of England have very short or very selective memories. After adopting unprecedented easing measures during the covid crisis and after supporting the government in its efforts to flood the economy with fresh cash during that same period, the central bank has put itself in a particularly unenviable position.  With inflation soaring and living costs exploding for most consumers and taxpayers,...

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China Disappoints and Surprises with Rate Cut

2022-08-15

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2022-08-15

Overview: Equities were mostly higher in the Asia Pacific region, though Chinese and Hong Kong markets eased, and South Korea and India were closed for national holidays. Despite new Chinese exercises off the coast of Taiwan following another US congressional visit, Taiwan’s Taiex gained almost 0.85%. Europe’s Stoxx 600 is advancing for the fourth consecutive session, while US futures are paring the pre-weekend rally. Following disappointing data...

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“Whatever it takes” – Part II of II

2022-08-04

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2022-08-04

The Fascist Boogeyman awakes again The threat of a far-right takeover has been around for at least three decades in Europe and Italy has been one of the best “candidates” for the “beginning of the end” since the last European crisis ten years ago. Back then it was the Lega, led by Salvini, that fueled the scaremongering campaigns of the mainstream press, labeling every conservative policy point as basically pure fascism. Of course, none of those...

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“Whatever it takes”:

2022-08-02

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2022-08-02

In the case of Italy, it will take a whole lot more – Part I of II When the collapse of the Italian government was officially announced, on July 21, many political observers both in Europe and across the rest of the West, were aghast. If Mario Draghi, the central banking messiah of the entire Old World, the man, the legend, the hero who rescued the Eurozone and its precious made up currency from the brink of complete annihilation, failed to...

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Weekly Market Pulse: Opposite George

2022-08-01

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2022-08-01

It all became very clear to me sitting out there today, that every decision I’ve ever made, in my entire life, has been wrong. My life is the complete opposite of everything I want it to be. Every instinct I have, in every aspect of life, be it something to wear, something to eat… It’s all been wrong.

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Parity hysterics: What it means and what it doesn’t – Part II

2022-07-21

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2022-07-21

Part II of II, by Claudio Grass, Hünenberg See, Switzerland “Reverse currency wars”? Although the parity event may have captured the attention of the mainstream financial press and most western citizens, there’s a much bigger shift that has been going on in the background, which received much less coverage.

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Parity hysterics: What it means and what it doesn’t

2022-07-18

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2022-07-18

There’s been a flurry of articles, news stories and headlines lately over the developments in the FOREX market, specifically over the moves of the EUR/USD currency pair. As headwinds on all levels, economic, geopolitical and social, got a lot worse in recent months for the Eurozone, the news-breaking, headline-dominating “parity” event finally came about, with the euro even breaking below parity on July 13, and it seems to have captivated global...

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French air police ground Swiss interior minister’s private flight

2022-07-13

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2022-07-13

The Swiss interior minister, Alain Berset, on a private flight in neighbouring France has been forced to land by the French air force.

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Charities have yet to spend most of Ukraine donations

2022-07-11

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2022-07-11

Despite record public donations for Ukraine, four months since the start of the invasion by Russia, Swiss aid agencies have only been able to spend a small amount of the funds on humanitarian work.

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Swiss fighter jet document reveals secret French tax offer

2022-07-10

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2022-07-10

France offered Switzerland a financial sweetener, worth an estimated CHF3.5 billion, to buy its Rafale fighter jets rather than US F-35A aircraft, according to a secret document seen by Swiss public broadcaster SRF. The document sheds light on background negotiations as Switzerland seeks to replace its ageing fleet of fighter jets.

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Ukraine reconstruction summit was worth the risk, says Swiss press

2022-07-10

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2022-07-10

Newspaper editors in Switzerland offered praise mixed with criticism on the two-day international conference in Lugano to support war-torn Ukraine with its reconstruction efforts.

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Private property rights under siege – Part II

2022-07-06

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2022-07-06

An astonishing acceleration Even though the downhill trajectory we saw over the last decades in terms of property rights was bad enough, nothing could have ever prepared us for what the covid crisis would bring.

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Private property rights under siege – Part I

2022-07-04

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2022-07-04

Part I of II, by Claudio Grass, Hünenberg, Switzerland. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to argue that private property rights, as understood by classic liberal thinkers, by those who embrace Austrian economic theory and by all member of an enlightened society, are not only the cornerstone, but also the last defense of human civilization and the Western way of life in particular.

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Swiss gold imports come under scrutiny as G7 targets Russia

2022-07-02

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2022-07-02

An unexpected spike in Switzerland’s gold imports from Russia is under scrutiny as the leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations gear up to introduce a ban on the precious metal.

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Inflation is now out of the control of central banks

2022-07-01

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2022-07-01

One of the reasons people decide to buy gold bullion or add silver coins to their portfolio is because they cannot be devalued. No one can suddenly decide to print more gold or silver! Sadly, this is exactly what happens with currencies around the world. And the last two decades have been prime examples of this.

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Unheeded warnings: Václav Klaus at the Marmara Forum

2022-06-17

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2022-06-17

This not the first time that Václav Klaus’ astute observations and experience-based predictions turn out to be shockingly accurate years later, and I’m pretty confident it will not be the last. Even before the examples that follow and that he clearly laid out in his address at the Marmara Forum, the former President of the Czech Republic has repeatedly proven to be quite prophetic in his assessment of the future. 

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Ukraine war forces Swiss business to make choices on neutrality

2022-06-16

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2022-06-16

Sanctions imposed on Russia have focused debate over the country’s long-cherished economic haven status. In the gleaming new Chipperfield extension of the Zurich Kunsthaus, all polished limestone and gold, is a room dedicated to expiating the moral debits of economic neutrality. The Bührle collection is one of the greatest privately-amassed troves of modern European art, and the pride of the new building.

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A crack-up boom in the making

2022-06-14

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2022-06-14

The great Ludwig von Mises first described the concept of a crack-up boom as part of the Austrian business cycle theory, based on real life events that to an unsuspecting bystander might have appeared unconnected, or perhaps even quite bizarre and counterintuitive. Indeed, such a bystander might think the same of today’s economy and would likely have trouble making sense of the picture painted by stock markets, by our monetary and fiscal policies...

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