Tag Archive: Thoughts

The awakening of the working class 

2023-12-07

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2023-12-07

Part II of II, by Claudio Grass, Switzerland One of the maxims I tend to mention quite often in sociopolitical debates or in response to arguments about the flawlessness of the democratic process is “the smallest minority is the individual”. To some, it might sound trite or banal, and perhaps it is; but it does carry a meaning that I believe is an essential human value and a fundamental building block for any civilized, productive and...

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The awakening of the working class 

2023-12-05

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2023-12-05

Part I of II, by Claudio Grass, Switzerland It is a worn-out cliché that many (if not most) political zealots meet their downfall because of their arrogance. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall,” the proverb goes, and it does prove true more often than not. The specific kind of pride, or haughty spirit, or plain hubris in this case, has to do with the certainty that some people have (one can’t imagine how and why...

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War is the health of the State

2023-11-24

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2023-11-24

Part II of II by Claudio Grass, Hünenberg See, Switzerland This is precisely what the State is doing. The idea of war, mayhem and destruction being economic boosters is exactly what has supported the thin facade that politicians like to place over their greed and their personal gain that they derive from the military industrial complex. “It’s good for the country”, is certainly easier to sell than “it’s good for me and my reelection...

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War is the health of the State

2023-11-22

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2023-11-22

Part I of II by Claudio Grass For any reasonably well read adult, any amateur student of history or any responsible citizen for that matter, the idea that ”war is the health of the State” should be adjacent to a truism. After all, literally nobody benefits from violence and bloodshed apart from those at the heart of any State that is directly or indirectly involved and their cronies. In fact, the more horrific the violence and the more...

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“Sound money must be anchored to and backed by real, tangible assets”

2023-11-16

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2023-11-16

Dani Stüssi interview with Claudio Grass Over the last few years, the financial woes and daily pressures that have been unleashed upon the average citizen, saver and taxpayer have put the spotlight on money itself. Countless ordinary people who have otherwise never seriously pondered these questions, began to question basic principles like: what makes their paycheck shrink from month to month, what or who actually responsible of it and what,...

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Rethinking “safe” investments

2023-11-05

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2023-11-05

Part II of II by Claudio Grass, Hünenberg See, Switzerland. For those of us who have studied history, these Ingenuous beliefs and expectations likely bring a smirk to our face. However, these are entirely reasonable assumptions for most citizens, as the majority of the population is blissfully unaware of the numerous real-life examples that clearly demonstrate just how capable and how eager the government is to do these things – to fail, or to lie,...

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Rethinking “safe” investments

2023-11-02

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2023-11-02

Part I of II by Claudio Grass, Hünenberg See, Switzerland To most observant citizens and diligent investors it is surely quite obvious that the current monetary, fiscal and banking system is inherently flawed, hopelessly unjust, corrupt, unsustainable and simply destined to collapse sooner or later. With every (predictable) recession and every (foreseeable) crisis, this structure gets weaker; its very own architects increasingly second-guess...

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Gold for the people

2023-10-11

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2023-10-11

At the end of September, a very interesting story made the rounds in the media and caught my attention. Apparently, the US big box giant Costco added one rather surprising product to its range and it proved immensely popular. Next to humongous multipacks of cereal, buckets of peanut butter, mattresses and air fryers, customers were offered the opportunity to throw a gold bar in their carts as well.  Selling like hotcakes  According to a...

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The slow, stealthy but steady spread of absolutism 

2023-10-01

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2023-10-01

Part II of II by Claudio Grass, Switzerland Over the last couple of years, we saw countless examples of free speech suppression and of the steep price paid by those who chose to exercise that right. Divergent ideas and thoughts contradicting the government narrative were silenced and often punished in ways that would have been entirely unimaginable before the covid outbreak.  No matter what one thinks about the pandemic, about the policies...

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The slow, stealthy but steady spread of absolutism 

2023-09-29

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2023-09-29

Part I of II by Claudio Grass, Switzerland The struggle and rivalry between the “West and the rest” might be grabbing news headlines due to the Ukraine war these days, but in truth, it is anything but newsworthy. This antagonism, this battle for geopolitical, physical dominance, for moral supremacy, and this clash of ideas and fundamental values has been raging for much longer than that, perhaps longer than most of us can recall.  It sowed...

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The Swiss franc’s “phenomenal” bull run

2023-09-07

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2023-09-07

The strength of the Swiss franc (CHF) has been the topic of countless “expert” analyses for over a year and it has received considerable coverage in the mainstream financial press. In fact, the last time the currency garnered this much interest was probably in 2011, when its celebrated “safe haven” status backfired, as investors fled to it in droves and pushed the price to levels that forced the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to intervene and peg it to...

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The Big Shift: The decline of Western politics

2023-09-01

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2023-09-01

Part II of II The big shift  Of course, this is the Left, but also the Right, of the good old days. The days of gentlemanly conduct and of real sportsmanship during a debate. These were the days when cultivated, curious and humble people argued passionately, but honourably. These were the days of decency, of common courtesy and civility.  But also these were the days of ideological integrity and consistency. For example, the arguments and...

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The Big Shift: The decline of Western politics

2023-08-30

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2023-08-30

Part I of II Those of us who have read and studied political history, who have closely observed its evolution and especially those who have taken note of all the tactics and ploys used over the last couple of decades, will surely not be surprised by any of the findings and ideas I’ll outline in the following analysis. I would still encourage the reader to read on, though. Because for the majority of citizens, taxpayers, savers and investors,...

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Freedom of speech and “de-banking”

2023-08-02

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2023-08-02

Threats to freedom of speech and efforts to suppress dissenting views and voices have been on the rise over the past decades. They were exponentially intensified since the ascent of social media and as the political polarisation in the West truly took hold of our societies, the powers that be have been using any and all toolsat their disposal to “defend” the interests of the establishment against those who might try to publicly question its...

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The real failure of “trickle down economics”

2023-07-27

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2023-07-27

Part II of II If this kind of theoretical reasoning seems too abstract, let us think about it more practically: Any public servant, any member of government, and even the leader of a nation, has very different motivations than any private sector decision-maker. Their financial compensation is a given and their time preference is dictated by their job description.  The company owner on the other hand has no such guarantees regarding their...

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The real failure of “trickle down economics”

2023-07-24

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2023-07-24

Part I of II For decades already, one of the most popular and commonly employed attacks of Keynesians and other left-leaning economists was the one against the idea of “trickle down economics”. They ridiculed the notion that a rising tide lifts all boats or plainly put, the obvious fact that when job creators thrive, so do the people that hold those jobs and sustain themselves and their families thanks to them.  The main objection to this...

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The demise of the dollar: What comes after that?

2023-07-06

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2023-07-06

Part II of II A good start Whatever one might think about which currency is better suited to be used in trade or as a benchmark or as a central bank reserve, the fact remains that the USD’s days as the “only right answer” to that question are numbered. It might not happen tomorrow, but a credible challenger will eventually emerge.  As Patrick Barron also highlighted in his analysis: “Led by China and later by Russia, some nations of the...

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The demise of the dollar: What comes after that?

2023-07-03

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2023-07-03

Part I of II Endless ink has been spilled by economists and financial analysts in their efforts to predict the impact of de-dollarization. As might be expected, most of those who embrace a US-centric view of the world and who defend the status quo paint a gloomy picture. They warn of the nightmarish consequences of a Russia- and China-dominated world order, of the threats to freedom and to human rights that this could pose and of a potential...

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A conversation with Prince Michael of Liechtenstein

2023-06-26

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2023-06-26

On November 15th, 2021, almost 20 months ago, I once again had the rare and delightful opportunity to have a conversation with Prince Michael. His insights, and especially his directness and unequivocal honesty, have frequently provided me with a lot of food for thought in the past. This interview was no different. His candid and unfiltered responses to a wide variety of questions and topics made this conversation as illuminating as it was...

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Debt cancellation: the new panacea?

2023-06-09

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2023-06-09

There is clearly a common denominator in the kind of “solutions” that the State comes up with to deal with the problems that it caused (and that’s most problems). Not only are these remedies worse than the disease, but they are always extremely simplistic, reductionist and they never, ever, take into account anything else apart from the political “optics” and the populistic value of each new measure or piece of legislation. There is no...

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