SNB & CHF

When socialist schemes fail, as they inevitably do, our attention is immediately drawn away from the destruction they cause to the “good intentions” behind the schemes. They meant well. Their good intentions override their disastrous results. One reason why good intentions are important to both sides of the political divide is that good intentions play well to voters. A good example of this is the national debt crisis in the United States. The economist Samuel...

Head over to our website to read more about what these results mean for the country. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe:...

According to a new report from the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, the US economy added 272,000 jobs during May while the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.0 percent. As has been repeatedly the case over the past year, the latest monthly job-growth number was described as a “blowout” or “hot” number by major media outlets like CNN. As is typical in the good-news-is-bad-news view on Wall Street, the Dow fell on Friday out of fear that the...

In the late 1960s Edmund Phelps and Milton Friedman challenged the popular view that there can be a sustainable trade-off between inflation and unemployment. In fact, over time, according to PF, loose central bank policies set the platform for lower economic growth and a higher rate of inflation, or stagflation.PF’s Explanation of StagflationStarting from a situation of equality between the current and the expected rate of inflation, the central bank decides to boost...

Overview:  With mixed elements, the market took the US jobs data as relatively strong and took the dollar and US rates higher. The EU Parliament election has shaken up European politics, with the Belgium government collapsing and French President Macron calling a snap legislative election for the end of the month. Holidays in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Australia made for thinner Asia Pacific trading, but the euro was sold and has reached to one-month lows...

Here is what supporters and opponents of the "Premium Relief Initiative" had to say after Sunday's vote. Of all the votes on the ballot on Sunday, the “Premium Relief Initiative” was anticipated to be the tightest. Yet, come midday, it was clear that the Social Democratic Party’s initiative wouldn’t sway the majority of voters. Left-wing supporters from the Social Democratic Party and the trade unions were left disheartened. Those from the Swiss...

Human error happens all of the time. It’s natural – sometimes, you’ll be typing up a document and later realize you made a grammatical error. Or, you might type a date in wrong. You might think you only make these types of mistakes now and again, but the numbers do add up if you think about how many humans each day must be making them. Why Does Human Error Happen? Human error happens for numerous reasons, but it’s important to remember that it’s normal. Nobody is a...

Javier Milei’s chainsaw policy has been without a doubt one of the most interesting and important topics of discussion in world politics. Argentina has taken important measures since Milei assumed the presidency to revert the tragic economic situation that the country was facing. Perhaps one of the most important measures is the adjustments and cuts in the state, the colloquially called “chainsaw policy.”Two months after Milei assumed the presidency, nine thousand...

The idea is to make cities in Ticino, such as Lugano, more attractive for top managers Keystone – Ats / Ti-Press High incomes in the Swiss canton of Ticino will in future benefit from tax relief. A corresponding amendment to the law was approved by voters on Sunday. Compensatory measures for planned pension cuts for cantonal employees were also approved. With a voter turnout of 49.32%, 60,581 Ticino residents voted in favour of the new tax law and 45,908 against,...

The market got caught leaning the wrong way. The weakness in April's high-frequency US data encouraged participants to push the US two-year yield to its recent floor near 4.70% and took the 10-year yield to two-month lows, slightly above 4.25%. The Dollar Index was driven below the uptrend line drawn off the December 2023 and March and May 2024 lows. We have argued that while the US economy is slowing, the April data seemed to overstate the case, and the May jobs...