SNB & CHF

Christmas shoppers on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Swiss consumers have budgeted more for Christmas presents this year despite the growing spectre of inflation. The average shopper plans to splash out CHF343 ($367) on presents, up CHF9 from the average spend in 2021. The cost of consumer goods has risen around 3% in recent months, which is well below the inflation rate of other countries but still above the 2% target set by the Swiss National...

Those who see the madness for what it is have only one escape: go to ground, fade from public view, become self-reliant and weather the coming storm in the nooks and crannies. A great madness sweeps the land. There are no limits on extremes in greed, credulity, convictions, inequality, bombast, recklessness, fraud, corruption, arrogance, hubris, pride, over-reach, self-righteousness and confidence in the rightness of one’s opinions. Extremes only become more extreme...

Over the past year, governments and regulatory bodies from around the world have increased their focus on the taxation of the cryptocurrency industry, a trend that comes on the back of increasing investment, adoption and innovation in the space despite collapsing prices and high profile business failures, a new report by consulting firm PwC says. PwC’s 2022 Global Crypto Tax Report, released earlier this month, looks at the state of crypto taxation globally,...

Together with their partners Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Swisscom and Clarafinds, eForesight has revised the Swiss Fintech Map and expanded the database as well as deleted some old and inactive players. The main business area categories contain now 130 Swiss Investment Management Fintechs, 106 Banking Infrastructure Fintechs, 48 Deposit&Lending Fintechs and 55 Payment Fintechs. On top of that, the fintechs in the main categories on the map...

Federal Reserve policymakers turned ultra-hawkish last week, along with their counterparts around the world. And markets completely ignored this, rates *falling* not rising. Why? There are major, shocking (for some) layoffs ahead as the economy has already deteriorated. Eurodollar University's Weekly Recap, featuring Steve Van Metre Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffSnider_AIP https://www.eurodollar.university https://www.marketsinsiderpro.com https://www.PortfolioShield.net...

Austerity works. We know what it is and don’t like it, but it works. It usually means cutting your consumption and spending, paying down your debts, pawning assets, and working more hours to restore your economic situation. You might invoke “austerity” because you lost your job, your house burned down, or you have an unexpected child on the way. You might take similar actions if the economy was in crisis. It’s essentially the same thing as cutting expenses to save...

The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Wednesday announced it will raise the target federal funds rate by 50 basis points, bringing the target rate to 4.5 percent. Wednesday’s rate hike followed four hikes in a row of 75 basis points, and is the smallest rate hike since March. According to the FOMC’s press release, the committee voted unanimously for the half point hike, pointing out that “[price] inflation remains elevated” while also...

(Jefferson City, Missouri, USA — December 14, 2022) – A state senator from St. Charles County has introduced a bill in Missouri to eliminate income taxes on sales of gold and silver, invest state funds in gold and silver, and establish the Missouri Bullion Depository. Sen. Bill Eigel introduced Senate Bill 100 creates new provisions related to gold and silver in the Show Me State. First, SB 100 would require the State Treasurer to invest no less than 1% of the funds...

Bryan Caplan, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, joins the podcast to talk about his latest book, the minimum wage, betting, and much more! Is nature or nurture more important? Why should a Keynesian be against the minimum wage? What is the trillion dollar tab waiting for us to pick up? Watch this whirlwind episode, and let us know what you think in the comments! Follow Bryan on Twitter and his Substack. Connect with Keith Weiner and Monetary Metals...

The evidence from the last thirty years is clear. Keynesian policies leave a massive trail of debt, weaker growth and falling real wages. Furthermore, once we look at each so-called stimulus plan, reality shows that the so-called multiplier effect of government spending is virtually nonexistent and has long-term negative implications for the health of the economy. Stimulus plans have bloated government size, which in turn requires more dollars from the real economy...