SNB & CHF

After three months in a row of hitting new all-time highs, money supply growth slowed in March, dropping to a 10-month low.  This slowdown, however,  does not suggest any significant departure from the past year’s high growth in money supply—which came in the wake of unprecedented quantitative easing, central bank asset purchases, and various stimulus packages. During March 2021, year-over-year (YOY) growth in the money supply was at 34.1 percent. That’s...

We need to change the incentives of the entire system, not just healthcare, but if we don’t start with healthcare, that financial cancer will drag us into national insolvency all by itself. American Healthcare is a growth industry in the same way cancer is a growth industry: both keep growing until they kill the host, which in the case of healthcare is the U.S. economy. While a great many individuals in the system care about improving the health of their patients,...

To foreigners, Switzerland often means Alpine mountains, cows, chocolates – and tax evasion. As Frédéric Maire, director of the Swiss national film archives, explains in this video, the Hollywood movie machine is helping to keep these clichés alive. He examines whether the sleazy characters depicted in films such as Wolf of Wall Street are simply exaggerations of the real bankers working in Geneva. We ask him whether the rigid, stiff, secretive, protestant,...

To mark the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's death, Swiss Public Television SRF takes a closer look at the changes he brought about in Switzerland, as he plowed his way across Europe with the French Imperial Army. --- 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...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.09% to 1.0948 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 17(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: There are two general developments as the busy week gets underway. First, despite accelerated price readings in the US (CPI, PPI, import prices, and University of Michigan survey), US rates are soft. The 10-year yield is near 1.61% after rising to 1.70% after the CPI surprise last week....

Switzerland used to be a place where the rich came with their money to escape the world’s problems, not to confront them. Ethical investing: a bright future for the financial centres of Zurich and Geneva? © Keystone / Gaetan Bally These days, the private banks that dot the pristine streets of Zurich and Geneva are no exception when it comes to the wave of enthusiasm that has broken over the asset management world for better environmental, social and governance...

The Producer Price Index (PPI) or officially named “Producer and Import Price Index” describes the changes in prices for producers and importers. For us it is interesting because it is used in the formula for the Real Effective Exchange Rate. When producers and importers profit on lower price changes when compared to other countries, then the Swiss Franc reduces its overvaluation. The Swiss PPI values of -6% in 2015 (see below), compared to -3% in Europe or -1% in...

That Austrians and Keynesians do not share many views on economics (or probably anything else) is obvious, so a difference of opinion between the two hardly should surprise anyone. However, it still is important to point out the differences between the two camps, especially at the current time when Keynesians are all the rage in Washington (When did they ever leave?) and especially in the Joe Biden administration and, of course, the editorial pages of the New York...

Swiss Life at its peak was responsible for over $1 billion in portfolios for US clients. © Keystone / Christian Merz Switzerland’s largest insurance company Swiss Life has agreed to pay CHF70 million ($77.4 million) and enter a deferred prosecution agreement in the United States to resolve accusations it conspired to help wealthy Americans to avoid taxes. The company will pay a $25.3 million fine plus $52.1 million in restitution and forfeiture to resolve a charge it...

Switzerland continues to shift towards organic farming. Between 2000 and 2020, the number of organic farms has risen by 54%. In 2020, the number rose 3.8%. © Iwan Zeller | Dreamstime.comOrganic farms now make up 15.3% of total farms in Switzerland, up from 6.9% 20 years ago. In 2000, there were 4,902 organic farms. By 2020, the number had risen 54% to 7,561. The rise in organic farms stands in contrast to a backdrop of declining farm numbers. From 2000 to 2020, the...