SNB & CHF

The new Utopian socialists believe that the latest capitalist gizmos will help them realize their dream of a society under the full control of socialist philosopher kings. Image via grundeinkommen.ch Robotic Utopia In spite of the fact that Marx expressed nothing but disdain for his Utopian socialist predecessors such as Henri Saint-Simon and Auguste Comte, variants of Utopian socialism evidently live on. The latest iteration of the socialist dream is firmly focused on the capabilities...

  An Alert for the Global Posse of Liquidity Junkies In the summer of 2015 and again in December-February this year, global stock markets were rattled by weakness in the yuan’s exchange rate vs. the US dollar. Yuan weakness is widely held to exacerbate pressures on other (already weak) emerging market currencies, but more importantly, it is seen as a symptom of accelerating capital flight from China. USD-CNY, daily; onshore yuan rate USD-CNY, daily (a rising price denotes yuan weakness)...

Cartoon by Bob Rich No Surprises BALTIMORE – We were not surprised by the big news last week. We saw it coming. Figures from the Conference Board research group revealed productivity sinking for the first time in three decades. We promised to explain why it was such a big deal. Rate hike fantasies have been a recurring theme since 2009. Given that the market for federal funds is dead as a doornail (banks continue to hold huge excess reserves with the Fed and therefore have no need to...

Written by Jeff Nielson (CLICK FOR ORIGINAL) Much of what is known as “economic theory” is gibberish. It is propaganda, implanted into the minds of academics for one reason: to preserve the status quo of always favoring the (very) wealthy over all other members of the population. The facets of economic doctrine which are valid, are valid because they do little more than express principles of simple arithmetic and common sense.   “Supply and demand” is just simple arithmetic and common...

At 2099.06 points the S&P 500 is now in a confirmed uptrend and on the cusp of attacking the 19 April high of 2100.80. If it conquers this pressure point, the index will enter a zone of resistance up to 2126.64 points. This range will certainly be treated by the market with due trepidation, when it returns from the Memorial Day holiday on Tuesday! According to my stochastics indicator, the market appears to be over-bought and my Grail momentum indicator is swinging a bit to the...

Although the initiative “for an unconditional basic income” has little chance of being accepted in a June 8 vote, its supporters have come up with a very creative campaign, including the unfurling of an 8,000 square-metre banner across Geneva’s largest square. (SRF, swissinfo.ch) --- 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,...

Earlier we introduced the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the longest and deepest tunnel in the world. The 35 mile long tunnel which cuts underneath the Alps helps remove natural barriers to trade and tourism, and is undoubtedly a testament to Swiss precision engineering. Interestingly, as Bloomberg reports, the tunnel that was 17 years in the making and had workers on three shifts working around the clock to build, was built primarily by foreigners. Only 14 percent of the workers were from...

Steel factory Photo credit: Laurentiu Iordache Victims of the Boom-Bust Cycle The world is drowning in steel – there is huge overcapacity in steel production worldwide. This is a direct result of the massive global credit expansion that has taken place over the past 15 years. Much of this capacity is located in China, but while the times were good, iron ore and steel production (and associated lines of production) was expanded everywhere else in the world as well. Heavy industries like...

The buck. The Dollar Increases in Value The dollar moved up, though most people would say gold fell about $40, and silver 32 cents. In the mainstream view, the value of the dollar is 1/N (N is the quantity). So how could the dollar go up? Certainly, the quantity keeps on increasing. Our view is different. If you borrow dollars to buy an asset, and the asset doesn’t generate enough yield to pay the interest, you have to sell or default. It should go without saying that it is an...

  Two of many symptoms of the much-bewailed “populist backlash”… Image via economyincrisis.org Rolling Back 200 Years of Growth BALTIMORE, Maryland – The press reported mixed financial news on Thursday. House sales, oil, unemployment figures… up, down… the news left investors puzzled. Stocks went mostly nowhere. But amid the confusing noise was the sound of an alarm: “Fall in U.S. productivity sparks fears of populist backlash as wages stagnate,” says a lumbering headline in the...