SNB & CHF

read aloud pause X The government wants to reduce the annual radio and television licence fee from the current CHF335 ($372) to CHF300 by 2029. The turnover threshold for companies to qualify for exemption has been raised from CHF500,000 to CHF1.2 million. Share Facebook Twitter E-mail Print Copy link On Wednesday the government put out for consultation an amendment to the relevant ordinance. In a press release, the government explains...

David Gordon reviews Dan Moller's book Governing Least: A New England Libertarianism, in which the author examines the issue of a welfare state in a libertarian society. Original Article: Is a Welfare State Consistent with Libertarianism? [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

In 2002, President George W. Bush cited the now famous “axis of evil”—Iraq, Iran, and North Korea—as he tried to get the American people to look beyond those responsible for the 9/11 attacks and greenlight a global military campaign to “rid the world of the evil-doers.” The result was the $8 trillion global war on terror that continues to this day. Now, in the wake of the Hamas attacks in southern Israel one month ago, the same language is being employed to justify...

Overview: After the making marginal new highs in early North America yesterday, the dollar pulled back, arguable dragged lower by the softness of US rates, helped by the sharp drop in oil prices and healthy reception to the US three-year note auction. However, the greenback has returned better bid today as the market continues to search for direction post-FOMC and US jobs report. The euro and sterling are the weakest of the G10 currencies through the European...

Anyone who owns an electric car in Switzerland will have to pay automobile tax from January 1. Share Facebook Twitter E-mail Print Copy link The Federal Council decided on Wednesday to repeal this tax exemption for electric cars, which has been in effect since 1997. The state government decided to make a corresponding change to the automobile tax ordinance on Wednesday, as it announced on Wednesday. The authorities justify the change in three ways: Firstly, it...

Purchasing power in Switzerland is likely to remain under pressure next year. Companies surveyed by UBS want to pay their employees more wages for 2024, but higher salaries cannot compensate for the inflation. Share Facebook Twitter E-mail Print Copy link Specifically, the 389 companies surveyed as well as employer and employee associations expect an average wage increase of 1.9% for 2024. Taking into account inflation expected at around 2%, real wages are...

Even something that seems as objective as software development falls under the Austrian view of subjective utility. Original Article: What is Software Quality? An Austrian Approach [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

A History of Money and Banking in the United States: The Colonial Era to World War II by Murray N. Rothbard Edited with an Introduction by Joseph T. Salerno (Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2002; 510 pages) A History of Money and Banking in the United States comprises a collection of essays written by Murray N. Rothbard and compiled and edited by Joseph T. Salerno. It is the most comprehensive and enlightening treatise on the history of money and banking...

We're about six weeks into fiscal year 2024, but if this year looks anything like last year, we can assume the federal government will continue to pile up debt at astonishing rates.  According to the September Monthly Treasury report, the US government accumulated an additional 1.7 trillion dollars in debt for the 2023 fiscal year, which ended October 31.  That' up by $319 billion, or 23 percent, from the 2022 fiscal year. As recently as June, budget-watchers had...

It certainly wasn’t the only time calling a perceived ally of DC a democracy became a tradition with India. While India could have been the first non-European “ally” to receive such treatment since the heydays of the Cold War, the immense support India currently enjoys despite a litany of human rights violations will never outclass the kind of prowess Tel Aviv has from the grassroots and political elite in the Beltway. Between the dying enthusiasm for nation-building...