SNB & CHF

The mission of the Mises Institute is simple. We want to spread the ideas of Ludwig von Mises and the scholars he inspired. Ideas that are vital for a free and prosperous civilization. We do this through our student programs, our popular articles, our podcasts, one of the largest free economic libraries available online, and our new animated videos for beginners. Online and in person, we attack the state, the political class, and their crony clients—without exception...

In the last century, states have had great control over channels of media. In most of the West, lobbying groups and cartels working with “liberal” and “democratic” governments regulated who could broadcast while governments, with their endless pools of money and political force, competed alongside private, or foreign, establishments. South Africa banned television entirely, and then after legalizing it in the ’70s, the industry was still controlled by the state. All...

Overview: The US dollar begins the new week on a firm note. It is trading at new highs for the year against the Japanese yen and is bid against nearly all the G10 currencies, though the Swedish krona and Canadian dollar are resisting the greenback's push. Most emerging market currencies are heavier, with the Polish zloty and a few East Asian currencies holding their own. Gold is trading with a heavier bias near $1922, but within the ranges seen at the end of last...

There are no more rabbits for the Fed monetary magicians to pull out of their hats. In an economy addicted to artificially low interest rates, any more moves by the Fed will trigger an economic downturn. Original Article: There Is No Fed Magic Trick to Achieve a Soft Landing [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

China rose from poverty after the Mao years only because its political leadership embraced private property and a market economy. Unfortunately, today the Communist leadership is moving back to socialism. Original Article: The Chinese Economy: Market Socialism with Chinese Characteristics [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

To progressive elites, the state (at least one run by progressives) is omniscient and all-powerful. To anyone with understanding, the state is an entity usually run by gangsters. Original Article: The State as Modern-Day Superstition: Unraveling the Illusions of Authority [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

The most important outcome of the last week's flurry of central bank meetings was the median forecast of Fed officials for 50 bp less in cuts next year than it had anticipated in June as it revised up its growth forecasts for this year and next. The prospect for higher rates for pushed equities lower. Sterling and the Swiss franc were the weakest currencies in the G10 last week, falling by a little more than 1.1%. Both central banks did not hike rates to the...

In this week's episode, Mark interprets the Fed's new economic projections for the economy, in which the Fed "doubles-down" on current economic growth and the economy's prospects moving forward. Essentially, the Fed is saying that they are taking us from the "touch-and-go" economy of the last three years to a touch-and-go landing, where the economy will take off and perform much better than anyone anticipates. Don't bet on it. Be sure to follow Minor Issues...

Bank CEOs always have their heads in the clouds. First, pessimists never earn a seat in the corner office. Plus, it takes a good-sized ego to climb to the top of a bank bureaucracy. A person running a bank believes they can sail the ship through any stormy economic weather. Take John Allison. He’s the chairman of a bank holding company, Home BancShares. He told the Wall Street Journal about a time when the regulator of Home BancShares, the Federal Reserve, was...

The people presented in this book are generally considered villainous, and the functions they perform, harmful. Sometimes society itself is damned because it spawns such reprehensible characters. However, the thrust of this book will concentrate on the following propositions: They are guilty of no wrong-doing of a violent nature;In virtually every case, they actually benefit society;If we prohibit their activities, we do so at our own loss.                   ...