SNB & CHF

The term “roundabout” is not normally associated with efficiency, unless you’re an economist. Yet roundabout methods—when applied to production—are the key to prosperity. Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, the great Austrian economist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, provided examples illustrating how this idea works. Consider a farmer whose source of drinking water is some distance from his house. Whenever he gets thirsty, he can go to the spring and drink...

Overview: The dollar is mixed against the G10 currencies. It is confined to narrow ranges ahead of today's CPI report. The Russian ruble is the strongest of the emerging market currencies following the imposition of new capital controls, forcing many exporters to repatriate their foreign earnings. After posting a key upside reversal at the end of last week, gold continues to recover. It nearly $1883 so far today, the best level in more than two weeks. November WTI...

This week, Hillary Clinton publicly proposed “formal deprogramming” for MAGA enthusiasts, piling on a repeated President Biden theme of trying to deal with “an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy. The MAGA movement.” The nation recently discovered that the FBI has a new “MAGA Extremist” category. All this hard work by government is aimed at “preserving democracy.” Clinton is particularly concerned about the small extremist “tail”...

Some free-market advocates are pushing for dollarization in Argentina. But the devastating US sanctions against Panama in 1989 show us how dollarization helps the US exercise more hegemonic power over foreign economies.  Original Article: Dollarization Puts Foreign Economies at the Mercy of the US Regime [embedded content]...

In the market economy, wealth generators do not produce everything for their own consumption. Part of their production is used in exchange for the produce of other producers. Hence, in the market economy, production precedes consumption. This means that something is exchanged for something else. This also means that an increase in the production of goods and services sets in motion an increase in the demand for goods and services. According to David Ricardo, No man...

The US Supreme Court considered reinstating a $900,000 (CHF810,000) jury verdict won by a fired UBS Group research strategist in a case that could make it easier for whistleblowers to win suits claiming retaliation under a federal investor-protection law.   Share Facebook Twitter E-mail Print Copy link UBS contends that...

Members of the Canadian Parliament recently applauded a Ukrainian member of the Nazi Waffen-SS during World War II. Apparently, it's now okay to be a Nazi so long as you're fighting the Russians. Original Article: The Left Is Now Telling Us (Ukrainian) Nazis Aren't So Bad After All [embedded content] Tags:...

Saturday the world was rocked by the outbreak of war in southern Israel as Hamas fighters crossed out of Gaza, taking hostages and killing Israeli civilians. The political leader of Hamas says the attacks were in response to the Israeli treatment of Palestinians at the al-Aqsa Mosque last week. But other reports indicate that the attack was planned for weeks with the help of the Iranian government and was meant to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Yom Kippur War....

Overview: Broadly speaking, the dollar's recent pullback was extended today but the momentum appears to be slowing, perhaps ahead of tomorrow's US CPI report. The Dollar Index slipped to its lowest level since September 25 before steadying. The greenback is mixed as the North American market is set to open. The dollar bloc and Swedish krona are the underperformers. The Swiss franc is the best, up about 0.2%, while the yen and euro are little changed. Most emerging...

At the end of September, a very interesting story made the rounds in the media and caught my attention. Apparently, the US big box giant Costco added one rather surprising product to its range and it proved immensely popular. Next to humongous multipacks of cereal, buckets of peanut butter, mattresses and air fryers, customers were offered the opportunity to throw a gold bar in their carts as well.  Selling like hotcakes  According to a recent CBS...