SNB & CHF

Central banks around the world target a stable price inflation rate of 2 percent annually over the medium term. This is widely considered to be monetary policy’s most important contribution to the smooth functioning of a dynamic economy. This view is wrong on multiple grounds, but there is one problem with it that is commonly ignored. Inflation, even if it remains relatively moderate, can contribute to rising inequality and undermine social mobility. It therefore...

Econometric model building attempts to produce a laboratory with controlled variables. By means of mathematical and statistical methods, an economist establishes functional relationships between various economic variables. For example, personal consumer outlays are related to personal disposable income and interest rates, while fixed capital investments are explained by the past stock of capital, interest rates, and economic activity. A group of such estimated...

16.11.2023 - Most library activity indicators improved in 2022, after two years marked by the COVID-19 pandemic: admissions (+28% compared with 2021), events organised (+42%) and participants in these events (+54%). New results show that women account for 80% of salaried library staff, and even 88% at senior management level. These data are some of the detailed...

The United States regime has picked sides in the Israel-Hamas war and has committed to funding Israel's ongoing bombing of non-combatant men, women, and children in the Gaza strip. Northern Gaza's infrastructure is now all but destroyed, with millions of Gazans displaced and homeless. Nearly ten times more Gazans than Israelis have now died in the conflict. Many Gazans have fled to the southern portion of Gaza, but homelessness and abject poverty awaits them there. ...

The TSA has been promising to end its boneheaded ways for more than 20 years. Flying out of Dallas International Airport last week, I ruefully recognized that all TSA reform promises are malarkey. As I neared the end of a TSA checkpoint line, I saw two women loitering behind a roped off section for CLEAR, a new biometric surveillance program that works with 35 airports and coordinates with TSA. CLEAR involves travelers standing in photo kiosks that compare their...

Americans have been fed the myth that US foreign policy from 1919 to 1941 was isolationist. In reality, US policies destabilized already volatile international relations. Original Article: Pushing the False Narrative of U.S. Isolationism [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

Professor Joseph T. Salerno tells his personal story of how he discovered Austrian economics and how he has become one of the its leading proponents. The lecture is part of the Future of Freedom Foundation’s Fall 2023 online conference “How Austrian Economics Impacted My Life,” and includes an introduction and remarks by Jacob Hornberger, and a question-and-answer period. To learn more about the Future of Freedom Foundation, visit fff.org. [embedded...

We hear plenty about threats to American democracy: Donald Trump’s a threat, the Republican party is a threat, and any number of other people or political parties are threats. Now it’s ExxonMobil’s purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources. Jeff D. Colgan, a professor of political science and the director of the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University, wrote in an easily missed piece entitled “Exxon Mobil’s Pioneer Acquisition Is a Direct Threat to Democracy” for the...

The software company Concevis has been the victim of a cyber attack. Once again, federal government data is involved. The cybercriminals are threatening to publish the data on the darknet.   Share Facebook Twitter E-mail Print Copy link According to available information, the stolen data probably contains old operational data from the Federal Administration. In-depth analyses are still underway, writes the Federal Department of Finance in a statement on...

High risk warning: Foreign exchange trading carries a high level of risk that may not be suitable for all investors. Leverage creates additional risk and loss exposure. Before you decide to trade foreign exchange, carefully consider your investment objectives, experience level, and risk tolerance. You could lose some or all your initial investment; do not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. Educate yourself on the risks associated with foreign exchange...