SNB & CHF

The response to the covid-19 outbreak is better understood as a tool of the national security state rather than as a public health measure. Original Article: When Medical Authorities Went Totalitarian: Understanding Covid Policies and Protocols [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

As both progressives and conservatives turn authoritarian, libertarian populism inspired by Murray Rothbard provides an alternative to the statist nonsense that dominates political discourse. Original Article: The Problems with Post-Trump Populism [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

While the creator of modern portfolio theory was awarded a Nobel Prize, that doesn't mean the theory isn’t flawed. In fact, it explains very little about investments. Original Article: Modern Portfolio Theory Is Mistaken: Diversification Is Not Investment [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

The nineteenth-century English philosopher Thomas Hill Green was one of the key figures in the transition from classical liberalism to “modern” liberalism, in which the state, no longer a mere “night watchman,” if it ever was that, takes on a much more active role. The state in Green’s view ought to aid people in realizing their “real selves,” and doing this often involves supplying them with various goods and services. For this reason, Green is regarded as one of...

The 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, starts on January 15. Do you have any questions about it? Let us know in the comments.

Jamaica is a small island in the British West Indies, but despite its stature, this tiny nation has elicited the attention of global elites. In politics, Jamaica’s voting behavior at the United Nations is closely monitored by her neighbors in the Caribbean and the global community because she commands influence. Due to historical and cultural complexities, Jamaica is a magnet for academic research, and writing about the country has manifested into a cottage industry....

Overview:  The mostly consolidative week for the US dollar continues. Most for the G10 currencies are +/- about 0.25% today and only a slightly wider range for the week. The odds of a Fed rate cut in March is virtually unchanged on the week at around 75%. The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is practically flat on the day and week. The Russian ruble and Mexican peso lead today's advancers, while eastern and central European currencies are laggards. The...

Financial intermediaries, including card schemes and issuing banks, are playing a critical role in the use and promotion of new payment methods in Switzerland. A 2023 research by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) revealed that the rules and standards set by these intermediaries are impacting usage and frequency of contactless payments. The findings, shared in a new report titled “Consumer adoption and use of financial technology: “tap and go” payments”, are based on an...

The phrase "great replacement" has been increasingly thrown around by both conservatives and progressives in recent years. Conservatives claim the "great replacement theory" explains deliberate efforts by regime operatives to replace non-Hispanic whites with various groups of Hispanics and non-whites. Progressives, on the other hand, claim it is all a racist conspiracy theory.  I won't bore you with the details of the present political debate, but the idea that one...

In response to the Israeli assault on Gaza, the Houthis (Ansarallah) of Yemen have retaliated by launching at least six drone attacks directed at Israel and attacking Western ships passing through the Red Sea. By the looks of it, their attacks have been quite successful thus far: Israel’s Eilat port alone has seen an 85 percent drop in shipping activity. To the United States, these actions of resistance and support of the Palestinian cause only present another...