SNB & CHF

Paul Krugman can’t figure out why everybody is so bummed about the economy. From his perspective, we should all be jumping for joy, praising Joe Biden, and publicly signing fifty-year commitments to vote Democrat. Official statistics show that “unemployment is still near a 50-year low, yet inflation has been falling fast.” But the ignorant masses simply won’t get with the picture. Krugman admits “surveys of consumer sentiment and political polls continue to show that...

Philip Goff wants to solve the why of the universe, but his answers are not always logically coherent, as David Gordon explains. Original Article: The Taxman Cometh [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

Argentina’s president-elect, Javier Milei, is set on implementing promarket policies, including a vast desocialization, or privatization, of the economy. The privatization of the Argentine airline industry is seemingly first on the agenda (along with privatization of state-owned media). Privatization is necessary, but above all else, it must be done correctly. Aerolíneas Argentina, the state-owned airline, makes up 63 percent of the domestic airline market in the...

Overview: Weekend accounts seemed to try to understand what Fed Chair Powell said by beginning with the large drop in US rates. Yet, most accounts miss the fact that no matter what Powell has said, the market has more often than not reacted as if he were a dove. Rates have come back firmer today, perhaps as some recognized the overshoot. The US two-year yield is up nearly seven basis points after falling 14 before the weekend. The 10-year yield is almost six basis...

On 1 December 2023, the Swiss National Bank – together with five Swiss and one German commercial bank – started a pilot project with central bank digital currency for financial institutions (wholesale central bank digital currency) on the regulated platform of SIX Digital Exchange (SDX). With this pilot, called Helvetia Phase III, the SNB will for the first time issue real wholesale CBDC in Swiss francs on a financial market infrastructure based on distributed ledger...

In the past two decades, the TSA has proven it is ineffective in providing real security for airline passengers. However, its growing incompetence is matched only by its increasing intrusion into travelers' lives. Original Article: The TSA Is Still Crazy after All These Years [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

Mainstream economists turned climate warriors use cost-of-production methods to determine the “true” social cost of carbon. They appeal to a discredited methodology falsely attributed to medieval Scholastics. Original Article: The Worse-than-Medieval Economics of Climate Technocrats [embedded content] Tags:...

Progressives claim that perhaps individual freedom might be appropriate for a simpler society but that as society grows more complex, the need for government grows. As Leonard Read pointed out, however, greater complexity requires greater freedom, not less. Original Article: The More Complex the Society, The Less Government Control We Need [embedded content]...

As the year winds down, the global economy appears to be entering a new phase. While North American and European central bankers swear that they are prepared to respond to new threats to price stability, the markets demur. Indicative pricing in the derivatives markets reflects the general conclusion that the central banks have most likely completed the post-Covid monetary tightening cycle. Central bankers are pushing against a premature easing of financial...

In this week's episode, Mark looks at "All-Time Highs" in such things as stocks, real estate, and stock indexes. Housing prices hit an all-time high this week, and gold is not far behind. While all-time highs—or even "new highs"—are unambiguously good for owners of these assets, it is much more ambiguous as a signal about the future. Gold might be an exception to this rule, as Mark explains. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues. Get your...