SNB & CHF

Three relatively quick observations surrounding today’s UST selloff. 1. The intensity. Reflation is the underlying short run basis, but there is ample reason to suspect quite a bit more than that alone given the unexpected interruption in Fedwire yesterday. At 12:43pm EST, most of FRBNY’s electronic services experienced an as-yet unexplained problem which interrupted service, including that of Fedwire. To this point, the New York branch has only confirmed the...

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) I keep track of all my expenses. And monthly, I publish my expenses on this blog. But once a year, I also a full analysis of my expenses for the past year. It helps me put things in perspective. And it also gives me an idea of where my expenses are going for an entire year. For me, it is an essential part of the way I am managing my money. I do not really budget, but I track all our expenses. And seeing...

The corona crisis has intensified the discussion about the zombification of the economy; enterprises have become more dependent on government bailouts, loans, subsidies, short-time working benefits, and loans from central banks. Governments around the world claim the measures to be only temporary. Yet Japan’s experience suggests that the reliance of enterprises on public support can continue in one form or another. Japan’s enterprises have long relied on the state...

On February 4, 2021, Democrats in the House and Senate introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Like many names in Washington, this one is an Orwellian misnomer that does the exact opposite of what it claims to be doing. If passed, the bill, which is basically a union wish list, would radically transform the nature of the labor market in the US with numerous sweeping and heavy-handed changes. Andy Levin (MI-09), a sponsor of the bill, doesn’t bother...

26.02.2021 – In the 4th quarter 2020, the total employment (number of jobs) fell by 0.4% in comparison with the same quarter a year earlier (+0.1% with previous quarter). Among women, the decrease was 0.6%, while employment among men fell by 0.3%. In full-time equivalents, employment in the same period declined also by 0.4%. The Swiss economy counted 12 600 fewer vacancies than in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (-16.1%) with the employment outlook...

Hildebrand had to concede defeat having failed to generate enough support for his candidacy. Keystone / Peter Klaunzer Former Swiss National Bank (SNB) chairman, Philipp Hildebrand, has pulled out of the race to become the next secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Hildebrand announced that he had withdrawn his candidacy on Twitter on Thursday evening. “It was a privilege and an honour to have been Switzerland’s...

Rückblick auf die Artikel des Ludwig von Mises Institut Deutschland im Monat Februar: ***** „Der archimedische Punkt bei Anthony de Jasay ist die Freiheitsvermutung.“ Interview mit Burkhard Sievert, 1, Februar 2021 Ich bin über die Bücher von Roland Baader auf Anthony de Jasay aufmerksam geworden, der ihn als einen herausragenden freiheitlichen Philosophen hervorhob. Um es mit Gerhard Radnitzky zu sagen: „Im intellektuellen Bereich haben nur sehr wenige mehr für die...

James Grant is editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, which he founded in 1983. He is the author of nine books, including Money of the Mind, The Trouble with Prosperity, John Adams: Party of One, The Forgotten Depression, and more recently Bagehot: The Life and Times of the Greatest Victorian. In 2015 Grant received the prestigious Gerald Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in business journalism. James Grant is an associated scholar of the Mises...

The two day rise in the gold price of more than US$50 fizzled out on Tuesday. The gold price is down about 7% (in US dollar terms) since its year-to-date high set on January 6. It is also down 13% from its all-time high set in August 2020. The silver price, boosted by social media attention, did not set its year-to-date high until February 1. Since then the silver price has slid about 5% from that high. Chairman Powell testified to Congress on Tuesday stating that...

Why Economists Kept Getting the Policies Wrong Jeff Snider reacts to two recent articles: "Bond yields are not good predictors of inflation" (Peterson Institute for International Economics) and "Why economists kept getting the policies wrong" (Financial Times). Jeff Snider, Head of Global Investment Research for Alhambra Investments with Emil Kalinowski. Art by the King of the North, David Parkins. Topics & Time Codes 01:07 Two economists write that bond yields are...