Tag Archives: Featured

The rate of unemployment in Switzerland fell to 2.2% last year, the lowest rate in 20 years, according to official statistics. At the same time, trade unions complained that wages were too low for many workers and demanded more pay. On Monday, the State Secretariat for Economic affairs (Seco) said the jobless rate fell from 3% in 2021 to 2.2% last year. This corresponds to 99,577 people registered as out of work on average each month. The number of jobless...

Immigration-control advocates are ecstatic over President Biden’s visit to El Paso. Maybe — just maybe — Biden’s trip will be what finally — finally! — brings victory in the decades-long U.S. war on immigrants. Except that it won’t. The hope of the immigration-control advocates will be dashed once again. The decades-old immigration crisis, along with the deaths, suffering, and police state that come with it, will go on, notwithstanding Biden’s trip to the border....

If the Fed succeeding is a “Black Swan,” bring it on. What if the “Black Swan” of 2023 is the Federal Reserve succeeds? Two stipulations here: 1. “Black Swan” is in quotes because the common usage has widened to include events that don’t match Nassim Taleb’s original criteria / definition of black swan; the term now includes events considered unlikely or that are off the radar screens of both the media and the alt-media. 2. The definition of “Fed success” is not as...

The first week of 2023 was a “bad news is good news” from the Wall St. perspective. Evidence of a declining economy should drive stock prices lower, but since markets are so distorted by counterfeit money rather than wages and profits, stocks and bonds can’t wait to cheer until those less fortunate are in a world of hurt! . Here are several headlines just today that suggest the global economy is heading into the soup! “Samsung Profits Plunge 69% as Global Chip...

© Ocskay Mark | Dreamstime.com A sharp rise in rent in December 2022 (+1.1%) left the average Swiss rent 4.3% higher than at the beginning of 2022, according to the Swiss Real Estate Offer Index, published on 4 January 2023 by SMG Swiss Marketplace Group. This annual jump of 4.3% exceeds the annual CPI increase of 2.8% announced this week. Increases varied significantly by region. The highest rent rise was recorded in Ticino (+8.4%). The jump in Greater Zurich...

The heart of economic growth is an expanding subsistence fund, or the pool of real savings. This pool, which is composed of final consumer goods, sustains individuals in the various stages of the production process. The increase in the pool of real savings permits the expansion and the enhancement of the infrastructure, and this strengthens economic growth. An increase in economic growth for a given stock of money implies more goods per unit of money. This means that...

Overview: Don't fight the Fed went the manta as the market took the US two-year yield back up to 4.50% in the aftermath of the FOMC minutes last week, the highest in over a month. The minutes warned of a premature easing of financial conditions. And then bam, softer than expected hourly earnings and a weak service PMI and bonds and stocks rallied, and the dollar was sold. This is a key part of the backdrop for this week, for which several Fed officials will speak,...

Inflation rates are continuing to rise across the globe, with the UK arguably leading this trend. More specifically, the UK inflation rate hit 10.7% in November, and while it dipped slightly from a peak of 11.1% in October, it remained considerably higher than the Bank of England’s target of 2%. This is impacting the cost of energy and food items markedly, creating a cost-of-living crisis as inflation continues to outstrip earnings across multiple industries. With...

Introduction The success of a business organization depends, to quite an extent, on the planning of resources. This planning keeps the business way above others. Budgeting, therefore, becomes a critical aspect of accounting. However, please keep in mind that financial planning in business is steeped in challenges because of the economic turmoil. Do you run your own small business? If yes, then you count yourself among the 99% of small and medium businesses run in...

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has posted an annual loss of CHF132 billion ($143 billion) for 2022, the biggest in its 115-year history. “The loss on foreign currency positions amounted to around CHF131 billion and the loss on Swiss franc positions was around CHF1 billion. A valuation gain of CHF400 million was recorded on gold holdings,” the SNB said in a statement on Monday. The 2022 loss means the SNB will not make its usual payout to the Swiss federal and cantonal...