Tag Archives: Featured

To mark the centenary of the Swiss National Bank’s main building at Börsenstrasse 15, the SNB is publishing ‘The Swiss National Bank in Zurich: The Pfister Building 1922-2022’ (Verlag Scheidegger & Spiess). The volume showcases the architecture and documents the construction history of the building from its planning to the present day, including the structural adjustments made to meet changing requirements. It also sheds light on the rise of Zurich as a...

Overview: Benchmark 10-year yields are off 6-8 basis points in Europe and the United States. The panic seen at the start of the week in the UK has subsided considerably, as sterling recovered to almost where it was a week ago, while BOE’s hand has help steady the Gilt market. Equities in Asia Pacific suffered after the losses in the US yesterday. Hong Kong and India were notable exceptions. Europe’s Stoxx 600 is recouping around half of yesterday 1.65% fall, while...

The biggest two Swiss Banks have each been fined $200 million (CHF199 million) as part of a large-scale US investigation into the failure to preserve electronic communications. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said in separate statements on Tuesday that they had fined 16 financial firms a combined total of $1.8 billion after staff had discussed deals on their personal devices and apps. Beyond the two...

30.09.2022 – Retail trade turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays grew by 5.4% in nominal terms in August 2022 compared with the same month of the previous year, with price increases driving this growth. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover rose by 1.5% compared with the previous month. These are provisional findings from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Real turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 3.0% in August 2022...

In a world where the price of everything is going up, Medicare recipients get a price cut beginning January 1, 2023. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) just announced that the monthly premium for Medicare Part B, which covers doctor visits, diagnostic tests, and other outpatient services, is decreasing $5.20 per month to $164.90. That’s good news in light of the 14.5% increase in Part B premiums in 2022, the largest dollar increase in the history...

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts generally have a great appreciation for the Austrian school of economics. This is understandable since Austrian economists have always argued for the merit of privately produced money outside government control. Unfortunately, an erroneous understanding of the development and functions of money has emerged and become increasingly dominant among at least some proponents of bitcoin—a narrative that is at odds with the basics of Austrian...

Money is one of the most misunderstood topics of our time, and we’re seeing the implications of this play out every day. To understand money, one first must first understand that human beings have always been incentivized to participate in exchange. If humans could not, or did not, trade, most people would die young from starvation, disease, or exposure to the elements. The survivors would be left with an extremely low standard of living in a world in which none of...

Der Cryptomarkt befindet sich nicht in seiner besten Phase. Der BTC verlor gegenüber seinem Allzeithoch etwa zwei Drittel. Und trotzdem hat Bitcoin in dieser Woche das britische Pfund geschlagen, nachdem die Fiat-Währung eine weitere Abwertung erlebte. Bitcoin News: Bitcoin schlägt Britisches Pfund nach weiterer Fiat-AbwertungDas Handelsvolumen des BTC gegenüber dem Britischen Pfund fiel in dieser Woche klar zu Gunsten des Cryptocoins aus. Die Fiat-Währung erzielte...

Most commentators believe a growing economy requires a growing money stock because economic growth gives rise to a greater demand for money, which then must be accommodated. Failing to do so will lead to a decline in prices of goods and services which, in turn, destabilizes the economy and leads to a recession or, even worse, depression. The main role of the Fed, then, is to keep the supply and the demand for money in equilibrium. An increase in the demand for money...

Monetary policy report Report for the attention of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank for its quarterly assessment of September 2022 The report describes economic and monetary developments in Switzerland and explains the inflation forecast. It shows how the SNB views the economic situation and the implications for monetary policy it draws from this assessment. The first section (‘Monetary policy decision of 22 September 2022’) is an excerpt from the press...