Tag Archives: Featured

  Ein staatliches Fiat-Währungssystem mit einer nur teilweisen Deckung des Geldumlaufs durch die Bankreserven macht es möglich, dass die Geschäftsbanken mehr Geld als in Umlauf bringen als sie an Bargeld halten. Das sogenannte Giralgeld wird als Bankeinlagen gleichsam aus dem Nichts geschaffen. So ein Währungssystem ist nicht nur äußerst volatil, sondern auch anfällig für lange und extreme Phasen der Kreditausweitung und der Kreditkontraktion. ...

It’s one of those things which everyone just accepts because everyone says it must be true. If the US$ is rising, what else other than the Federal Reserve. In particular, the Fed has to be raising rates in relation to other central banks; interest rate differentials. A relatively more “hawkish” US policy therefore the wind in the sails of a “strong” dollar exchange regime. How else would we explain, for example, the euro’s absolute plunge since around May last year?...

The increasing volatility of SNB Earnings Annual results are not really definite. Given that the SNB accumulates foreign currencies with interventions, they have huge swings. But the SNB may lose 50 billion in one year and win 60 billion in the next year or vice verse. Low Inflation, Crashes and Central Bank Money Printing The crisis caused by the Covid19 virus,is a typical crisis with low inflation (at least for now). During such a crisis, central bank money...

“Households are feeling the strain as prices continue to rise,” SECO said on Monday. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Consumers in Switzerland are much more pessimistic about the general economic situation, with households feeling the strain as prices continue to rise, a new survey shows. April data published by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) on Monday shows that overall consumer sentiment has deteriorated “significantly” in recent months. The consumer...

Stagflation. It’s a word that strikes fear in the hearts of investors, one that evokes memories – for some of us – of bell bottoms, disco, and Jimmy Carter’s American malaise. The combination of weak growth and high inflation is the worst of all worlds, one that required a transformational leader and a cigar-chomping central banker to defeat the last time it came around. Or at least that’s how it’s remembered. Whether the cigar-chomping central banker was really...

Overview: The US dollar begins the new week on a firm note ahead of the mid-week conclusion of the FOMC meeting.  Many centers are closed for the May Day holiday, making for thinner market conditions.  Equities are mostly lower in the markets that traded today.  This includes Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India in the Asia Pacific.  In Europe, the Stoxx 600, led by a decline in information technology,  industrials, and consumer discretionary sectors,  is...

The US government today likes to pretend that it is the perennial champion of political independence for countries that were once behind the Iron Curtain. What is often forgotten, however, is that in the days following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Washington opposed independence for Soviet republics like Ukraine and the Baltic states. In fact, the Bush administration openly supported Mikhail Gorbachev’s efforts to hold the Soviet Union together rather than allow the...

As the prices of fossil fuels skyrocket and further supply and price uncertainty looms, many are seeking ways to cut the amount they spend on home energy. A publication by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) shows where savings can be made. Photo by Eva Penner Martens on Pexels.comRecent rises in the prices of fossil fuels highlight the paradox at the heart of efforts to reduce climate change. As environmentalists we want the world to burn less wood, coal, gas...

Noch vor ein paar Tagen hieß es, Russland könnte die Daten seiner Nutzer mit der russischen Regierung teilen – Datenschützer und die westlichen Medien waren besorgt. Doch in dieser Woche zeigte Binance, dass die Börse nicht mit Russland zusammenarbeitet. Zahlreiche Konten russischer Nutzer, die in Verbindung mit der Regierung stehen, wurden gesperrt. Crypto News: Binance suspendiert Konten russischer NutzerBinance folgt damit offenbar Aufforderungen, sich den...

According to today’s advance estimate for first quarter 2022 US real GDP, the third highest (inflation-adjusted) inventory build on record subtracted nearly a point off the quarter-over-quarter annual rate. Yes, you read that right; deducted from growth, as in lowered it. This might seem counterintuitive since by GDP accounting inventory adds to output. It only does so, however, via its own rate of change; the second derivative for specifically the difference....