Tag Archives: Featured

The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency by John Mueller Cambridge University Press, 2021, 332 pp. The subtitle of John Mueller’s excellent new book suggests that something unusual is in store for the reader. If someone is called complacent, he is hardly being complimented; how then can there be a “case for complacency”? In brief, Mueller thinks that most of the threats and dangers that confront nations are really not that much to...

The Pando (pictured here) appears to be 107 acres of forest, but scientists have concluded that the nearly 47,000 genetically identical quaking aspen trees share a common root system.  It is a single organism.  It is estimated to be around 80,000 years old and weighs something of the magnitude of 13 million pounds. It may be dying. Many market participants also struggle to distinguish the forest from the trees.  It is not a personal failing; it is systemic. The...

A Crypto AG encryption device Keystone / Ennio Leanza A special public prosecutor has been named in connection with the Crypto spying affair involving manipulated encryption devices which the CIA and the German intelligence agency used to spy on half the world. Peter Marti, a former judge and district attorney, will look into the violations of official secrecy that took place during the investigation, the supervisory authority of the Office of the Attorney General of...

© Cateyeperspective | Dreamstime.com According to a recent survey, one third of Swiss are against the extension of Covid certificates. But most think opposition is higher. Two thirds of those surveyed by Tamedia were happy for Covid certificates to be extended to restaurants and public spaces, reported 20 Minutes. The 67% in favour of the extension were either fully in favour (57%) or fairly in favour of it (10%). The 33% opposed to the extension were either fully...

Part IV of IV by Claudio Grass The Nixon Shock: The way forward President Nixon’s unilateral decision to sever the last link between the dollar and gold had wide ranging and long lasting consequences for the global economy and for the entire monetary system. The end of sound money facilitated and accelerated the concentration of power at the top and the ability to manipulate the currency allowed politicians and central planners to further expand the state’s reach and...

New York, NY,October7, 2021 – Harnessing the power of collective philanthropy, UBS today announced the launch of UBS Collectives (“Collectives”), an innovative social-impact initiative that connects UBS’s philanthropic clients on issues that matter most to them. Led by UBS’s Philanthropy Services team, UBS Collectives will help clients combine their expertise and mobilize their capital to fund initiatives that address child protection, climate change, health, and...

In our post on January 28, 2021 “Gold, The Tried-and-True Inflation Hedge for What’s Coming!” we outlined four reasons that we expect higher inflation over the next several years. The brief bullet points are: Money Supplies have risen dramatically Commodity Prices are rising again Reduced Globalization as ‘Made at Home’ policies are proliferating Pent up demand Headlines such as this one last week from Bloomberg “Inflation gauge Hits Highest Since 1991 as Americans...

Der BTC legte gestern weiter zu und nahm die psychologisch wichtige Marke von 50.000 US-Dollar spielend. Im Anschluss kam es zu einer kleinen Rallye, die im Tagesvergleich ein sattes Plus von 7 Prozent ausmachte. Wie weit könnte der Preis noch steigen? Bitcoin News: Bitcoin-Preis wieder über 50K Die kleine Rallye erfasste den Markt gestern Nachmittag. Innerhalb von ungefähr zwei Stunden stieg der Preis von etwa 50.000 auf fast 55.000 US-Dollar. Nachdem die Marke von...

Paradeplatz in Zurich, the Swiss financial heartland © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Switzerland is still number one in terms of wealth management internationally, despite the growth in new assets slowing in 2020, according to consulting firm Deloitte. The company found that overall, “the leading centres of international wealth management did surprisingly well during the Covid-19 pandemic”. Switzerland managed some $2.6 trillion (CHF2.4 trillion) in international assets in...

For central bankers and mainstream analysts the recent inflation outburst is only a transitory phenomenon which has nothing or very little to do with the massive monetary and fiscal stimuli unleashed during the pandemic. Although the Fed has recently conceded that price pressures are persisting longer than expected, the surge of inflation is allegedly due to supply bottlenecks caused by the pandemic. This superficial diagnosis serves as a convenient excuse for...