Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the resignation of President Richard Nixon, who later was pardoned of all Watergate crimes by President Gerald Ford. The Watergate break-in occurred at the Democratic National Committee headquarters office in June 1972 at the Watergate building in Washington, DC, during a presidential election year. The Nixon Administration exerted great effort to conceal its involvement in the break-in. The United States Department of Justice and...
Read More »USD/CHF attracts some sellers below 0.8600 as geopolitical risks draw investors to safe-haven Swiss Franc
USD/CHF loses traction around 0.8590 in Thursday’s early European session, down 0.30% on the day. The US Fed is expected to cut rates more aggressively beginning in September. Strong safe-haven demand benefits the Swiss Franc against the Greenback. The USD/CHF pair drifts lower to near 0.8590 during the early European session on Thursday. The Swiss Franc (CHF) gains traction from the unwinding of carry trades and escalating geopolitical...
Read More »Explainer: how stock market plunges impact Switzerland
Could stock market jitters be a symptom of deeper problems? Keystone-SDA Listen to the article Listening the article Toggle language selector...
Read More »US Dollar set for second day of gains while volatility declines and market woes fade
The US Dollar recovers for a second day in a row this week. The BoJ dropped mixed messages on its monetary policy. The US Dollar index pops above 103.00 and rallies higher on Wednesday. The US Dollar (USD) recovers as all asset classes start to head back to more normal levels. Equities are behaving quite well and are stable, volatility is easing, and safe havens such as Japanese Yen (JPY) and Swiss Franc (CHF) are easing further against the...
Read More »America reaches a sad milestone
Last week the national debt reached 35 trillion dollars, a mere seven months after the debt reached 34 trillion dollars. To put this in perspective, the national debt first reached one trillion dollars in October of 1981, almost 200 years after the Constitution’s ratification!The fact that the government was adding one trillion dollars in debt in little over half a year was not deemed worthy of comment by President Biden, Vice President Harris, and most other US...
Read More »China’s competitiveness is driven by low taxation, not by industrial policy
The West is getting increasingly worried about China’s export prowess as its companies are rapidly gaining market shares in green and high-tech industries. Recently, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen accused China of industrial overcapacity and urged Europeans to respond jointly to the latter’s nonmarket practices. Allegedly, China is flooding international markets with cheap products of good quality primarily due to industrial subsidies. The U.S. and its allies...
Read More »Why not eliminate taxes on all income?
During a campaign stop in Nevada early last month, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump promised that if elected, there would be no more federal tax on tips.Said Trump: “For those hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy, because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips. You do a great job of service. You take care of people, and I think it’s going to be something that really is deserved.”According to the...
Read More »BOJ Offers Verbal Support, Extends the Yen’s Pullback
Overview: The calls earlier this week for an emergency rate cut seemed to be a call for the Fed put, which, we argue is misunderstood. It is not about the stock market per se but financial stability, which did not seem threatened in the US. Japan is a different story, and the Bank of Japan offered a verbal put today, with an indication that it wants to maintain low (accommodative) rates. The markets reacted accordingly. The yen was sold (and dragged down the Swiss...
Read More »Confidence Is The Underappreciated Economic Engine
Ask economists how they forecast economic activity. It’s likely they will mention productivity, demographics, debt, the Fed, interest rates, and a litany of other elements. Economic confidence is probably not at the top of the list for most economists. It is tricky to gauge as it can be inconsistent. However, confidence can sometimes change quickly and often with significant economic impacts. Look at the two pictures below. Can you spot a difference between...
Read More »Unelected technocrats are now the nation’s chief executives
What is the Mises Institute? The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order....
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