Tag Archives: Finance

Gold has been making headlines in recent days, as its price skyrocketed close to $1,700, a rise that most analysts have attributed to the spread of the coronavirus. The fears over its economic impact have sent global stock markets tumbling and, as is usually and reliably the case, panicked investors rushed to the safe haven of gold, en masse, cause a surge in demand. While the spike is indeed noteworthy and while it does, once again, confirm the fact that gold remains a dependable...

There is nothing new under the sun Modern Monetary Theory, or “MMT”, has been getting a lot of attention lately, often celebrated as a revolutionary breakthrough. However, there is absolutely nothing new about it. The very basis of the theory, the idea that governments can finance their expenditures themselves and therefore deficits don’t matter, actually goes back to the Polish Marxist economist, Michael Kalecki (1899 – 1970). MMT as a centralisation tool  MMT says...

There is nothing new under the sun Modern Monetary Theory, or “MMT”, has been getting a lot of attention lately, often celebrated as a revolutionary breakthrough. However, there is absolutely nothing new about it. The very basis of the theory, the idea that governments can finance their expenditures themselves and therefore deficits don’t matter, actually goes back to the Polish Marxist economist, Michael Kalecki (1899 – 1970).  MMT as a centralisation tool  MMT says that...

Fear vs Facts The coronavirus epidemic seemingly came out of nowhere in the beginning of the year and within a matter of days managed to wreak havoc with stock markets. As the days and weeks passed, and as the confirmed cases and the death toll rose, the media stoked fear and panic over worst-case scenarios. All kinds of “experts” and commentators put forward near-apocalyptic warnings and theories over a potential global pandemic that would trigger an economic recession. But how...

Interview with Ronald Stöferle – Part II Claudio Grass (CG): Looking at the interest rate policy of the last years, it would seem that central banks are backed into a corner. They cannot hike borrowing costs without risking a domino effect, as both government and corporate debt have reached record highs, encouraged by the central banks’ own NIRP and ZIRP policies. In your view, is there a “safe” way out of this vicious circle? Ronald-Peter Stöferle (RPS): Well, for...

Interview with Ronald Stöferle – Part II Claudio Grass (CG): Looking at the interest rate policy of the last years, it would seem that central banks are backed into a corner. They cannot hike borrowing costs without risking a domino effect, as both government and corporate debt have reached record highs, encouraged by the central banks’ own NIRP and ZIRP policies. In your view, is there a “safe” way out of this vicious circle? Ronald-Peter Stöferle (RPS): Well, for us at...

Interview with Ronald Stöferle – Part I As we embark on this new decade, there are plenty of good reasons to be optimistic about gold’s prospects. The global economy and the financial system are already stretched to a breaking point and demand for precious metals is heating up. This, of course, is plain for all to see, even as mainstream investors and analysts still refuse to face facts and prefer to focus on naïve hopes of an eternal expansion. These facts, however,...

Interview with Ronald Stöferle – Part I As we embark on this new decade, there are plenty of good reasons to be optimistic about gold’s prospects. The global economy and the financial system are already stretched to a breaking point and demand for precious metals is heating up. This, of course, is plain for all to see, even as mainstream investors and analysts still refuse to face facts and prefer to focus on naïve hopes of an eternal expansion. These facts, however, remain, and...

In einem Beitrag auf LinkedIn am 29. Dezember 2019 wirft Prof. Erwin Heri von der Universität Basel in die Runde, dass negative (Real-)Zinsen möglicherweise vernünftig sind. Sie wären das natürliche Ergebnis der Präferenzen der Wirtschaftssubjekte – und nicht primär das Ergebnis einer Manipulation von Zentralbanken. Als Indizien werden angeführt: die über Jahrhunderte stetig sinkende Tendez der Realzinsen die Demographie der materielle Wohlstand Aus folgenden...

In Foreign Affairs, Paul Romer criticizes “pretend economists” who pretend that economics—and they themselves—can answer normative questions on scientific grounds. He argues that “pretend economists” open the field to corruption. The alternative is to make honesty and humility prerequisites for membership in the community of economists. The easy part is to challenge the pretenders. The hard part is to say no when government officials look to economists for an answer to a normative...