One of the arrogances of “Western” nations is that our way of life and our liberties are protected by periodic elections as required by constitutions, written (America) or not (Great Britain), containing bills of rights, etc. The people rule, it is claimed, and we get exactly what we want, even if those in the minority are unhappy with the result. Minorities can always become tomorrow’s majority and institute alternative policies. Therefore, Western nations really...
Read More »Review: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Economics
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Economics by Thomas J. DiLorenzo Regnery Publishing, 2022; xx + 242 pp. Like Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard, Tom DiLorenzo is an economist with an extraordinary knowledge of history, and this shows to great advantage in his brilliant new book. In it, he stresses that economists who fail to grasp how the free market works often devise elaborate theories to show “market failures,” but when examined in the light of historical...
Read More »Swiss bank takes plunge into the metaverse
Sygnum bank is extending its reach into Web3 and decentralised services by launching in the Decentraland metaverse. Sygnum Swiss digital assets bank Sygnum will open a branch in the metaverse to reach more clients seeking blockchain-based financial services. Sygnum was one of two banks that were awarded licenses in 2019 to connect traditional finance with cryptocurrencies and the blockchain. Blockchain and other Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) databases provide a...
Read More »When markets forget that Central Banks cannot fix the world with interest rates
It would be easy for those who have decided to buy gold and silver bullion to lose heart over the precious metals, had they seen how prices reacted to Chairman Powell’s comments, last week. However, to do this would be very short-sighted. Whilst Powell may well have signaled that the Fed will stay on this path of tightening this does not mean that they have resolved the issue. Rather, it likely means that the Fed is reacting a little too hard, a little too late and...
Read More »Ethereum Classic Hashrate auf neuem Allzeithoch
Der Markt stagniert derzeit. Angeführt von Bitcoin kam es in den letzten 48 Stunden nur zu kleineren Kursbewegungen. Nun deutet sich aber bei einigen Altcoins eine Trendwende an. Besonders Ethereum Classic sticht hervor, mit einem neuen Allzeithoch bei der Hashrate. Ethereum News: Ethereum Classic Hashrate auf neuem AllzeithochMitte August erreichte der Kurs für den ETC ein Zwischenhoch mit 44,50 US-Dollar. Damit lag der Cryptocoin nur noch 10 Prozent unter seinem...
Read More »Fed Admits It CAN’T Tame Inflation, Promises More Economic Pain Anyway
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell is talking tough and warning of more interest rate pain to come. At the same time, Fed officials are now admitting that their sized-up rate hikes won’t even be sufficient to tame the price inflation they have helped create. That’s because fiscal policy under the Joe Biden administration has gone off the rails. Over the weekend, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released to the public a white paper titled “Inflation as a...
Read More »Why Not Just Abolish the IRS?
While some conservatives are criticizing President Biden for hiring 87,000 new well-armed IRS agents under the guise of fighting inflation, I’ve got a better idea: Let’s just abolish the IRS and, at the same time, end the federal income tax. The idea is actually not as radical as it sounds. It certainly wouldn’t have sounded radical to Americans who lived here in the United States from 1776 to 1913. For virtually that entire period of time, Americans lived without...
Read More »Electricity shortage boosts solar energy
Solar energy systems supplied 6.5% of the electricity required in Switzerland in the first half of 2022 © Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott Fears of an electricity shortage in Switzerland appear to have had a positive effect on the expansion of solar energy. The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) expects the market to grow by around 50% in 2022. New photovoltaic construction in Switzerland rose by 43% to 683 megawatts in 2021, revealed SFOE statistics on solar...
Read More »New York City Subways: The Woes of Socialist Enterprises
History matters, especially as the New York City today faces still another subway crisis. The New York subway system’s history illustrates the failures of state enterprise. The subways have been bad for so long that few know when the subways were “an engineering marvel.” That was when subway private management companies made money, about a century ago. Today there’s consensus the red-ink government subways are a nightmare. The state agency operating them has wasted...
Read More »Greetings from Switzerland
I’m back from Geneva where, among other things, I briefly visited the headquarter of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to express my appreciation for this organization. Check out my picture :-). In addition I enjoyed a conversation with Jose El Niño – you will find the podcast under the below link. Claudio Grass, Switzerland If you want to listen, please click on the following link to the podcast:...
Read More »