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How unintended can these consequences be? My guess: not very. A great many people got the U.S. dollar trade wrong. The conventional view held that “printing money”, i.e. expanding the supply of money, would automatically devalue the currency. It isn’t quite so simple, it seems. It depends on where the newly issued money ends up, whether the economy is expanding along with the money supply, the relative perception of the currency’s stability / safety, the returns...

Nearly a year ago, former New York Times Journalist Alex Berenson was permanently banned from Twitter for writing the following lines about the Covid shot: “It doesn’t stop infection. Or transmission. Don’t think of it as a vaccine. Think of it—at best—as a therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS. And we want to mandate it? Insanity.” From the beginning of the Covid hysteria, we followed...

The spectre of a shortage of gas supplies in western Europe has dampened the economic outlook for Switzerland. Keystone/Stefan Sauer The BAK Economics market research institute has confirmed its forecast for the Swiss economy this year, but it is more pessimistic about 2023. The Basel-based institute said it expected growth of Switzerland’s gross domestic product of 2.5% in 2022, as the economy coped well with a series of challenges. However, the BAK experts have...

The pursuit of decentralised digital systems continues despite a period of intense turbulence in the cryptocurrency markets. Keystone/ Valentin Flauraud The price of bitcoin has plummeted to a third of its peak value, an experimental cryptocurrency called Terra has crashed in spectacular fashion and several crypto companies have shed jobs or are faced with bankruptcy. Where does this leave the growing blockchain industry in Switzerland? “The market crash is going to...

Der Markt befindet sich derzeit in einer Bärenphase. Auch wenn sich der BTC-Kurs inzwischen bei ungefähr 20K US-Dollar stabilisiert hat, gibt es allgemein viel Pessimismus im Cryptomarkt. Doch hier ist jemand, der mit einer positiven Prognose der derzeitigen Stimmung trotzt. Bitcoin News: Allzeithoch für Bitcoin innerhalb der nächsten 24 Monate prognostiziertIn der Spitze verlor der BTC 70 Prozent seit seinem Höchststand im November des Jahres 2021. Die Stimmung im...

Overview: The US dollar is consolidating with a slight downside bias ahead of the June CPI report. The euro held above $1.00 but is still pinned in the trough. The rate hike by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand failed to have much impact. On the other hand, the JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is lower for the fourth consecutive session. Most of the large markets in the Asia Pacific region rose, led by a 2.7% rally in Taiwan after the government promised to...

If running a fintech start-up isn’t hard enough, then try pivoting to healthtech in mid-stride. The transition from digital payments to Covid diagnostics has proven a bumpy ride for Achiko, resulting in its shares being suspended from trading on the Swiss stock exchange. SIX Group, which runs the stock exchange, was forced to act on June 28 when auditor Grant Thornton raised doubtsExternal link about whether the indebted Zurich-based company could be assumed a going...

Berset, who is known for his elegant dressing style, has had a pilot licence for private aircraft for more than ten years. © Ti-press The Swiss interior minister, Alain Berset, on a private flight in neighbouring France has been forced to land by the French air force. A ministry spokesman said Berset misinterpreted information from the French air traffic control tower prompting an intervention by the French air force last week. Berset was able to continue his flight...

Is it beyond conception that the core actually strengthens for a length of time before the unraveling reaches it? Let’s start by stipulating the obvious: no one knows the future, and most of the guesses–oops, I mean forecasts–will be wrong. Arguing about the forecasts now won’t make any difference as to which ones are correct and which ones are wrong. Time alone will tell. That said, here’s a scenario that fits the dynamics I see as most consequential: Core-Periphery...

In his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Robert Nozick has a chapter named “The Tale of the Slave” in which he explains the nine phases from the most restrictive to more liberating states of slavery. He writes that even though enslaved people have certain forms of self-rule, they are still enslaved. He asks: “Which transition from case 1 to case 9 made it no longer the tale of a slave?” Nozick’s question highlights that there is no difference between people under...