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The notion that consequence can be as easily managed as PR is the ultimate artifice and the ultimate delusion. The consequences of the drip-drip-drip of moral decay is difficult to discern in day-to-day life. It’s easy to dismiss the ubiquity of artifice, PR, spin, corruption, racketeering, fraud, collusion and narrative manipulation (a.k.a. propaganda) as nothing more than human nature, but this dismissal of moral decay is nothing more than rationalizing the rot to...

Idyllic: Crans-Montana Keystone / Laurent Gillieron During the pandemic, some skiers have been doing just that. But does the romantic vision tally with the reality? It was in May, while hiking along the forest trails and waterfalls of La Tièche, with views towards the snow-dusted peaks of the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc, that fitness coach Jessica Z Christensen decided to spend more time in the Swiss mountains. After a decade of being a digital nomad, the Italian and...

The annoyance of government edicts, no matter how petty, challenge my emotional equilibrium in a manner different from the various vagaries of life. Sure, I do not want to experience something such as a flat tire, but neither do I want to deal with pointless tasks required to satisfy a whim of the state, though, in the balance, the former I accept like a mosquito on a hot summer’s night, while the latter aches like a hammer to my thumb. Robert Higgs wrote Crisis and...

Many economic commentators are in favor of phasing out cash. They are of the view that cash provides support to the shadow economy and permits tax evasion. It is also held that in times of economic shocks that push the economy into a recession the rising demand for cash exacerbates the downturn—it becomes a factor of instability. Rather than spend money and boost aggregate demand, the increased demand for cash works against this. Consequently, it is argued that...

If the Fed set out to destroy the financial system, they’re very close to finishing the job. If you set out to destroy markets and the financial system, your most important weapon is moral hazard, the disconnection of risk and consequence. You disconnect risk from consequence by rewarding those making the riskiest bets and bailing out gamblers whose bets went bad. You reward those making the riskiest bets by pushing markets higher regardless of any other factors....

Abstract:  Economics has long history of “rehabilitations,” including W.H. Hutt’s rehabilitation of Say’s law, and Alfred Marshall’s attempt to rehabilitate David Ricardo. The rehabilitation of Frank A. Fetter should be as important as either of these, especially for economists working in the contemporary Austrian tradition. The historical records reveal that for the last century there has been underway a nearly unbroken series of efforts, especially by Austrian...

Die Social Media Plattform Twitter hat ihr Bitcoin Projekt ausgeweitet. Bisher war das sogenannte Bitcoin Lightning Tips Feature nur über iOS verfügbar – es wurde vor wenigen Monaten gelaunched. Doch nun wurde es auch für Android freigeschaltet. Bitcoin News: Bitcoin Lightning Tips auf Twitter jetzt auch für Android verfügbar Das Feature nutzt Jack Maller’s Strike Lightning Wallet auf der Social Media Plattform seit September 2021. Doch Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gilt...

Futuristic architecture sketches from Pascal Häusermann, 1970. Competition in Cannes, private urban atmosphere. Collection Frac Centre-Val de Loire / Donation Pascal Häusermann Swiss architects were swept up in the movement to build bubble houses out of concrete and plastic in the 1960s. While the bubble movement burst decades ago, many of the original structures are still standing to this day. Need more space? Why not just build an extra room on the side of your...

© Skovalsky | Dreamstime.com On 19 November 2021, the Euro went below 1.05 Swiss francs, the lowest it has been since July 2015. The Swiss franc is viewed as a safe haven currency and tends to rise when markets are bearish. However, this week the shift in exchange rate may have had more to do with the situation in Euro zone than a shift to safety. The Euro has recently weakened against a number of currencies including the Yen, US dollar and Pound. Currency traders...

Strong US consumption and production figures kept the greenback well supported last week on the heels of the jump in CPI to 6.2%.  Meanwhile, the surge of Covid cases in Europe underscores the divergences with the US, sending the euro to new lows for the year.  At the same time, oil prices headed south for the fourth consecutive week, matching the longest decline in more than two years.  It did not favor the Norwegian krone, the weakest of the majors, with a 2.15%...