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The 2020 recession, which many countries are still going through, now has an “official” name: the Great Lockdown. In economic terms, the public sector’s response in practically all countries has been very swift and bold (which is not necessarily a good thing).1 This has caused the global public debt to skyrocket as never before. As a result, now more than ever, it is necessary to emphasize the dangers of public debt. In this article, we will highlight the contrasts...

The Fed sees itself as trapped by the incompetence and greed of the other players and by its own policy extremes that were little more than expedient “saves” of a system that is unraveling due to its fragility and brittleness. There are two standard-issue narratives about the Federal Reserve’s agenda: the Fed’s official narrative is that the Fed’s mandate is to keep inflation under control while promoting full employment. The unofficial mandate that’s obvious to...

FX Rates Overview: The US dollar is firmer in the European morning after starting out with a softer bias in Asia Pacific turnover. The dollar-bloc currencies, sterling, and the Swiss franc are heavy, but ranges are narrow, and consolidation seems to be the flavor of the day. Central and Eastern European currencies are faring best among emerging markets, but the JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is little changed. Benchmark 10-year yields are also hovering...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.18% to 1.0981 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 20(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: US equity indices finished lower, but the real story was their recovery. Asia Pacific equities were mixed, with Australia’s 1.5% rally leading the recovery in some markets, including Tokyo and Singapore.  Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is up a little more than 0.5% near mid-session, led...

Authored by Egon von Greyerz via GoldSwitzerland.com, “Everything is on fire” – Heraclitus (535-475 BC) What Heraclitus meant was that the world is in a constant state of flux. But the big problem in the next few years is that the world will experience a fire of a magnitude never seen before in history. I have in many articles and interviews pointed out how predictable events are (and people). This is particularly true in the world economy. Empires come and go,...

Pension schemes are as diverse as the cultures of the countries whose working population they insure. Nevertheless, they all aim to guarantee a certain level of income in retirement. The UBS International Pension Gap Index, first released in 2017, analyses the sustainability and adequacy of the pension promises across 24 jurisdictions. This is done on the basis of the private savings rate required by an average person of 50 today to maintain their standard of living...

The social distancing measures introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has forced many people to work from home and accelerated the trend of remote working. Eurostat have released some interesting new data showing the share of employed people aged between 15 and 64 in Europe who usually do home office. As Statista’s Miall McCarthy notes, over the past decade, that has been hovering at around five percent and the pandemic has seen it rise to 12.3 percent....

A Covid credit programme has helped boost the reputation of Swiss banks, despite some of them being the target of climate protests. © Keystone / Christian Beutler Swiss people’s trust in their country’s banks is at its highest in 20 years, boosted by Covid credits and a commitment to sustainability, according to a new survey. People from almost all political camps have a positive perception, with 75% describing their attitude towards Swiss banks as positive or very...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.27% to 1.0999 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 19(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: A setback in commodities and technology are roiling equity markets today. The inability of US equities to sustain yesterday’s rally provided an initial headwind to trading in the Asia Pacific region today. Hong Kong and South Korea markets were closed for holidays, but most of the...

Authored by Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Bias vs. Logic We’ve written elsewhere about the ironic over-use of logic to justify otherwise illogical biases. As Swiss-based precious metals professionals who see physical gold and silver as currency protection outside of an openly illogical (and dangerously fractured) banking system, it is more than fair for some to challenge our own “logic” (bias?) when it comes to precious metal ownership. We understand...