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16.02.2021 – The Swiss residential property price index (IMPI) increased in the 4th quarter 2020 compared with the previous quarter by 2.3% and reached 103.1 points (4th quarter 2019 = 100). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, inflation was 3.1%. The average annual inflation rate for residential property in 2020 was 2.5%. These are some the results from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The average annual inflation rate of the IMPI for 2020 of...

The Left long ago figured out how to get ordinary people interested in economic policy. The strategy is two pronged. The first part is to frame the problem as a moral problem. The second part is to make the fight over economic policy into a fight over something much bigger than economics: it’s a fight between views of what it means to be a good person. The Left knows how to make the war over economics into a war over culture. Yet when it comes to economic policy,...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.07% to 1.0792 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 15(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: US and Greater Chinese markets are closed today, but the markets are moving. Equities are bid. The Nikkei led the Asia Pacific region with a 2% gain and pushed above 30000 for the first time since 1990. Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.5%, and Australia’s ASX tacked on 1%. The Dow Jones...

It is only through the increase in capital goods, i.e., through the enhancement and the expansion of the infrastructure, that labor can become more productive and earn a higher hourly wage. Original Article: “Understanding Minimum Wage Mandates: Empirical Studies Aren’t Enough” This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack. President Joe Biden has promised to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour. Some...

View of the Europaalle urban development in Zurich on April 12, 2019. © Keystone / Christian Beutler The share of foreign investment in Swiss commercial real estate fell from 15% before 2011 to 5% between 2017 and 2019, according to new research. The issue of foreigners buying cheap Swiss property during the Covid-19 pandemic is being discussed in Bern. Foreign investment in commercial buildings in Switzerland reached CHF750 million ($841 million) a year, or an...

AUSSERFERN (rei). Wer glaubte, dass mit den Lockerungen in Österreich das Leben in Zeiten der Pandemie einfacher wird, musste in den vergangenen Tagen miterleben, dass das Gegenteil der Fall ist. Jedenfalls in Tirol. Das Land ist abgeschottet, bzw. eingeriegelt. Das Außerfern als Grenzbezirk ist besonders betroffen. Glaube Sie, dass sich die Situation rund um die Coronamaßnahmen rasch ändern wird? Wer innerösterreichisch nach Vorarlberg oder Salzburg ausreisen will,...

by Daniel Mitchell While I freely self-identify as a libertarian, I don’t think of myself as a philosophical ideologue. Instead, I’m someone who likes digging into data to determine the impact of government policy. US Consumer Goods and Services, Wages Price Change, 2000 - 2020 - Click to enlarge And because I’ve repeatedly noticed that more government almost always leads to worse outcomes, I’ve become a practical ideologue. In other words,...

[Chapter 2 of Rothbard’s newly edited and released Conceived in Liberty, vol. 5, The New Republic: 1784–1791.] It has been alleged—from that day to this—that the depression which hit the United States, especially the commercial cities, was caused by “excessive” imports by Americans beginning in 1783. But this kind of pseudo-explanation merely betrays ignorance of economics: a boom in imports reflects voluntary choices and economic improvement by consumers, and this...

Shoppers most often chose traditional retailers such as Migros and Coop over discounters and specialty shops for their groceries. Keystone / Laurent Gillieron Consumers spent 11.3% more on food and beverages in brick-and-mortar shops last year than they did in 2019, helping the food retail trade to pull in a record turnover of nearly CHF30 billion ($33.7 billion). In total, the average household spent CHF7,680 on comestibles, according to figures released on Thursday...

The LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) annual forecast survey published last week shows that forecasters expect the average gold price to rise 11.5% in 2021 to US$1973.8 (forecasters’ average) from the actual average gold price in 2020 of US$1769.6, and for the silver price to rise 38.7% in 2021 to US$28.50 from the actual annual average of US$20.55 in 2020. These expected averages show silver might gain three times more percentage than that of gold in 2021....