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The seeds of sound-money destruction were sown at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, which established that US dollars could be held as central bank reserves and were redeemable for gold by the US Treasury at thirty-five dollars an ounce. This was the so-called gold exchange standard, but only foreign central banks and some multinational organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), enjoyed this right of redemption. The system depended upon the solemn...

EUROPEAN BANKS’ fourth-quarter earnings, releases of which are clustered around early February, have been surprisingly perky. Those with trading arms, such as UBS or BNP Paribas, rode on buoyant markets. State support helped contain bad loans; few banks needed to top up provisions. Markets should keep them busy and, as the economy recovers, loan volumes should rise. Many banks plan to resume dividends this year. Yet the chronic illness that has dogged the industry...

After decades of financialization and government favors, Wall Street now has little to do with free, functioning markets anymore and has largely become an adjunct of the central bank. Today, entrepreneurship is out, and bailouts are in. Be sure to follow Radio Rothbard at Mises.org/RadioRothbard. You Might Also Like Politics and Ideas 2021-02-09 In the Age of Enlightenment, in the years in...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.06% to 1.0801 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 12(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Profit-taking weighs on equity markets, and the dollar is trading higher ahead of the weekend. Most Asia Pacific markets are still closed for the holiday, but Victoria’s snap lockdown dragged Australian shares lower. Japan and Indian markets were narrowly mixed, but the selling...

Die Einlassungen der EU-Kommission zur wachsenden Kritik an ihrer Impfstoffbeschaffung und -verteilung nehmen skurile Züge an. Natürlich verteidigen nicht nur die zuständige Gesundheitskommissarin und die Präsidentin der EU-Kommission, Dr med. von der Leyen, die bisherige Einkaufs- und Verteilungsperformance. Auch die Chefunterhändlerin der Kommission lässt sich öffentlich zu der geharnischten Kritik ein und beharrt auf der Geheimhaltung der Vertragsbedingungen....

More people opted for a car over public transport last year. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally A third of Swiss people chose not to travel on holiday last year as the coronavirus pandemic gripped the world, according to automobile association Touring Club Switzerland (TCS). Of those people who continued to commute to work, a greater proportion opted to get to the office under their own steam rather than take public transport. These are the findings of a TCS survey of 1,297...

Why would anyone sell when further gains are guaranteed? Because the gains are unreal but the losses are real. When markets are soaring and your portfolio is rocketing higher, the gains seem unreal. Did I really make that much in one day, week, month? Wow! With the gains higher every time you look, it would be foolish to sell because look at the flood of media reports on “the Roaring 20s” that are predicted with such certitude that it’s essentially guaranteed, the...

Among the hotly contested list of Joe Biden’s promises is an increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. There are plenty of sound reasons to oppose government minimum wage laws, but there is one objection making the rounds that is based on bad economics and should be avoided, and that’s the “businesses will pass on the costs to consumers” objection. For instance, a now deleted tweet by someone claiming that a $15 minimum hourly wage will cause Taco Bell...

Statistics published at the end of January 2021 show a fall in the percentage of the population included in the definition of middle class in Switzerland. © Rawpixelimages | Dreamstime.com Middle class includes everyone belonging to a household with a gross income of between 70% and 150% of the median, according to a definition by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office. In 2018, single-person households with gross monthly incomes of between CHF 4,094 and CHF 8,773...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.16% to 1.080 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, February 11(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The S&P 500 and NASDAQ were unable to sustain the gap higher opening to new record levels and reversed lower and fell to new three-lows. The settlements were just inside Tuesday ranges, though the Dow Industrials set a record close. Yet, there was spillover to equity trading in...