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The Department of Labor attached a technical note to its weekly report on unemployment claims. The state of California has announced that it is suspending the processing of initial claims filed by (former) workers in that state. Government officials have decided to pause their efforts for two weeks so as to try and sort out what “might” be widespread fraud. The state is also using this time to get after a substantial backlog of previous initial claims yet to be...

In the first presidential “debate” (I use that word creatively), Joe Biden hinted that he would order a national lockdown in order to “defeat” the covid-19 virus, and there certainly seems to be a consensus in the media and among political elites that if there is another “outbreak” of covid, then the “shelter in place” order will be the law of the land. Many businesses certainly are making plans for such an order, this time not wanting to be caught unprepared as they...

That’s a question USA Today posed to three “policy experts on the left and the right” in this recent article. The responses, while unsurprising, were nevertheless disappointing. For libertarians, economic inequality itself is not problematic, as long as it is in the context of an unfettered market economy free of government privileges and interference. Of course, that’s not what we have. But instead of advocating for a more free economy to address inequality, the...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.10% to 1.0768 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, October 09(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The on-again-off-again fiscal stimulus in the US is back on as the White House now supports a broad stimulus program, but not as big as the Democrats $2.2 trillion package. It is the narrative being cited as the rebuilding of risk appetites is the wobble earlier in the week. Chinese...

Seven central banks and the BIS release a report assessing the feasibility of publicly available CBDCs in helping central banks deliver their public policy objectives. Report outlines foundational principles and core features of a CBDC, but does not give an opinion on whether to issue. Central banks to continue investigating CBDC feasibility without committing to issuance. A group of seven central banks together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today...

© Kaspars Grinvalds | Dreamstime.com At the end of 2018, there were 23,000 doctors in Switzerland, according to a recently published study. Overall, 41% of these doctors were women. Among doctors aged 60-64, the percentage was 28%. However, 62% of doctors under 40 were women, a figure which partly reflects the higher numbers of women graduating from Swiss universities. In 2019, significantly more women than men were university graduates in the youngest age band in...

Governments that redistribute wealth and regulate our daily lives are inherently corrupt. We cheapen the word “corruption” when we reserve it for just a few politicians who break the arbitrary rules. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Millian Quinteros. Original Article: “Most Everything Governments Do Should Be Regarded as ‘Corrupt’“. You Might Also Like The...

The status quo is about to discover that it can’t stop the hard rain or protect its fragile sandcastles. You’ll recognize A Hard Rain Is Going to Fall as a cleaned-up rendition of Bob Dylan’s classic “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”. Since the world had just avoided a nuclear conflict in the Cuban Missile Crisis, commentators reckoned Dylan was referencing a nuclear rain. But he denied this connection in a radio interview, stating: “…it’s just a hard rain. It isn’t the...

The US Vice Presidential debate was a comparatively cordial affair, though the impact on the election is likely to be limited; polls continue to move in favor of Biden, including in swing states The weak dollar narrative under a Democratic sweep continues to play out; the outlook for fiscal stimulus is as cloudy as ever; FOMC minutes contained no big surprises Weekly jobless claims will be reported; like last week, there will be a quirk to this week’s initial claims;...

The wealth gap between white and black Americans is frequently discussed. Today it’s becoming popular to attribute disparities to black culture. Clearly all cultures are not equal, but can the subculture of some black American communities explain variations within the wealth gap? For instance, fifty people in an inner-city neighborhood may engage in maladaptive activities; however, their actions are atypical of the broader black community. Discussing this issue is...