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There are now around 4.6 million cars in Switzerland, almost 50% more than in 1990. © Keystone / Michael Buholzer Switzerland’s emissions have declined over the last 30 years, but not enough to meet the national targets set for 2020. What’s behind the gap? By 2020, greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland should be down by 20% from what they were in 1990. That’s the target outlined in the federal CO2 law. While figures are only available until 2018, the federal...

Die SNB, die EZB und andere Zentralbanken erwarten auch langfristig keine Zinswende – und machen Nullzinsen zur Regel. Eine Übersicht der Prognosen. Hält sich die Option offen, die Leitzinsen noch tiefer ins Minus zu senken: Die EZB in Frankfurt. Foto: Keystone Diese Woche ist die Welt einer Zukunft ohne positive Zinssätze ein Stückchen näher gerückt. Schwedens Notenbank erneuerte ihren Zinspfad. Erstmals geht sie davon aus, dass sie den Leitzins mindestens bis...

© | Dreamstime.com The coronavirus is set to knock a CHF 1 billion hole in Switzerland’s federal budget for 2021, according to a press release. Without the virus the budget was CHF 2.2 billion in the black. Post virus the budget is now CHF 1 billion in the red. The virus is expected to add CHF 2.0 billion to next years spending. The extra money is earmarked for SARS-CoV-2 tests, business loan guarantees and support to the sports sector. The Federal Council is...

Re-shutdowns continue to spread across the US; the dollar has come under pressure again Jobs data is the highlight ahead of the long holiday weekend in the US; weekly jobless claims will be reported FOMC minutes were revelatory; the Fed for now will rely on “outcome-based” forward guidance and asset purchases to achieve its goals; US House passed the latest China sanctions bill The UK offered a home to nearly 3 mln Hong Kong citizens; Russia President Putin will...

Understandably enough, the current disfavor into which socialism has fallen has spurred what Raimondo Cubeddu (1997: 138) refers to as “the frenzy to proclaim oneself a liberal.” Many writers today have recourse to the stratagem of “inventing for oneself a ‘liberalism’ according to one’s own tastes” and passing it off as an “evolution” from past ideas. “The superabundance of liberalisms,” Cubeddu warns, “like that of money, ends up by debasing everything and emptying...

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links) It is time for another monthly update! June 2020 flew by us! Like last month, we had to pay a ton of taxes. I did not pay enough taxes last year, so this year is very high. Fortunately, we had less to pay this month than in May. So, we still managed to save a little amount of money. It is better than last month, where our savings rate was zero. Except for the taxes, this month was relatively uneventful....

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.03% to 1.0636 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, July 2(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Market optimism over the possibility of a vaccine in early 2021 overshadowed the continued surge in US cases, where the 50k-a-day threshold of new cases has been breached. Following the NASDAQ close yesterday at record highs, global equities have advanced. Led by Hong Kong returning from...

© Andres Jacobi | Dreamstime.com On 1 July 2020, Switzerland’s federal government announced that it would become compulsory to wear masks on public transport from 6 July 2020. Due to the the growing number of people using public transport and a rise in the number of people testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 since mid-June, the Federal Council has decided to make it compulsory for those taking public transport to wear a mask. 137 new SARS-CoV-2 infections were reported...

Since April, over 190,000 companies have applied for short-time compensation for nearly two million employees – around 36% of the workforce in Switzerland. Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller The Federal Council is extending short-term unemployment benefits by another six months and plans to help cushion financial losses faced by public transport. On Wednesday, the government announced that it is extending the maximum period for receiving partial unemployment support from 12...

Just as the rewards of central-bank bubbles have not been evenly distributed, the pain created by the collapse of the bubbles won’t be evenly distributed, either. We’ve reached an interesting juncture in history, and I don’t mean the pandemic. I’m referring to the normalization of extremes in the economy, in social decay and in political dysfunction and polarization. Let’s ask a very simple question. The S&P 500 stock index went up five-fold from its 2009 low...