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October 2017 continues to show up as the most crucial month across a wide range of global economic data. In the mainstream telling, it should have been a very good thing, a hugely positive inflection. That was the time of true inflation hysteria around the globe, though it was always presented as a rationally-determined base case rather than the unsupported madness it really was. That was the month the real recovery was supposed to have started. Instead, we can...

Blockchain is tipped to bring efficiencies to the financial system – and beyond. (© Keystone / Ennio Leanza) Proposed updates to the banking, corporate and financial infrastructure laws to accommodate Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) have been broadly welcomed by Switzerland’s growing blockchain industry. Parliament is now set to debate the wide-ranging set of proposals presented by the governmentexternal link on Wednesday. The government’s intentions were first...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.21% to 1.1011 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, November 29(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Global equities are trading heavily. Both the MSCI Asia Pacific and the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 snapped four-day advancing streaks yesterday and have seen some follow-through selling today. In the Asia Pacific region, all the markets fell but Jakarta. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped a...

USD/CHF declines after registering a bearish candlestick formation the previous day. Buyers look for sustained trading beyond 1.0000 psychological magnet. 200-day SMA can please sellers during further downside. USD/CHF drops to 0.9985 during the early trading session on Friday. That said, the pair formed a bearish “Spinning Top” candlestick formation while taking a U-turn from 1.0000 round-figure. Considering the pair’s repeated failures to provide a sustained run-up...

. After an estimated 1.2% in 2019, we expect GDP growth of 1.0% in the euro area in 2020. Country wise, we expect more manufacturing-intense countries to underperform more domestically driven ones. Thus, we project weak growth of 0.7% in Germany and 0.4% in Italy in 2020, while we expect France and Spain to remain relatively resilient, growing by 1.2% and 1.7%, respectively. Domestic demand, particularly household consumption, is expected to remain the main growth...

© Viktoriia Novokhatska | Dreamstime.com At its meeting on 27 November 2019, the Federal Council set out its plan for the refund of value-added tax (VAT) on Switzerland’s radio and television licence, formerly known as Billag. Between 2010 and 2015, VAT was charged on Swiss television and radio licences. The Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s highest court, has stated in two judgments that no VAT may be levied on the licence and that the federal government must repay...

Industrial products, including cars, will be affected. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Import duties on various products including cars, clothes, and household appliances are set to be removed in Switzerland. If parliament approves the plan, the measure will enter into force in 2022. Finance Minister Guy Parmelin announced the plan on Wednesday after what the government described as a very positive consultation process with stakeholders. The removal of the duties on a...

It wasn’t just the unemployment rate which was one of the key reasons why Economists and central bankers (redundant) felt confident enough to inspire 2017’s inflation hysteria. There was actually another piece to it, a bigger piece potentially complimentary and corroborative bit of conjecture. I write “conjecture” because despite how all this is presented in the media there’s very little precision to any of it. In many ways, if you pay close enough attention you...

What causes the seemingly unfounded confidence in socialism we encounter more and more in the news media and among political activists? In the Extinction Rebellion movement, for example, activists are quite certain they have learned that there is an alternative to markets as the means to economic prosperity. It’s a means that does not involve meeting the legitimate needs of one’s fellow men in the marketplace. It is likely not a coincidence that most people living...

Blockchain promises to touch many parts of our lives, but how do we touch it? Blockchain: the very name fascinates and bamboozles in equal measure. Although businesses based around the technology are popping up all over Switzerland, many still wonder what exactly it does and how it can improve their lives. The potential possibilities are myriad, yet many still appear tantalisingly out of reach. After asking readers to pose their questions about blockchain, we’ve...