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© Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com Swiss healthcare is typically ranked the world’s second most expensive, as a percentage of GDP, after the US. In Switzerland, compulsory health insurance premiums cover 37% of healthcare costs. Much of the rest is covered by tax payers and non-reimbursable out-of-pocket payments by individuals. As part of a plan to reduce costs, this week, the health insurer Groupe Mutuel, launched a new lower cost plan which requires its clients to...

A Bloomberg article about the weekend G7 meeting says, “multilateralism is dead.”  An op-ed in the Financial Times suggests that the most important political alliance may be “rejuvenated” at the G7 meeting.  The truth is likely found somewhere in between.  Economic nationalism, personalities of (some) of the leaders are not conducive to deepening or broadening cooperation among the leading market economies.  At the same time, the G7 is an expression of...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.07% to 1.0887 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, August 23(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Powell speech at Jackson Hole stands before the weekend. Equities in Asia and Europe are finishing the week on a firm tone. Most markets in the Asia Pacific region closed higher today, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index snapped a four-week slide. European bourses are edging higher, and...

Some two million tonnes of food is thrown away every year in Switzerland. This year’s CHF200,000 ($204,000) J.E. Brandenberger Foundation prize has been awarded to Yvonne Kurzmeyer, founder of the charity organisation Schweizer Tafel. The organisation redistributes over 4,000 tonnes of food a year to underprivileged groups in Switzerland. Kurzmeyer was awarded the prize for her outstanding achievements in the redistribution of surplus resources to benefit those in...

Whatever the Fed chooses to do, it’s already failed.. Wile E. Coyote has gotten a bad rap: in all fairness, his schemes are ingenious, if overly complicated, and it’s not his fault that the Acme detonator misfires or the Road Runner doesn’t respond as predicted. Every set-up to nail the Road Runner should work. That it fails and leaves him suspended over the cliff for a woefully brief second to intuit his impending doom really isn’t his fault. Wile E. Coyote and the...

Donald Trump (Picture: Shutterstock) Die Deviseninterventionen der Schweizerischen Nationalbank sorgen für Spannungen. Die Schweiz läuft Gefahr, von den USA als Währungsmanipulatorin gebrandmarkt zu werden. (K)ein Grund zur Sorge? In den vergangenen Wochen hat die Schweizerische Nationalbank (SNB) wiederholt am Devisenmarkt interveniert, um den Franken davor zu bewahren, noch stärker gegen die wichtigsten Handelswährungen wie Euro und Dollar zu steigen. So weit sind...

FOMC minutes were not as dovish as many had hoped; bond and equity markets are set up for a big reset Today sees the start of the annual Fed symposium in Jackson Hole; the US reports a slew of data Markit flash eurozone August PMI readings were reported; ECB publishes the account of its July 25 meeting Japan-Korea relations continue to deteriorate  Indonesia delivered a dovish surprise; Mexico and Brazil report mid-August inflation data The dollar is broadly firmer...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.17% to 1.0905 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, August 22(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Soft data in Asia and the continued decline in the yuan (six days and counting) prevented Asian equities from following the US lead from yesterday when the S&P 500 advanced by 0.8%. European shares are paring yesterday’s 1.2% advance despite an unexpected gain in the EMU flash PMI....

Women in Switzerland earn about a fifth less than men, according to the Federal Equality Office. Large companies in Switzerland will have to analyse wages of men and women starting in 2020 and make the audited results available to staff in 2021. The Federal Council agreed on Wednesday that the equal pay revision to the Gender Equality Act, passed by parliament in December 2018, will come into force on July 1, 2020. Companies will have one year to publish a gender pay...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.27% to 1.0882 FX Rates The end of the US equity three-day advance yesterday weighed on Asia Pacific shares today.  Most benchmarks fell. Better than expected trade data helped Thailand buck the trend. A firmer tone emerged in the European morning, and the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 has recouped yesterday’s losses and more. It was led higher by consumer discretionary, energy, and industrials. US shares are also trading firmer today,...