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Switzerland invests heavily in public education in terms of spending per student and as a share of public expenditure. (Keystone) Swiss teachers are still working too much unpaid overtime, particularly in German-speaking Switzerland, according to a new survey by two major teachers’ associations. “Swiss teachers have the highest number of working hours of all OECDexternal link countries and work unpaid overtime for...

It was a startling statement for the time. Mario Draghi had only been on the job as President of the European Central Bank for a few months by then, taking over for the hapless Jean Claude-Trichet who was unceremoniously retired at the end of October 2011 amidst “unexpected” chaos and turmoil. It was Trichet who contributed much to the tumult, having idiotically raised rates (twice) during 2011 even as warning signs of...

Unemployment Rate (not seasonally adjusted) Registered Unemployment in April 2019 – According to surveys by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), at the end of April 2019, 107,298 unemployed persons were registered at the regional employment agencies (RAV), 5,043 fewer than in the previous month. The unemployment rate fell from 2.5% in March 2019 to 2.4% in the month under review. Compared to the same...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.06% at 1.14 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 08(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: It is taking investors a bit more than two sessions to find its footing after being the unexpected end of the tariff truce between the US and China struck last December. Asia Pacific equities tumbled after the S&P 500 shed nearly 1.7%...

Yesterday the PM’s deputy David Liddington confirmed that the UK will be taking part in European elections, therefore in my view the cross-party talks between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are over. If the Prime Minister thought that they would be able to come to an agreement in the upcoming days Mr Liddington would not have made the announcement yesterday. Over the last 24 hours the pound has lost some value against...

Opponents of restrictions on gun ownership in Switzerland have not been able to win substantial additional support over the past months, according to an opinion poll ahead of a nationwide vote on May 19. The No camp lags more than 30 percentage points behind the supporters, a survey published by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday as found. The planned corporate tax reform is aimed at putting Swiss...

While Trump’s weekend tweets have created fresh uncertainties around US trade talks with China, some perspective is needed. At the weekend, US President Trump threatened to increase the tariff rate on Chinese imports as he believes that US-China trade negotiations are going “too slowly”. Importantly, Trump’s threats do not mean bilateral talks are breaking down. Indeed, the Chinese government confirmed today that its...

Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.18% at 1.1415 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, May 07(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: News that the US tariff escalation did not scupper trade talks with China has helped the global capital markets stabilize today. China’s Vice Premier Liu He is still leading a delegation to the US. Most Asian equities recouped part of...

There are many historical models in which the spending/investing of wealthy families drives the expansion of local economies. The increase in farm debt while farm income declines is putting unbearable financial pressure on American farmers, who must be differentiated from giant agri-business corporations. This is placing immense pressure on farmers, pressure which manifests in rising suicide rates. If this isn’t the...

Over the past several weeks, we have debunked the idea that purchasing power—i.e. what a dollar can buy—is intrinsic to the currency itself. We have discussed a large non-monetary force that drives up prices. Governments at every level force producers to add useless ingredients, via regulation, taxation, labor law, environmentalism, etc. These are ingredients that the consumer does not value, and often does not even...