Tag Archives: Politics

Part II of II The big shift  Of course, this is the Left, but also the Right, of the good old days. The days of gentlemanly conduct and of real sportsmanship during a debate. These were the days when cultivated, curious and humble people argued passionately, but honourably. These were the days of decency, of common courtesy and civility.  But also these were the days of ideological integrity and consistency. For example, the arguments and the...

Part I of II Those of us who have read and studied political history, who have closely observed its evolution and especially those who have taken note of all the tactics and ploys used over the last couple of decades, will surely not be surprised by any of the findings and ideas I’ll outline in the following analysis. I would still encourage the reader to read on, though. Because for the majority of citizens, taxpayers, savers and investors, this all might still be “breaking...

Threats to freedom of speech and efforts to suppress dissenting views and voices have been on the rise over the past decades. They were exponentially intensified since the ascent of social media and as the political polarisation in the West truly took hold of our societies, the powers that be have been using any and all toolsat their disposal to “defend” the interests of the establishment against those who might try to publicly question its policies (or even worse, its purpose)....

Threats to freedom of speech and efforts to suppress dissenting views and voices have been on the rise over the past decades. They were exponentially intensified since the ascent of social media and as the political polarisation in the West truly took hold of our societies, the powers that be have been using any and all toolsat their disposal to “defend” the interests of the establishment against those who might try to publicly question its policies (or even...

Part II of II If this kind of theoretical reasoning seems too abstract, let us think about it more practically: Any public servant, any member of government, and even the leader of a nation, has very different motivations than any private sector decision-maker. Their financial compensation is a given and their time preference is dictated by their job description.  The company owner on the other hand has no such guarantees regarding their livelihoods. Everything depends on how...

Part I of II For decades already, one of the most popular and commonly employed attacks of Keynesians and other left-leaning economists was the one against the idea of “trickle down economics”. They ridiculed the notion that a rising tide lifts all boats or plainly put, the obvious fact that when job creators thrive, so do the people that hold those jobs and sustain themselves and their families thanks to them.  The main objection to this idea is that such a “trickle down”...

Part II of II A good start Whatever one might think about which currency is better suited to be used in trade or as a benchmark or as a central bank reserve, the fact remains that the USD’s days as the “only right answer” to that question are numbered. It might not happen tomorrow, but a credible challenger will eventually emerge.  As Patrick Barron also highlighted in his analysis: “Led by China and later by Russia, some nations of the world, not wholly within the US orbit,...

Part I of II Endless ink has been spilled by economists and financial analysts in their efforts to predict the impact of de-dollarization. As might be expected, most of those who embrace a US-centric view of the world and who defend the status quo paint a gloomy picture. They warn of the nightmarish consequences of a Russia- and China-dominated world order, of the threats to freedom and to human rights that this could pose and of a potential breakdown in global trade, due to lack...

In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of Max Beeler, a man who claimed there was gender discrimination regarding pension payments to widows and widowers in Switzerland. This week, the government formalised changes removing the inequality of treatment of bereaved men and women. Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.comCurrently, women receive a widower’s pension for life on the passing of their husband, while men get one only until their children reach the age of 18....

On 28 June 2023, Switzerland’s Federal Council approved a budget for 2024 with a deficit of CHF 6.7 billion. © Guenter Purin | Dreamstime.comSwitzerland’s constitution includes a section designed to constrain spending to prevent the government from living beyond its means. The debt brake, as it is known, allows a limited degree of annual overspending that is expected to be covered by future surpluses. However, there is a wrinkle. The debt brake refers to ordinary expenditure, which...