Tag Archives: Politics

The September 26 election was an extremely close race, with the eyes of the world fixed upon the country as it tried to find the successor of Angela Merkel, one the most influential and longest-serving leaders in Europe. But even after the results came in, the suspense was far from over. The two largest parties in the nation, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the center-right CDU/CSU are both scrambling to build a coalition government and they’re targeting the same smaller parties, the...

Part IV of IV by Claudio Grass The Nixon Shock: The way forward President Nixon’s unilateral decision to sever the last link between the dollar and gold had wide ranging and long lasting consequences for the global economy and for the entire monetary system. The end of sound money facilitated and accelerated the concentration of power at the top and the ability to manipulate the currency allowed politicians and central planners to further expand the state’s reach and...

Part IV of IV by Claudio Grass The Nixon Shock: The way forward President Nixon’s unilateral decision to sever the last link between the dollar and gold had wide ranging and long lasting consequences for the global economy and for the entire monetary system. The end of sound money facilitated and accelerated the concentration of power at the top and the ability to manipulate the currency allowed politicians and central planners to further expand the state’s reach and push ahead...

The Pandora Papers, a leak of more than 11.9 million files from offshore service providers, reveal the widespread involvement of Swiss advisory firms in the set up of shell companies in tax havens. © Martin Valigursky | Dreamstime.comThe recent Pandora Papers contain far more information than the Panama Papers, which were leaked in 2016 and resulted in the fall of prime ministers in Iceland and Pakistan. The Panama Papers came from a single source, the Panamanian law firm Mossack...

Part III of IV by Claudio Grass The Nixon Shock: Where we stand today A lot has been said and written about the inflationary effects that the closure of the gold window had on the real economy and on ordinary people’s lives. And rightfully so, as this has been among the most devastating consequences of the end of the gold standard and it affected countless workers and savers who have been seeing their incomes wither over time, thanks to the hidden tax of inflation. However,...

Parmelin struck a personal note in his speech at the UN in New York and mentioned his professional background as a wine-grower. 2021 Getty Images Guy Parmelin, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has called for solidarity to tackle global environmental and trade issues. Addressing the United Nations general assembly in New York, Parmelin said the Covid pandemic had entrenched protectionist policies and laid open the vulnerability of global production...

The decision by the House of Representatives is considered a political upset. Earlier this year, the house refused to restrict the powers of the government. © Keystone/Christian Beutler Campaigners seeking a ban on Swiss arms exports have withdrawn their initiative that aimed to stop weapons exports to countries in conflict. The broad allianceExternal link of political parties and non-governmental groups behind the proposal says it is pleased that parliament has...

The decision by the House of Representatives is considered a political upset. Earlier this year, the house refused to restrict the powers of the government. © Keystone/Christian Beutler Campaigners seeking a ban on Swiss arms exports have withdrawn their initiative that aimed to stop weapons exports to countries in conflict. The broad allianceExternal link of political parties and non-governmental groups behind the proposal says it is pleased that parliament has...

Part II of IV by Claudio Grass The lasting impact of the Nixon Shock The economic and monetary consequences of Nixon’s decision to end the convertibility of the US dollar to gold are as numerous as they are severe. It marked the start of five decades of monetary and fiscal insanity and it unleashed unprecedented borrowing and deficit spending sprees. Debt-fueled “growth” became the name of the game and currency manipulation came to define both political strategies and central...

Part I of IV by Claudio Grass What happened and why  This year marked the 50th anniversary of President Nixon’s decision to unilaterally close the “gold window”. The impact of this move can hardly be overstated. It triggered a tectonic shift of momentous consequences and it changed not just the global economy and the monetary realities, but it also shaped modern politics and severely affected our society at large. The Nixon Shock In July 1944, representatives from 44...