Tag Archives: Politics

In previous articles, we have outlined in great detail the many faults of the current monetary policy direction of major central banks and the large-scale economic impact of keeping interest rates artificially low. Among the worst offenders is the ECB, that is unapologetically persistent on continuing this exercise in absurdity that are negative interest rates. Over the last few years, the effects of this decision have...

Economic, social and human cost Beyond privacy, there is also widespread concern over the economic impact of a fully cashless system. For one thing, as citizens slowly become exclusively dependent on big banks and card companies the systemic risk to the wider economy spikes. But it goes further than that too. Without the option to keep some cash outside the banking system and retain some degree of financial flexibility, banks have the potential to essentially keep their clients hostage....

Much has been said and written over the last years on the topic of the gradual elimination of cash that we witness in our economic activity and everyday transactions. The massive and widespread political campaigns and practical measures geared at making cash a thing of the past and encouraging the use of electronic money instead have been a deeply divisive issue, especially as the institutional pressure intensifies. The push for a cashless society It is true that the rise of plastic...

Swiss voters largely accepted on Sunday a reform of the corporate tax system that will scrap preferential treatment for multinational firms. The result also means a financial boost for the country’s ailing pension system. Two years after voters rejected a similar idea to overhaul corporate tax rules, the issue – this time linked controversially to pensions – received a clear thumbs-up. Final figures showed 64.4% of...

[embedded content] Mainstream analysts and market bulls have some powerful numbers on their side: government-published unemployment figures remain low, America just had the best first quarter of a year for stocks since 1998, and the U.S. dollar is still the world’s reserve currency. But is all of this really indicative of a strong economy and a sustainable market, or is it just an illusion? You have a right to know the truth, so Portfolio Wealth Global just published a powerful interview...

Employees Switzerland, an organisation representing Swiss workers, is resigned to the idea of raising the retirement age, according to Swiss broadcaster RTS. © Olena Yakobchuk | Dreamstime.com Speaking to the newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, Stefan Studer, director of the association, said raising the retirement age is inevitable because of the financial difficulties facing Switzerland’s state pension system, known as the first pillar. “We must rethink the retirement age”, said Studer. He thinks we...

Interview with Dimitri Speck Given the massive intervention and monetary manipulation experiment by central banks over the last decade, the amount of distortions created in the market, as well as the record debt accumulation at all levels of the economy, have given rise to considerable risks for investors. For a more detailed understanding of these issues and for his outlook, I turned to Dimitri Speck, a renowned expert in the development of trading systems and in seasonal analysis,...

Interview with Dimitri Speck Given the massive intervention and monetary manipulation experiment by central banks over the last decade, the amount of distortions created in the market, as well as the record debt accumulation at all levels of the economy, have given rise to considerable risks for investors. For a more detailed understanding of these issues and for his outlook, I turned to Dimitri Speck, a renowned expert...

“An eternally high plateau” US markets made headlines once again, as they reached new highs recently, continuing a rally that seems to defy gravity and common sense. Despite the rise in investor anxiety and heightened volatility that seemed to signify a possible end to the bull market at the final quarter of the last year, exuberance has returned since the beginning of 2019, while overall the S&P 500 has risen by more than 300% since its March 2009 lows. Valuations are extremely high...

Spillover effects Turkey’s debt problem, coupled with the plummeting lira, is arguably the most important risk factor for the nation’s economy. To make matters worse, far from it posing a threat just to Turkey itself, it also has the potential to inflict significant damage elsewhere too, starting with key economies in the Eurozone. At first glance, the situation in Turkey might resemble many past similar scenarios of a heavily indebted nation with a plummeting currency that descends into...