Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute, As the immigration debate goes on, many commentators continue to sloppily ignore the difference between the concept of naturalization and the phenomenon of immigration. While the two are certainly related, they are also certainly not the same thing. Recognizing this distinction can help us to see the very real differences between naturalization, which is a matter...
Read More »Pioneers of Swiss Trade: How to Do Business Successfully in Asia
Despite all of the differences and current challenges, Asian expansion is worthwhile – now more than ever. There is no question that Asia will play a prominent role in the 21st century. In 1863, it took Switzerland's Caspar Brennwald a full 122 days, or four months, to travel to Japan. Brennwald,...
Read More »Switzerland’s WIR-Bank
In the Berner Zeitung, Mischa Aebi reports that many firms have closed their accounts at WIR-bank. The bank had imposed new requirements stipulating that account holders must accept at least 3% of their sales to be paid in WIR money.
Read More »Healthcare System: Growth Market under Cost Pressure
The Swiss healthcare system makes an important contribution to employment and prosperity in Switzerland. At the same time, the sector is facing major challenges as a result of the huge rise in costs. The economists of Credit Suisse have subjected the Swiss healthcare system and the most pressing questions it currently faces to intense scrutiny....
Read More »Turkey Vows “Harsh Retaliation” After Dutch PM Says “Not Apologizing, Are You Nuts”
The diplomatic scandal between Turkey and the Netherlands deteriorated overnight, when Prime Minister Binali Yildirim warned on Sunday that Turkey would retaliate in the "harshest ways" after Turkish ministers were barred from speaking in Rotterdam, leading to a major protest in front of the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam, while the Dutch embassy in Istanbul was closed off due to "safety concerns." "This situation has been protested in the strongest manner by our side, and it has been...
Read More »Switzerland Unemployment: Unchanged at 3.3 percent seasonally adjusted
Unemployment Rate (not seasonally adjusted) Registered unemployment in February 2017 – According to the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO) surveys, 159’809 unemployed persons were registered at the Regional Employment Centers (RAV) at the end of February 2017, 4’657 less than in the previous month. The unemployment rate thus fell from 3.7% in January 2017 to 3.6% in the reporting month. Switzerland...
Read More »On the Performance of Swiss Portfolio Managers
In the NZZ, Michael Schaefer reports on a study about the performance of Swiss portfolio managers in 2016. The median portfolio returns in all investment strategies except those not investing in stocks fell short of the corresponding benchmark returns. Only a fifth of the portfolios generated returns in excess of their benchmark. These numbers do not yet account for management fees. No portfolio manager generated high returns across all strategies. But some managers consistently generate...
Read More »Interest Rate Differentials Increasing Financial Market Leverage To Unsustainable Levels
We discuss the rate differentials between Switzerland, Britain, Europe, Japan and the United States and how this Developed Financial Markets carry trade is incentivizing excessive risk taking with tremendous leverage and destabilizing the entire financial system in the process in this video. You want to know what is behind weekly market records, borrowed money via punchbowl central bank liquidity. This ends badly every...
Read More »Are Rate Hikes Bad For Gold?
Here are two different looks at Fed rate hikes since Volcker. The charts are the same, but one presentation is a lot funnier than the other. Federal Funds Target RateThe above image from the New York Times article A History of Fed Leaders and Interest Rates. - Click to enlarge Here’s an alternative view courtesy of @HedgeEye. - Click to enlarge Let’s take the fist chart and see what correlations exist between...
Read More »United States Economic Freedom Tumbles To Historic Low
After eight years of the regulation-happy Obama administration, the United States has undergone a huge slide into the 17th most economically free country in the world, according to the Heritage Foundation’s 2017 Index of Economic Freedom. Under president Obama, the federal government issued over 600 major regulations, costing the U.S. economy hundreds of millions of dollars. Those regulations were placed on top of...
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