“A crisis must never be misused to extend state power”
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“A crisis must never be misused to extend state power”

Interview with H.S.H. Prince Michael of Liechtenstein In these times of great uncertainty and widespread fear, it is natural for many citizens to turn to their leaders for guidance and reassurance. However, these much-needed qualities of real leadership have proven to be elusive in many countries around the world. Instead…

Corona crisis: the cost of the response – Part II
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Corona crisis: the cost of the response – Part II

Responding to the response This time around, both central banks and governments have gone “all-in” in their response packages and the scale of the support and liquidity provided dwarf the measures that we saw in the 2008 crisis. Of course, the question remains whether this will all be enough to…

Corona crisis: the cost of the response – Part I
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Corona crisis: the cost of the response – Part I

The absolutely unprecedented wave of shutdowns, new restrictions and regulations that the coronavirus epidemic has triggered on a global scale is truly hard to quantify. We’ve simply never seen anything like it before. Never in the history of mankind have countries all over the globe intentionally hit the kill switch…

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste – Part II
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A crisis is a terrible thing to waste – Part II

“Trust the state. Do what they say. They’ve never lied to us before, have they?” – Daniel McAdams, Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Central bankers are washing their hands too Looking at the carnage that stock markets have suffered, it’s not surprising to see central banks jumping in…

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste – Part I
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A crisis is a terrible thing to waste – Part I

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that, it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” -Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff from 2009 to 2010. Only a couple of weeks ago, if anyone told you…

Silver and Platinum: buying opportunities gone unnoticed
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Silver and Platinum: buying opportunities gone unnoticed

Gold has been making headlines in recent days, as its price skyrocketed close to $1,700, a rise that most analysts have attributed to the spread of the coronavirus. The fears over its economic impact have sent global stock markets tumbling and, as is usually and reliably the case, panicked investors…

Modern Monetary Theory is an old Marxist Idea
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Modern Monetary Theory is an old Marxist Idea

There is nothing new under the sun Modern Monetary Theory, or “MMT”, has been getting a lot of attention lately, often celebrated as a revolutionary breakthrough. However, there is absolutely nothing new about it. The very basis of the theory, the idea that governments can finance their expenditures themselves and…

Gold is the 7th sense of financial markets
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Gold is the 7th sense of financial markets

Interview with Ronald Stöferle – Part II Claudio Grass (CG): Looking at the interest rate policy of the last years, it would seem that central banks are backed into a corner. They cannot hike borrowing costs without risking a domino effect, as both government and corporate debt have reached record…