“We are witnessing the mother of all bubbles” – Part II
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“We are witnessing the mother of all bubbles” – Part II

Interview with Fernando del Pino Calvo-Sotelo – Part II of II Claudio Grass (CG): We often refer to inflation as a “hidden tax” or a “silent thief”, due to the fact that most of the time, its effects are hardly noticed by the average household in real time. However, this time appears…

The taper that never was
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The taper that never was

For many months now, the mainstream financial press and market analysts have been anticipating some kind of violent reaction or a “taper tantrum”, based on what they described as “hawkish” statements from the Fed and other central banks. Removing the “crutches” from the economy, by hiking interest rates and stopping the asset purchasing…

Government interventions and the Cobra effect – Part II
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Government interventions and the Cobra effect – Part II

Part II of II Unsound money, unsound society  Of course, one of the most important and consequential parts of the incredibly complex organism that is the economy is money itself. It is its lifeblood and as the song goes, “it makes the world go round”. Therefore, manipulating the currency itself is…

Government interventions and the Cobra effect – Part I
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Government interventions and the Cobra effect – Part I

Part I of II Almost two decades ago, German economist Horst Siebert coined the term the “Cobra effect” to describe the real-world consequences of “well-intentioned” government interventions that go awry and produce the exact opposite results from what they aim for. The term was inspired by an incident that took place in…

Inflation on the rise – The blame game
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Inflation on the rise – The blame game

After months of outright denials and fiery persistence that inflation is not a problem and never will be, central bankers in the US, the EU and other advanced economies are now being forced to face reality, as well as the consequences of their own actions. Instead of doing that, however,…

Corruption of the currency and decivilization
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Corruption of the currency and decivilization

Lessons from the Fall of the Roman Empire – Part I of II The rise and fall of the Roman Empire is arguably one the most studied, written about and theorized over subjects in academia, with fiery debates raging for hundreds of years among historians, sociologists and political scientists. The…

Germany in limbo: what lies ahead for savers and investors
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Germany in limbo: what lies ahead for savers and investors

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…

The battle for control over the future of money
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The battle for control over the future of money

It’s no secret that governments and central planners of all stripes have long detested the rise of private money and independent digital currencies. They have tried to stifle the burgeoning crypto industry from the moment it attracted mainstream attention. For years, they have continued to add regulatory hurdles and threaten…

Switzerland: The safest of havens
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Switzerland: The safest of havens

Part I of II, by Claudio Grass, Hünenberg See, Switzerland The covid crisis, and especially the destructive governmental responses to it, have wreaked havoc with the global economy and with our societies. However, the chaos and the widespread uncertainty that prevailed over the last year and a half also served…