The Swiss franc was pegged to the euro in 2011, but after years of easy money in the eurozone, the Swiss have bailed in an effort to save the franc from even more inflation that's expected from the Europen Central Bank.
A surprise move from Switzerland’s central bank (SNB) sent stock markets into panic today. In just a few minutes, the value of the Swiss franc rose by 30 percent, FTSE 300 dropped by 2 percent, Wall Street futures turned negative, and the recent feeble rise in commodity prices was reversed.
As of this week, when Eurozone price inflation reached negative levels, ECB's Mario Draghi decided to throw caution to the wind and brace “for further measures, which could, if needed, be implemented in a timely manner”. Estimates for the European QE program are around €500 billion, but the overall size and timescale will most likely remain open-ended.
Zimbabwe, in the aftermath of years of hyperinflation, today has nine different currencies that are officially legal tender. The emerging system of multiple currencies offers a chance to make some interesting observations.
Research is not just the way we add to the body of knowledge left by previous generations, but is also an effective means of engaging and challenging the ideas of mainstream economics.
Jeff Deist and Peter St. Onge discuss money in the electronic age.
Jeff Deist and Peter St. Onge discuss some of the fundamental questions about money in this electronic age.
In January 2014, 33 Russian rubles exchanged for 1 dollar. In December 2014, the amount has more than doubled, reaching 77.2 rubles per dollar. At the bottom of it lie the actions of the Bank of Russia.
If cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are being used as money, and if Carl Menger correctly tells us that money must have some kind of antecedent value, then as economists it becomes our job to discover what exactly is that antecedent value. A fresh reading of Menger's Regression Theorem provides several insights.
The US dollar’s days as a global reserve currency are numbered, but there is no high-quality replacement available. If there were an ideal reserve currency for the world, this is what it would look like.
