Ideas and analysis on money, markets and the world around us.
The chaos that is Cyprus has mesmerised markets, including for gold and silver. At the time of writing there are signs that markets were beginning to emerge from their hypnotic trance. Bond yields for Greece, Spain and…
Read the articleBanks are reopening in Cyprus today. But with withdrawals limited to €300 and capital controls ensuring that withdrawals of more than €3,000 (or equivalent in other currencies) from the island aren’t allowed, ZeroHedge…
Read the articleThe world second largest economy is more than interesting from a precious metals buyer’s point of view. This is because China is the world’s largest holder of foreign reserves, with $3.3 trillion – far ahead of the…
Read the articleThe monthly figures for the US dollar components of Austrian, or True Money Supply, for February are now in. TMS plus excess reserves amount to the quantity of money that can be drawn down without notice, including time…
Read the articleThe “Troika” (European Commission, ECB and IMF) and the Cypriot government have reached an agreement on a new bailout deal for Cyprus (one that conveniently doesn’t require Cypriot parliamentary approval, as it’s not…
Read the articleThis week will be remembered for the Cypriot banking crisis, and perhaps the wake-up call it gave to bank depositors. Whichever way you look at it, the clumsy attempt to tax depositors and to paint Cyprus as a…
Read the articleThe Cyprus crisis has exposed a perception problem at the heart of modern finance. Everyone has a bank deposit and regards this as their property: a form of warehousing if you like. In reality of course – as many gold…
Read the articleGermans are becoming increasingly hostile to the euro – with opposition centred in conservative states such as Bavaria, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg. These states are being hurt by higher equalisation payments and are…
Read the articleLast night the Cypriot parliament rejected the proposed IMF/EU bailout that would have seen the confiscation of up to 10% of depositors’ money from the island’s banks. Under pressure from hoards of protesting citizens…
Read the articlePure theft. That’s the description many are giving to the weekend’s news from Cyprus, where bank depositors have had their accounts frozen, with a special 9.9% levy on deposits of over €100,000 and 6.7% on amounts below…
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