Apple, or capitalism with bite

November 10, 2015 0

Apple makes money – a lot of money! In fact, Apple makes more money than any company has ever made and now finds itself, logically, with mountains of cash. As high as some 200 billion dollars, and more than the US Treasury. Of course, it’s the shareholders who are the ultimate owners of these monumental…

By Michel Santi

Europe: A German colony

October 24, 2015 0

Last summer, during a telephone interview with his American counterpart, German Minister for Economic Affairs, Wolfgang Schäuble, thought he was being funny by suggesting that they should swap Puerto Rico (which has nearly gone bankrupt) for Greece! In fact, the overwhelming majority of Germans have been convinced by the narrative which claims that their hard…

By Michel Santi

Islamic State’s business model

September 21, 2015 0

Might Islamic State (IS) be on the verge of setting up its own bank? It is in fact following the footprints of other terrorist organisations by trying to equip itself with the attributes of a genuine state in order to send the message to its sympathisers outside of Syria and Iraq that it is now…

By Michel Santi

Central banks dining with the devil!

September 16, 2015 0

One after another, every establishment which has the power to print money has joined in on the feast. In the absence of public policies dedicated to openly relaunching growth and battling unemployment, and in the presence of indecisive politicians who are not versed in economics, only central banks have had the ammunition capable of neutralising…

By Michel Santi

Checkmate for Saudi Arabia

September 12, 2015 0

The debacle of oil prices has greatly exceeded that of the global financial crisis of 2008 and the Asian crisis of 1998. And it is much more severe. At the end of this summer of 2015, OPEC is just a shadow of its former self: simply put, it has been de facto dissolved and this…

By Michel Santi

China will have to go bankrupt to survive!

September 6, 2015 0

The severe damage that China is currently suffering is not necessarily what it may appear to be. It’s actually these “zombie” companies that are degrading the economic fabric of the nation; they are the failing businesses that the Chinese government is nevertheless keeping alive on artificial respirators. The easy money and low prices which have…

By Michel Santi

Picasso: the price of everything

August 31, 2015 0

  People instinctively like record breakers: fastest man, tallest building or longest winning streak. Records provide us with a frame of reference and a benchmark by which to judge what has gone before as well as what lies ahead. Records, we are often told, are there to be broken: they can inspire greater performances and…

By Michel Santi

Real estate, growth’s parasite

May 29, 2015 0

The meager European economic growth – often described as anemic – stems from a savings glut. Economic stagnation becomes secular from the moment the money stops flowing, that is, once the investor keeps his precious cash in his bank account and that bank is no longer able to recycle it towards productive sectors of the…

By Michel Santi

In Europe, growth is a curse!

May 19, 2015 0

Let us be inspired by the British example where, against all expectations, David Cameron was re-elected Prime Minister. He had previously imposed on UK’s citizens and economy a pitiless austerity. But, a few months before the election he authorized a recovery in economic growth. Had he not done so, he would not have been re-elected!…

By Michel Santi

Work is an outdated value!

May 14, 2015 0

Humans have always had to work to support themselves. However, in its current form, work is a very recent concept in the course of human history. Until the advent of the tradable joint stock company (Dutch East India Company) towards the end of the Renaissance in 1602, human beings had indeed worked for themselves. Creative…

By Michel Santi

The pernicious effects of corporate bonuses

May 14, 2015 0

The cash bonuses, stock options, pensions and mega salaries received by corporate executives are clearly a wealth transfer mechanism. In this regard, the Euro 300,000 annual pension to be paid to Philippe Varin, departing CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën, pales in comparison to the remuneration of the great American bosses. Does Nicholas Woodman, GoPro founder,…

By Michel Santi

To save the rich, relieve the poor!

April 29, 2015 0

A debate rages on, mostly in the United States, regarding the secular stagnation of our economies. This secular stagnation is due, in my opinion, to the extraordinary productivity of capitalism. The very low, zero-boundary or even negative interest rates are simply the consequence of capital’s very efficient productivity. As for unemployment, it is itself a…

By Michel Santi

What is money in 2015?

April 28, 2015 0

Money is only a means of payment. Moreover, any vehicle generally accepted as payment for goods and services is by definition comparable to money. This broader definition of money allows us to find several other means of payment in circulation and in use in our societies and economies. Indeed, bank notes and electronic transactions passing…

By Michel Santi

The real estate standard

April 28, 2015 0

At the height of the 2008 financial crisis, the U.S. government seriously considered nationalizing a large chunk of the American banking system. Instead, what it did was take effective control of the massive U.S. mortgage market. Without Federal guarantees and full government support, the U.S. real estate market (already under critical pressure from the subprime…

By Michel Santi

There is life outside of work

April 24, 2015 0

The time when Voltaire stated in Candide that “Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need” is over. Today, it is no longer appropriate to work regardless of the cost. In other words, less work could improve our living conditions and could undoubtedly improve the way we do work. The belief that…

By Michel Santi

Too late to fight against inequality!

April 24, 2015 0

Do not be fooled by deflation. It is the decades-old general decline in wages, which inevitably leads to the lowering of consumer prices. And consumer prices will be made to adjust to the deterioration of our standard of living. Deflation is only the natural result of our shrinking purchasing power. Prices collapse for an obvious…

By Michel Santi

Innovation will save Switzerland!

April 24, 2015 0

Europe and Switzerland are in full deflation, aggregate demand is at best anemic and only the emergence of a single or multiple asset bubbles is likely to revive their economies. Retail prices decline as consumers, who no longer have the means to maintain their current living standard, refuse to listen to the “credit sirens” and…

By Michel Santi

Europe faces its old demons

March 23, 2015 0

The European government elites are sinking into denial. Their frightened posture against public deficits and preference for strict financial orthodoxy is a reflection of an age-old tendency for self-destruction. However, the current version of this tendency is about to lead them to a nasty state of affairs. I am referring to the ascension of extreme-right…

By Michel Santi

There is no German miracle

March 14, 2015 0

German politicians live and evolve in a parallel universe. Their trade surpluses, their fiscal and restrictive fiscal policies and their anemic domestic investment are all compelling evidence of the “economic autism” of their government elites. Those political leaders incessantly affirm in public the validity of these surpluses as if trying to convince themselves that these…

By Michel Santi