Macroeconomics

Nobody knows for certain what cars will look like in 2050, but we can make some sensible guesses based on the research and development that companies are doing today.

Switzerland’s consumption improved in August thanks to robust new car registrations and encouraging numbers of hotel stays, data from the UBS investment bank showed Wednesday.

The consumption indicator rose to 1.53 points in August from revised 1.46 in July. The index suggested that consumption growth was slightly above the long-term average of 1.5%. The consumption indicator was altered after the Federal Statistical Office revised consumption figures for previous years in late August.

Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy for a ninth straight year, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum said on Wednesday.

Since suffering a rare blip in 2008, when it was nudged into second place by the United States, the Swiss economy has maintained an efficient but unshakeable grip on the top spot in the WEF annual ranking .

Switzerland economy will fall short of 1 per cent growth this year, the government said on Thursday, the weakest performance in eight years at least partly the result of a lack of global sporting events.
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said it now expects economic growth of 0.9 percent in 2017, below its June forecast of 1.4 per cent.

Tensions have risen sharply on the Korean peninsula this year, as North Korea (NK) has accelerated the pace of rocket launches and has conducted its sixth nuclear test. In response, the United Nations has adopted its strongest sanctions yet, but the fault lines remain.

Deutsche Bank analysts have warned China could be at the centre of the next financial crisis. Research by the bank’s strategists Jim Reid, Nick Burns, Sukanto Chanda and Craig Nicol found China still needs to reposition its economy "from manufacturing to services and investment to consumption.”

Switzerland’s central bank on Thursday softened its longstanding warning about the strong franc but still said that it was "highly valued, " suggesting Swiss officials aren’t fully satisfied yet with the franc’s weakening against the euro.

"The Swiss franc nevertheless remains highly valued, and the situation on the foreign exchange market is still fragile," the SNB said in a statement after its quarterly policy review.

Austria is set to raise 100-year debt in the latest indication of hot investor demand for long-dated sovereign bonds. It aims to raise at least €1bn; bids from potential investors have topped €11bn, dealmakers say.
A successful sale would demonstrate that demand for super-long bonds, whose prices are extremely sensitive to interest rate changes, remains solid even as central banks start winding down their crisis-era stimulus measures.