Some of you might be wondering why the ECB is going to such great lengths to meet its price stability objective (2 percent inflation). Aren’t we better off when inflation is low? That is, when goods are becoming cheaper? That was one of the questions raised by ECB President Mario Draghi during his recent speech at the New York stock exchange. Not that anyone was given the opportunity to give an answer; after Draghi raised a question, he would immediately answer it himself.  

Perhaps you’ve heard of John Hathaway; he is a senior portfolio manager of the Tocqueville Gold Fund. Earlier this week he wrote in Barron’s that "an acute shortage of gold can boost prices." But, as mentioned in our previous articles, his analysis is wrong. As the supply and demand dynamics of gold are unlike those of other commodities such as rice or wheat, there cannot be an acute shortage. After all, gold isn’t consumed, so there is never an actual physical shortage. But that’s not... »

9.5 Million euros. That was the total value of V&D (a well-known Dutch department store) gift cards still outstanding when it applied for bankruptcy last week. Gift cards are based on a simple idea: instead of buying something at V&D yourself, you can give a person a gift card as a present instead. You thereby avoid the risk that the gift is not to their liking (e.g. he or she might not like the color), or that the receiver already owns the item, or doesn’t need it. With a gift card, everybody’s happy.