told SRF on MondayExternal link<\/a>.<\/p>\nJoseph McCarthy (1908-1957) was a Republican senator convinced that communists and\u00a0Soviet spies and sympathisers had infiltrated the US government, universities, Hollywood and elsewhere. He led aggressive investigations into \u201cun-American activities\u201d, involving the\u00a0political repression\u00a0and persecution of\u00a0left-wing\u00a0individuals (Charlie Chaplin moved to Switzerland after McCarthy, incorrectly, labelled him a communist). Nowadays, McCarthyism is used more generally to describe reckless and unsubstantiated accusations of treason and far-left extremism, along with personal attacks on the character and patriotism of political adversaries.<\/p>\n
Stieglitz saw a parallel to the 1940s and 1950s in the rhetoric used under Trump. \u201cIt\u2019s about these accusations without verification, about slander, about denunciation,\u201d he told SRF. He cited Trump\u2019s insinuation that the Democratic Party is radical left-wing or that Antifa is a terrorist organisation. \u201cThese are accusations that overstep the mark. But if you keep repeating them, they become entrenched. It\u2019s very reminiscent of the rhetorical strategies of the McCarthy era.\u201d<\/p>\n
But unlike back then, the US population is at a different point, according to Stieglitz. \u201cDuring the Second World War, people were inculcated for years to think in terms of friend or foe. After the war, the rhetoric was able to follow on relatively seamlessly.\u201d US society is certainly not like that today, he said.<\/p>\n
Stieglitz pointed out that the accusation of resorting to McCarthyist rhetoric was levelled against the Biden administration in the US not so long ago. It was accused of censoring social media and of having a cancel culture. \u201cThis term is common \u2013 everyone associates something with it. It\u2019s now so omnipresent that it can be used by any side,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, Stieglitz makes a clear distinction. \u201cI see what happened under Biden as being within the rough but common rules of democratic behaviour. This is no longer the playing field at the moment.\u201d For Stieglitz, it\u2019s clear that the tone in the US is not only becoming rougher, but also more undemocratic.<\/p>\n
Time to buy gold?<\/p>\n
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The value of gold has risen by 50% since the beginning of the year. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved <\/p>\n
Gold cracked the historic $4,000 an ounce mark this week. How high will it go? Should you buy? And what does Donald Trump have to do with the boom? The Tages-Anzeiger in Zurich has the answers.<\/p>\n
The price of gold broke through the $4,000 (CHF3,200) per troy ounce barrier for the first time on Tuesday. The value of the precious metal has risen by 50% since the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n
This was not necessarily good news, the Tages-Anzeiger pointed out, since the price of gold, a safe-haven commodity, is pushed up by uncertainty, inflation, crises and war.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne key trigger is Donald Trump\u2019s erratic policies, which are upsetting the global markets. His trade wars with high punitive tariffs are causing uncertainty and fuelling fears of inflation,\u201d the paper wrote on Tuesday. \u201cTrump\u2019s attacks on the US Federal Reserve and its chairman Jerome Powell are also playing an important role in the current rise in the price of gold.\u201d<\/p>\n
The US government believes that the dollar is overvalued, which penalises the exports of US companies. It therefore wants a weaker dollar. This is another reason why investors are looking for alternatives to the dollar \u2013 especially gold.<\/p>\n
So, should you buy \u2013 or have you missed the boat? \u201cAnything that rises sharply can also fall quickly,\u201d the Tages-Anzeiger warns. \u201cThe \u2018safe haven\u2019 is heavily dependent on current events and future expectations and is correspondingly volatile.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Thorsten Hens, professor of finance at the University of Zurich, says that even at $4,000 \u201cgold belongs in your portfolio\u201d. \u201cBut as with any other investment, you should build up your optimal position over a period of time so that you don\u2019t get in too expensive,\u201d he told the Tages-Anzeiger.<\/p>\n
Nobel winner criticises US science policy<\/p>\n
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John Clarke on the phone after becoming one of the three scientists to win this year\u2019s Nobel Prize in physics. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. <\/p>\n
Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to transform the scientific landscape in the United States are an \u201cimmensely serious problem\u201d, says one of the winners of this year\u2019s Nobel Prize in physics.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobel physicist John Clarke deplores how Donald Trump\u2019s policies are \u2018paralysing\u2019 science\u201d was the headline in Geneva newspaper Le Temps on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump\u2019s science policy has resulted in drastic cuts in research funding and the mass firings of scientists in federal bodies. \u201cThis is going to paralyse a large part of scientific research in the United States,\u201d Clarke told the AFP news agency, adding that he knew people who had suffered major cuts in their funding.<\/p>\n
The 83-year-old British researcher, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday along with two other scientists for their discoveries in quantum mechanics, stressed that they themselves had benefited from significant resources at the time of their work, some four decades ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be disastrous if this continues,\u201d Clarke warned. \u201cAssuming the current government finally comes to an end, it could take a decade to get back to where we were six months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Le Temps also reported that several Nobel Prize officials interviewed by AFP said that by attacking science in this way, Trump risked causing the US to lose its position as the leading nation in scientific research, with repercussions throughout the world.<\/p>\n
Scientists and scientific institutions in Switzerland have also been affected by Trump\u2019s policies. The articles below explain how.<\/p>\n
The next edition of \u2018Swiss views of US news\u2019 will be published on Wednesday, October 15. See you then!<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you have any comments or feedback, please email english@swissinfo.ch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n More<\/p>\n
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