No. 173, May

This article is a collaboration between man and machine. We conducted an interview with the ChatGPT voice software on economics, business cycle research and politics. KOF innovation researcher Mathias Beck and KOF co-director Hans Gersbach rank the quality of ChatGPT’s responses and its potential below.

The KOF Business Situation Indicator for the Swiss private sector, which is calculated from the KOF Business Tendency Surveys, fell in April after barely moving in the previous month (see G 3). Business is thus still performing better than it did in the autumn of last year but is no longer as buoyant as it was in January.

What factors influence wage levels in the various sectors? This analysis shows that, in particular, the extent of the shortage of skilled workers in an industry is positively correlated with the wage growth expected by companies.

At first glance, ‘bail-in bonds’ are an attractive way of recapitalising banks in distress. In the case of Credit Suisse, however, according to FINMA, loss buffers amounting to over CHF 50 billion were not activated for recapitalisation purposes because no compulsory restructuring was ordered. Bail-in bonds, which can only be written off or converted into equity through state intervention, present a number of pitfalls, which are discussed in this article.