"Louvre to raise ticket prices by 45% for most non-EU visitors"

A variation on the quote last seen gracing our pages a couple weeks ago.

“the art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest 
possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing.”

—attributed to  Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Controller-General of Finance (1668-83) under Louis XIV of France

From the Art Newspaper, November 28:

The Château de Versailles and the Château de Chambord have also announced new pricing structure 

The Louvre will raise ticket prices for non-European Union (EU) visitors by 45% from 14 January 2026, the Paris museum’s board decided yesterday.

The move will increase the cost of tickets for visitors from countries including the UK, US and China from €22 to €32, which the museum hopes will boost its revenue by around €17.5m annually.

Staff unions have denounced the project as an “unprecedented challenge to the universal mission of the museum since its birth in 1793”.

The Louvre previously increased its ticket prices by 30% in 2024, ahead of the Olympic Games, but has since faced a series of hefty budget cuts, including the loss of 7% of its public subsidies. These subsidies, which in 2015 amounted to half of the Louvre's budget, now represent only a quarter of it....

....MUCH MORE 

I wonder if they will still waive the fee for those who bring their own lift to access the balcony entrance:

 

Louvre heist lift-maker seizes the moment with new ad campaign 

"When you need to move fast," reads a banner under the image. "The Böcker Agilo transports your treasures weighing up to 400kg at 42m/min - quiet as a whisper."

Capital Markets: "Dollar Losses Extended, while Stocks and Bonds Retreat"

From Marc to Market:

Overview: The US dollar is trading with a heavier bias today. Equities and bonds have also been sold on the first day of the new month. The dollar bloc and the sterling are laggards today, while the yen has been squeezed higher amid heightened speculation that the Bank of Japan will lift rates later this month. The recovery of the yen does not appear to be spurring an unwinding of carry trades, but the substitution of the yen's funding role with the Swiss franc and/or US dollar. Most emerging market currencies are also firmer but for a few Asian currencies (Taiwan, South Korea, India) and the Russian ruble. 

Rising rates and a stronger yen pushed Japanese equity indices down more than 1% today. Taiwan's Taiex also lost 1%. Despite disappointing PMI data, China's mainland markets and shares that trade in Hong Kong rallied, with the CSI 300 up a little more than 1%. Europe's Stoxx 600, which rallied every session last week, is nursing a loss (~0.35) that is unwinding the gains of the past two sessions. The S&P and Nasdaq futures are off 0.55%-0.65%. Bond markets have found no comfort in the equity market losses. European 10-year benchmark yields are up 3-4 bp, while the 10-year US Treasury yield, which slipped below 4% last week, is up three basis points to poke above 4.04%. Gold (and silver) are extending last week's gains. The yellow metal pushed above November's high (November 13, ~$4245) but has retreated after reaching almost $4262.50. January WTI, which traded to almost $57 in the middle of last week, has approached a six-day high near $60 following OPEC+ confirmation that it will pause its increase in output in Q1 26. 

USD: The Dollar Index fell every day last week for the first time since April and is trading with a heavier bias today. It has taken out last week's lows (~99.35), and the next support is seen near the November low, slightly below 99.00....

....MUCH MORE