Posts By Author » Peter Schiff

Symptoms Don’t Lie
11 May 2013 12:02 am

A good doctor will not simply make a diagnosis based on measurements. The symptoms and complaints expressed by the patient are at least as important in making a determination as the data provided by diagnostic tools. When the data says one thing and the symptoms continuously say another, it makes sense to question the reliability of the instruments. This would be particularly true if the instruments are furnished by a party with a stake in a favorable diagnosis, say an insurance company on the hook for treatment costs. The same …

The Great Gold Redemption
3 May 2013 12:02 am

The most puzzling part of the investment business is seeing how the vast and largely economically illiterate masses interpret any given piece of news. Take the recent gold selloff: many large players were motivated to sell by news that Cyprus will have to liquidate its gold stockpiles to pay off acute debt obligations. But just a moment’s reflection shows this reaction to be knee-jerk.

The real story behind Cyprus’ deal has much more profound ramifications – and they are positive for gold.
The Right Lens
The reaction to Cyprus’ forced gold sale re-affirms …

Changing the Conversation
27 Apr 2013 12:02 am

Don Draper, Mad Men’s master advertiser likes to say “when you don’t like what they are saying, change the conversation.” When it comes to the current economic weakness, which was confirmed again today by the release of lower than expected GDP data, Washington would love do just that. Fortunately for them, they consistently outdo the master minds of Madison Avenue when it comes to misdirection. If the government doesn’t like what people are saying, they don’t bother just to change the conversation, they change the meaning of the words.

The latest …

Japan Steps into the Void
20 Apr 2013 12:02 am

In the years following the global financial crisis, economists and investors have gotten very comfortable with very high, and seemingly persistent, government debt. The nonchalance may be underpinned by the assumption that globally significant countries that can print their own currencies can’t get trapped in a sovereign debt crisis. However, it now appears that Japan is preparing to put this confidence to the ultimate stress test.
For the better part of 20 years, successive Japanese governments and central bankers have been trying, unsuccessfully, to use quantitative easing strategies to pump up …

Gold in the Crosshairs
16 Apr 2013 12:02 am

In the opening years of the last decade, most mainstream investors sat on the sidelines while “tin hat” goldbugs rode the bull market from below $300 to just over $1,000 per ounce. But following the 2008 financial crisis, when gold held up better than stocks during the decline and made new record highs long before the Dow Jones fully recovered, Wall Street finally sat up and took notice. The new devotees helped to push gold to nearly $1,900 by September of 2011. For the next year and a half it …

The Stockman Backlash
5 Apr 2013 12:02 am

This week, while economists should have been closely considering the implications of the actual bankruptcy of Stockton, California, they instead heaped scorn on the perceived ideological bankruptcy of David Stockman. In other words, Stockman trumped Stockton.
Ronald Reagan’s former Budget Director contributed “Sundown in America” a multi-page opinion piece to the Sunday New York Times which loudly and eloquently described the illusions of our current economic system. While I don’t agree with everything Stockman believes, I think he is showing great wisdom and courage in making dire predictions and calling for …

Cypriots In The Streets
3 Apr 2013 12:09 am

The news of the month comes from the large Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where Keynesian economic planning left the economy facing complete bankruptcy. The result was an unprecedented step forward in the financial collapse of the West: direct forfeiture of bank deposits.
Despite official protestations to the contrary, this fallout will spread to a bank near you.
A Crystal Ball
The recent history of Cyprus is a microcosm of the story of all Western nation-states.
Under a comprehensive entitlement system, the real economy shrank while the banking system grew. Cyprus came to be a …

Flying High on Borrowed Wings
1 Apr 2013 10:31 pm

After selling off an astounding 56% between October of 2007 and March 2009, the S&P 500 has staged a rally for the ages, surging 120% and recovering all of its lost ground too. This stunning turnaround certainly qualifies as one of the more memorable, and unusual, stock market rallies in history. The problem is that the rally has been underwritten by the Federal Reserve’s unconventional monetary policies But for some reason, this belief has not weakened the celebration.
Although the Fed has been tinkering with interest rates and liquidity for a …

The Stimulus Trap
27 Mar 2013 12:03 am

For years we have been warned by Keynesian economists to fear the so-called “liquidity trap,” an economic cul-de-sac that can suck down an economy like a tar pit swallowing a mastodon. They argue that economies grow because banks lend and consumers spend. But a “liquidity trap,” they argue, convinces consumers not to consume and businesses not to borrow. The resulting combination of slack demand and falling prices creates a pernicious cycle that cannot be overcome by the ordinary forces that create growth, like savings or investment. They say that a …

Cyprus Lifts the Curtain
22 Mar 2013 12:02 am

This week financial analysts, economists, politicians, and bank depositors from around the world were outraged that European leaders, more specifically the Germans, currently calling many of the shots in Brussels and Frankfurt, could be so politically reckless, economically ignorant, and emotionally callous as to violate the sanctity of bank deposits in order to fund a bailout of Cyprus. The chorus of condemnation may have been the deciding factor in giving the Cypriot parliament the confidence to unanimously vote down the measures in hopes that Berlin will cave or Russia will …

Ben’s Balance Sheet Blues
3 Mar 2013 12:02 am

During his testimony before Congress this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke made it a priority to dampen the growing concern that the unprecedented growth of the Fed’s balance sheet presents great risks to the economy. There has been a heightened sense even among normally complacent members of Congress that the Fed could spark a precipitous decline in the economy and the financial markets if and when it seeks to “withdraw liquidity” by selling even a minor portion of its bond portfolio (which is projected to swell to $4 trillion by …

The Fed’s Tightening Pipe Dream
2 Mar 2013 12:03 am

Testifying before the US Senate this past Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made an extraordinary claim about its bloated balance sheet: “We could exit without ever selling by letting it run off.” What Bernanke means here is that the Fed could simply hold its Treasuries and agency bonds until they mature, at which point the government would then be forced to pay the Fed back the principal amount. Through this process, the Fed’s unprecedented and inflationary position will be gradually and placidly unwound.

Growing rumors last month of a potential “tightening” …

The Gold Bull Is Far from Dead (Video)
22 Feb 2013 12:01 am

In a new, exclusive video on the gold market, Peter Schiff responds to skeptics who claim gold’s bull run is over. Many believe the economy is improving and therefore that gold’s rise has ended. However, Peter explains why the longterm fundamentals for gold have never been better, and how investors still have time to take advantage of gold’s temporary decline.
“People who are saying there is no reason to buy gold now, never understood the reason people were buying it in the first place. People weren’t buying gold because they were …

The Pound Gets Pounded
20 Feb 2013 12:01 am

As the global currency war intensifies, the majority of attention has been paid to the 17% fall of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar over the past few months. The implosion has given cover to the sad performance of another once mighty currency: the British pound sterling. But in many ways the travails of the pound is far more instructive to those pondering the fate of the U.S. currency.
Japan has a unique economic and demographic profile which makes it a poor stalking horse. Newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe …

Messing with the Bull
9 Feb 2013 12:01 am

With the announcement this week of its massive $5 billion lawsuit against ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, the Federal Government took a bold step to squelch any remaining independence of thought or action in the financial services industry. Given the circumstances and timing of the suit, can there be any doubt that S&P is paying the price for the August 2011 removal of its AAA rating on U.S. Treasury debt? In retaliation for the unpardonable sin of questioning the U.S. Treasury’s credit worthiness, the Obama Administration is sending a loud …

The Bernanke Shock
5 Feb 2013 12:01 am

The financial world was shocked this month by a demand from Germany’s Bundesbank to repatriate a large portion of its gold reserves held abroad. By 2020, Germany wants 50% of its total gold reserves back in Frankfurt – including 300 tons from the Federal Reserve. The Bundesbank’s announcement comes just three months after the Fed refused to submit to an audit of its holdings on Germany’s behalf. One cannot help but wonder if the refusal triggered the demand.

Either way, Germany appears to be waking up to a reality for which …

The Biggest Loser
2 Feb 2013 12:02 am

In Switzerland, it’s not just the clocks that are cuckoo. Over the past four years Swiss politicians and central bankers have gone on an unprecedented buying spree of foreign exchange reserves. In 2012, their cache swelled to as much as $420 billion worth of various currencies, primarily the euro. This figure is a seven-fold increase since 2008 and equates to 70% of the country’s annual GDP. The sum translates to $200,000 per family of four, enough to keep the Swiss in clocks, chocolates, and fondue for many years to come. …

Animated Oprah Interviews Bernanke
30 Jan 2013 12:01 am

Earlier this month Oprah Winfrey grabbed headlines with her blockbuster interview with serial doper and international pariah Lance Armstrong. Now, an animated Oprah keeps the momentum going with a harrowing interview with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, another major figure who is equally dependent on artificial stimulus to juice his job performance.
In this mock animated interview produced by the Peter Schiff Show, the daily radio broadcast by noted author and economist Peter Schiff, Oprah gets Bernanke to confess to repeated attempts to push up economic statistics through direct and repeated injections of powerful monetary …

Distrusting The Gold Trade: A Response
22 Jan 2013 12:01 am

(MoneyWatch) The argument between those who believe in gold as an investment and those who prefer to rely on stocks and bonds is an old one. It’s a beef that can get heated, quickly veering from how best to make a buck into fundamental questions about how we order our economy and what we expect from our government. Gold enthusiasts criticize central bank “easy money” policies and see rampant inflation around the corner, while stock investors may well welcome low interest rates and a bit of inflation.

In a recent post, MoneyWatch …

The Trillion Dollar Trick
17 Jan 2013 12:02 am

The birth, and the apparent death, of the trillion dollar platinum coin idea may one day be recalled as a mere footnote in the current debt crisis drama. The ultimate rejection of the idea (which was to use a loophole in commemorative coinage law to mint a platinum coin of any denomination) by both the President and the Federal Reserve seems to offer some relief that our economic policy is not being run by out-of-touch academics and irresponsible congressmen. In reality, our government has been creating more than one trillion …

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