When Peter Schiff appeared on Joe Rogan’s show, he made the case that the Federal Reserve and Congress are the real problems facing America. The central bank and the federal government cripple the economy, destroy opportunity, and generally make life more difficult for the average American. But why? Why would people who claim to be “public servants” harm the very people they supposedly represent? Peter explains in this clip from the interview.
We’ve been talking a lot about the specter of inflation. Despite the Fed’s assurances not to worry because any price increases we’re seeing are transitory, some people are indeed worried. A former JP Morgan managing director warned about inflation and echoed Peter Schiff’s view that the central bank is powerless to fight it.
And we’re seeing rising prices all over the place, from the grocery store to the gas station. Even the government numbers flash warning signs. But as Peter Schiff explains in this clip from an interview with Jay Martin, it’s probably even worse than we realize because the government cooks the numbers when it calculates CPI.
Most people view the Federal Reserve as an important policy-making body driving the economy. But in this clip from an interview with Jay Matin at Cambridge House, Peter Schiff says the Fed’s primary role is that of a marketing firm selling the populace on bad economics and trying to convince everybody that everything is great.
Peter said he thinks a large part of the Fed’s job today is public relations and spin.
America has turned into a consumption economy. The problem is, economies can’t run on consumption. Peter Schiff explains in this clip from a recent interview.
Consumption economies are bubble economies.”
Ben Bernanke served as the chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014. He famously told Congress the Fed was absolutely not monetizing the debt in 2008. He said the difference between debt monetization and the Fed’s policy was that the central bank was not providing a permanent source of financing. He said the Treasurys would only remain on the Fed’s balance sheet temporarily. He was obviously wildly mistaken or outright lying.
In this clip from his podcast, Peter Schiff wonders out loud if Bernanke has ever told the truth.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, government debt and money printing are off the chart. This is creating inflationary pressure. Prices are on the rise. And this is by design. In fact, the Fed has been promising more inflation for years. As Peter Schiff explains, it looks like this is one promise the Fed is going to keep.
We’ve talked extensively about the growing levels of debt in the economy. The national debt recently eclipsed $28 trillion. Corporate debt was already skyrocketing prior to the pandemic. All of this is driven by loose Federal Reserve monetary policy designed to drive borrowing. And people wonder why Peter Schiff insists the Fed can’t actually let interest rates rise to fight inflation.
As economist Doug French highlighted, there’s another segment of the economy buried in debt – the commercial real estate market. The problem is compounded by the fact that the value of commercial real estate is falling like a rock thanks to a shift toward work-at-home and the brick-and-mortar retail apocalypse. In a nutshell, the commercial real estate market is plagued by too much debt and not enough assets.
Last month, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before Congress. In his answer to one question, it sure did sound like he doesn’t believe in the basic economic principle of supply and demand. Peter Schiff talks about it in this clip from one of his podcasts.
There’s an economic myth out there. As the story goes, governments can print their way to prosperity. Just run the money printing press, hand out cash for consumers to spend and the economy will hum. In this clip from a podcast episode, Peter Schiff calls it “The Kelton Myth” named for economist Stephanie Kelton. At the root of this tale is the notion that people can consume what they don’t produce. As Peter explains, this simply isn’t possible.
The US government is spending money at a torrid pace. Uncle Sam blew through $547 billion in January. That brings total spending through the first four months of fiscal 2021 to $1.92 trillion.
And the spending spree is only going to increase. Congress continues to debate another $1.9 trillion stimulus package and there’s already talk of an infrastructure spending bill in the pipeline after that.
This raises the $1.9 trillion question: how is the government going to pay for all this?
