Peter Schiff shares his thoughts Greece’s capitulation and acceptance of a third bailout deal from Europe. He reviews some of the other options Greece might have had if it wasn’t run by a socialist government.
Supporters of a $15 per hour minimum wage continue to insist that it won’t impact employment. But the economic problems underlying the Puerto Rican debt crisis tell a different story and provide a possible glimpse into America’s future if the country continues down that path.
Last month, Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro García Padilla announced that the island cannot possibly pay its roughly $72 billion in debts. With more municipal bond debt per capita than any US state, a Puerto Rico default would have a much greater impact on Americans than the situation in Greece. As Peter Schiff recently noted, “Most Americans don’t own any Greek government bonds. But they probably own some Puerto Rican government bonds. Whether they know it or not, they’re in their muni bond portfolio.”
Many policies combined to drive Puerto Rico into this situation, but a recent report reveals labor and wage policies were a big part of the problem.
The financial media latched onto Janet Yellen’s latest statements as further proof that a rate hike will happen this year. Peter Schiff debunks this analysis in his latest podcast, pointing out that Yellen’s phrasing remains as ambiguous as ever. Peter also addresses the latest news out of Greece, where he expects the Greek government to reach a deal to stay in the eurozone. He wraps up with a quick summary of the drama in the Chinese markets.
In her talk, [Yellen] said that the labor market is continuing to improve. No it’s not. Didn’t she see the jobs report that came out on Friday? Didn’t she see all those downward revisions to prior months? Didn’t she see the plunge in the labor-force participation rate to 62.6 – a new low since 1977?”
Peter Schiff spoke with Reason TV about the dramatic plunge in the Chinese stock market over the past three weeks. Peter explains how China mimics America’s money-printing economic policy to suppress the strength of the yuan. The effect is similar in both countries – currency inflation, which artificially stimulates investment in stocks. Despite the correction in Chinese markets, Peter believes China’s economy is still fundamentally stronger than that of the United States. Someday, he argues, China will drop its currency peg to the dollar and may begin backing the yuan with gold.
This article was submitted by Addison Quale, SchiffGold Precious Metals Specialist. Any views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.
I hope this market update finds you well and enjoying summertime. The markets have certainly not lacked for drama this past week. Along with all the back and forth of the Greek situation, we now have seen a big drop in the price of gold and silver. They broke support and fell to essentially five-year lows.
Of course, one would think that precious metals would be soaring, what with all of Greece’s political tumult and potential financial repercussions. It has, in fact, proved the opposite this week. This seems to be mainly because, with all the uncertainty surrounding the euro, the United States dollar has been bid up mightily as the best safe-haven asset. As many of you know, gold tends to move in the opposite direction of the US dollar, its primary competitor.
It should be noted that this drop in the price of metals was very much driven by the paper futures market and not the physical market.
The United States Mint announced Tuesday that it has temporarily sold out of 2015 American Eagle silver bullion coins.
According to a Reuters report, demand for silver has surged due to low prices and uncertainty due to the Greek crisis.
According to Reuters, “dealers attributed the recent rush to purchase silver coins and bars to its low price relative to gold.” A Pennsylvania coin dealer said the gold-silver ratio was “way out of whack.”
If I want 100 pennies, all I have to do is go to my local bank and plop down a $1 bill.
But if I want plastic pennies, now that will cost me some real dough – $3.49 to be exact.
Who would have thought there was money to be made in toy pennies?
A company called Learning Advantage is cashing in on the plastic penny market, selling bags of the fake currency for more than three times the value of the real thing.
Nice work if you can get it, right?
Of course, we all get a little chuckle out of the absurdity. But the fact that plastic money is worth more than real money indicates a deep problem with the United States monetary system.
Ken Hoffman, Global Head of Metals & Mining Research with Bloomberg Intelligence, spoke with Kitco News about the possibility of China putting its yuan currency on a gold standard. Hoffman emphasized it is not difficult to imagine, because China has been laying the groundwork for years – buying up gold, starting a gold bank, building extra vaults, and soon launching a yuan gold fix. He believes the timing of it largely hinges on whether or not the International Monetary Fund decides to accept the yuan into its basket of reserve currencies this year.
A gold standard, plain and simple, is not a big constraint on a currency. It actually is something that worked for hundreds, if not thousands of years. It’s not this horrible thing… [A Chinese gold standard] would be a game changer. It would make gold very interesting. It would make it a currency again in terms of the way the rest of the world looks at gold.”
Conventional wisdom holds that “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
That is unless you live under a socialist government in cahoots with central bankers. Then you can have all the cake you want and eat it to your heart’s content.
Until, of course, you run out of other people’s cake.
The crisis in Greece illustrates this reality perfectly. But despite the warning, it seems like the United States is hell-bent on following a similar path.
Have you heard the news? Greece has defaulted and is facing complete financial meltdown. European banks are exposed to Greek sovereign debt, and US banks are exposed to European banks. As we saw in 2008, it only takes one domino to fall (Lehman) to threaten the entire global financial system.
Don’t panic. SchiffGold has compiled new special report that explains why gold is the asset that will weather this storm. Why Buy Gold Now? lays out the case for why gold is now not just a source of future profit, but an essential insurance policy for every investor.
Why Buy Gold Now?
- Because right now is a superb cyclical buying opportunity
- Because of the madness of central bankers
- Because the next bust could be the mother of all busts
- Because the so-called “economic recovery” is a ticking time-bomb
- Because eventually gold owners will be unwilling to accept dollars for gold at any price
All of these factors are fully explained in Why Buy Gold Now?, with accompanying charts and graphs. This 13-page report has been carefully researched and crafted by SchiffGold’s team of Precious Metals Specialists for the benefit of everyday investors.
It is serious reading, but it is worth your time.
Why now? Because you can’t afford to wait.
