In his latest commentary from Casey Research, Jeff Clark poses some serious questions to gold bears. Mainstream economists insist that the gold price is going to continue to fall, but as Clark points out, demand for physical precious metals remains robust. And it’s not just gold bugs that are buying – everyone from central banks to mainstream investors are taking advantage of the low prices in precious metals.
Clark’s questions for bears boil down to one central question: “Do you know of any bear market in any asset that’s seen this kind of demand?”
Last week, Peter Schiff defended the intrinsic value of gold by briefly explaining how many uses it has beyond bullion investment. Many people have no idea how integral gold is to products they rely upon every day, not to mention exciting technologies of the future.
People who argue that gold is becoming less useful in the modern world simply don’t understand the basic fact that the applications of gold are expanding every year, not shrinking. Either that, or they expect the human race to abruptly curtail its exploration of space, stop making high-end electronics, and find a more stable element for use in medicine. On top of that, gold detractors must assume that the age-old association of gold with prestige, success, and wealth is going to suddenly vanish from the earth.
So what makes gold so valuable outside of its monetary value?
In his latest video blog post, Peter Schiff dissects the latest jobs numbers. While the media paints a rosy picture of the economy with the employment numbers, Peter takes a look at the economic data that everyone seems to ignore.
Peter Schiff appeared on Fox Business last Friday alongside some other analysts. While the panel agreed with Peter that the Federal Reserve needs to raise interest rates, they don’t think that Janet Yellen actually will. However, they disagreed with Peter’s long-term investment strategy for gold, and preferred to ignore the possibility of a bubble in the equities markets to make a short-term profit on stocks.
The national debt of the United States officially surpassed $18 trillion this past week. The news has been making the rounds of every media outlet, with many economists reminding us of the very shaky footing of the US economy. However, there are other analysts who play down this outrageously irresponsible amount of debt.
In his latest in-depth commentary, David Stockman explains the larger narrative of US fiscal policy that delivered this growing debt load. Stockman should know something about the topic. He was Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Reagan back in the early 1980’s, which is when US debt passed $1 trillion for the first time.
Think about that – it took more than 200 years for US debt to reach $1 trillion. But as Stockman points out, the last $1 trillion of debt accumulated in about 1 year.
China has officially surpassed the United States as the largest economy in the world, based upon economic output as measured by the International Monetary Fund. China’s production of real goods and services will touch about $17.6 trillion this year, while the US will produce $17.4 trillion.
This gap will continue to grow, according to the IMF. By 2019, China is projected to produce about $26.8 trillion, while the US will produce about $22.1 trillion. That translates to a growth rate of more than 52% in the next five years for China, while the rate of US economic growth will be nearly half of that – just 27%.
An article on MarketWatch explores this news in more detail, and touches on the profound implications of this trend. :
Yes, all statistics are open to various quibbles. It is perfectly possible China’s latest numbers overstate output — or understate them. That may also be true of U.S. GDP figures. But the IMF data are the best we have.
Make no mistake: This is a geopolitical earthquake with a high reading on the Richter scale. Throughout history, political and military power have always depended on economic power. Britain was the workshop of the world before she ruled the waves. And it was Britain’s relative economic decline that preceded the collapse of her power. And it was a similar story with previous hegemonic powers such as France and Spain.“
This is, of course, a long-term development. The US will continue to dominate the world for some time, but the winds are changing. Those winds are blowing East, to a land where the government and people still inherently understand the value of real money – physical gold.
Peter Schiff was on RT’s Boom Bust to talk about the latest jobs figures, the price of oil, the Swiss gold initiative, and the many uses of physical gold.
More than three years ago, a jury found Bernard von Nothaus guilty for “making, possessing and selling his own coins,” which Nothaus had dubbed the Liberty Dollar. This week, a judge has passed a very lenient sentence on Nothaus despite pleas for a long prison term from the prosecution. More importantly, the judge ruled that the $7 million worth of confiscated silver be returned to Nothaus.
Nothaus was selling silver bullion coins that the government claims too closely resembled American silver coins. Therefore, Nothaus was a counterfeiter in the eyes of the government. The prosecuting attorney even went so far as to claim that Nothaus was attempting to “undermine the legitimate currency of this country,” and that this was “a unique form of domestic terrorism.”
Here’s a picture of the coin – anyone familiar with US Mint silver coinage can clearly see that the Liberty Dollar is different.
The truth is that Nothaus simply wanted to get physical silver into the hands of Americans, while simultaneously educating them about the loss of purchasing power in the dollar.
Peter Schiff and Rick Santelli spoke today about Peter’s latest article published in the Washington Times. Read the article and then watch the video below.
Recent statements by Federal Reserve officials would lead just about anyone to believe that one of the bank’s central missions has always been to guard against the lurking threat of deflation. They warn that since official inflation has remained below the Fed’s 2 percent target for almost two years, the country is liable to fall into a stagnant morass unless the Fed acts boldly to hit its target. It may surprise many that this view is strictly a 21st-century development. The fear (some would say paranoia) regarding sub-2 percent inflation was nowhere in evidence in the past, even when inflation was lower than it is today.”
In December’s Gold Videocast, Peter Schiff responds to the Swiss voters’ rejection of the “Save Our Swiss Gold” initiative. He explains why the results of the referendum spell the end of a stable Swiss franc, but also the long-term success of gold. With no truly sound, safe-haven currencies left in the world, both Swiss and international investors will inevitably return to gold to protect their savings. Peter stresses that the Swiss vote is a wake-up call to the world: you can’t rely on central banks to protect the purchasing power of your currency. However, you can start your own, personal gold standard today.
