This afternoon, CNBC Europe asked Peter Schiff about the effects of low oil prices on the European economy. Peter used the opportunity to explain why the governments of Europe, the United States, and Japan are all playing the same game: claiming inflation is good for the economy, when in fact it just allows politicians to escape the responsibility of giant national debts. The truth is that higher inflation equates to a lower standard of living.
No one can deny how poor retail sales were this past holiday weekend. Yet the media is spinning this news as proof that the United States economy is improving. In his latest Schiff Radio podcast, Peter Schiff picks apart this ridiculous narrative by looking closely at retail figures, media reports on the phenomenon, US box office results, and more.
India – once the world’s largest gold consumer – has eased restrictions that had limited its gold imports and allowed China to overtake it in gold consumption. The so-called “80:20 rule” has been dropped, which required gold importers to reexport at least 20% of their imported gold. The rule was supposed to shrink a high current-account deficit, but it also led to a surge in illegal smuggling across the country.
In the immediate future this is positive news for gold investors – the second largest consumer of gold in the world will likely very soon begin to officially buy more gold.
Swiss Vote “No” on the “Save Our Swiss Gold” Initiative
Wall Street Journal – Swiss voters voted down the Swiss gold referendum that would have forced the Swiss National Bank to hold 20% of its assets in gold. About 78% of voters were against the initiative, which was heavily opposed by the SNB and much of the Swiss parliament. Opponents said the measure would have made it too difficult for the bank to maintain its monetary policy that depends on pegging the Swiss franc to the weaker euro. Advocates for the initiative hoped it would strengthen the weakening Swiss franc. The measure would have also prevented the SNB from selling gold and required it to repatriate its gold. The SNB currently has 1,040 metric tons of gold, only about 7.5% of its assets.
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Netherlands Repatriating Gold Reserves from US
Wall Street Journal – The Dutch central bank (DNB) will be moving some of its gold reserves held at the New York Federal Reserve back to the Netherlands. The DNB currently holds 11% of its 612 metric tons of gold reserves domestically and wants to increase that to 31%. Currently, 51% of its gold reserves are stored at the NY Fed, but this will drop to 31% after the repatriation. The DNB is the latest European central bank to express concerns about the safety of its gold reserves held abroad, following the example of the German gold repatriation effort begun in 2013. According to the DNB, the repatriation will have “a positive effect on public confidence” by distributing its gold reserves in “a more balanced way.”
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Mises Institute President Jeff Deist interviewed Claudio Grass, Managing Director of Global Gold, about the Swiss gold initiative taking place this Sunday. Grass provided insights into the mind of the average Swiss citizen, while discussing the following topics:
- What might the growing gold repatriation movement mean for the ECB and the Fed?
- Is hostility against Swiss neutrality, Swiss wealth, and Swiss identity the unspoken motivation behind EU and US attempts to control this country of only 8 million people?
- Why do financial elites hate the idea of a strong Swiss franc?
Switzerland will vote on the “Save Our Swiss Gold” initiative this Sunday, and the news is reminding everyone just why the financial world is watching so closely. USA Today and the Wall Street Journal can give you a good summary of how the Swiss gold initiative would affect the policies of the Swiss National Bank (SNB). The Guardian explains why a “yes” vote on the initiative would be extremely bullish for gold in this article published yesterday:
Its supporters come from the populist right-wing Swiss People’s party (SVP), which says in its mission statement: ‘Most Swiss don’t even know that part of the nation’s gold is stored abroad and that the SNB has already sold over half of the gold reserves.’
As the world waits to see if the Swiss people will force the Swiss National Bank to re-embrace gold on November 30th, there’s another major country that has been buying gold without any pressure from its populace – Russia. We’ve reported on Russia’s currency wars against the West (here, here, and here), but exactly how does gold fit into Putin’s economic strategy? John Butler has published an article at David Stockman’s Contra Corner blog that thoroughly explores the history of the international currency wars and Russia’s role in them.
Like many analysts, Butler recognizes Putin as an extremely shrewd politician and economic rival. More importantly, Butler explains why Western sanctions on Russia might force Putin to play his trump card – physical gold holdings. According to Butler, “at current market prices, Russia’s gold reserves would back a whopping 27% of the narrow rouble money supply”. What would it mean for the world if Russia – one of the largest exporters of oil – started to officially back its rouble with gold? Butler explores this question and more…
A couple weeks ago, Peter Schiff recorded a video appealing directly to Swiss voters to pass their gold referendum on November 30th. You can watch it here. Now, Peter has released a written commentary in the days leading up to the referendum to remind both the Swiss and the rest of the world how important this vote is.
For most of my career in international investing, I had always placed a great deal of faith in Switzerland’s financial markets. In recent years, however, as the Swiss government has sought to hitch its wagon to the flailing euro currency and kowtow increasingly to U.S.-based financial requirements, this faith has been shaken.
You might have noticed that Paul Krugman came out swinging at Peter Schiff and Austrian economics in his New York Times column this weekend. Peter responded to the hit-piece, explaining to Krugman why he’s declaring a Keynesian victory far too early.
The SGT Report recently interviewed Peter Schiff about the US economy and the gold market. This forty-minute conversation covers a lot of topics, including:
- Gold in Russia and the Netherlands
- Alan Greenspan’s continued support for gold
- Why gold is not a currency
- Peter’s latest critics in the financial media
- Peter’s predications for the gold price
- Why central banks want inflation
- The Swiss gold referendum
- Why the American Dream is suffering
- The origin and philosophy of SchiffGold
