When Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appeared on 60 Minutes recently, he was asked what it takes to become the head of the central bank. In a clip from podcast episode 679, Peter Schiff said that when you think about the actual qualifications, Bernie Madoff would have made the perfect Fed chairman. Or perhaps the secretary of the US Treasury department.
So, what does qualify one to head up the Federal Reserve? Peter said that apparently, being clueless about economics helps.
Every time the economy gets into trouble, governments and central banks react the same way. They slash interest rates and loosen monetary policy. This gooses the economy — temporarily. But when the next crisis comes, it takes an even bigger dose of extraordinary monetary policy to revive the economy. The Fed has pushed things into the future several times, but as Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey explains, at some point you’ve got to pay the piper. In this episode, he also discusses the bond market and the latest Fed talk.
The Federal Reserve held its March FOMC meeting this week. There were no changes in monetary policy, but there was plenty of talk. The question is does anybody really believe what the Fed is saying? SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap podcast says the mainstream doesn’t seem to believe the Fed. And he doesn’t either. But for very different reasons.
Joe Biden took the country’s wheel on Wednesday. For some, it was a day of celebration. And for some, it was a day of mourning, depending on your political perspective. But what is really in store for us in the Biden years? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey considers the economic path that lies ahead. He argues that while the driver has changed, the car is still heading in the same direction with Biden’s foot on the accelerator.
The US government ran the biggest December deficit in history last month and there is no end in sight to the borrowing and spending. President Biden unveiled a new $1.9 trillion stimulus plan this week. So what? Why does it matter? Can’t this “rescue the economy?” Host Mike Maharrey talks about all of the spending and the money printing necessary to support it on this week’s Friday Gold Wrap podcast.
The US government has borrowed $4.2 trillion in the last 12 months, pushing the total national debt to over $27 trillion. In order for Uncle Sam to borrow, somebody has to lend. So, who is buying all of these government bonds?
Foreign and domestic investors, commercial banks and US government entities all buy US debt, but increasingly, the Federal Reserve is backstopping the market and making this borrowing binge possible.
There seems to be mounting optimism that the US economy will rebound relatively quickly as states begin opening up and there is progress toward a coronavirus vaccine. But the optimism ignores deep problems in the US economy that existed before the pandemic – chief among them staggering levels of debt and the proliferation of zombie companies.
In the last couple of years, corporate debt has blown through the roof. So much so that the Federal Reserve issued warnings about the increasing levels of corporate indebtedness late last year.
Celsius Network, founder and CEO Alex Mashinsky calls the bond market, “the biggest bubble that hasn’t burst yet.” And when the massive bond bubble pops, that’s when the real earthquake begins.
The US Treasury Department is pumping out bonds like there’s no tomorrow. It announced this week that it plans to borrow $2.99 trillion in this quarter alone. The projected borrowing for fiscal 2020 comes in at a staggering $4.48 trillion.
It’s been a wild ride on Wall Street this week — all downhill. Stocks entered correction territory Thursday and are on track for the worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. As Peter has put it, this stock market is a bubble looking for a pin. Is the coronavirus the pin? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey talks about this chaotic week in the stock market, the bond market and the gold market.
During a podcast last week, Peter Schiff asked a key question: Who is going to buy all of this US debt?
The US Treasury Department plans to auction off around $1.4 trillion in Treasuries this year. And it won’t end there. The department expects that pace of borrowing to continue over the next several years.
That’s a lot of bonds. Who will buy them? Because the biggest purchasers of US debt aren’t in a buying mood.
