The US government continues to borrow and spend at a torrid pace, running massive deficits month after month.
The US national debt currently stands at nearly $28.5 trillion. That doesn’t account for the trillions of unfunded liabilities. And there is no end to the spending in sight. There are trillions of dollars in new spending programs coming down the pike.
Gold faced more selling pressure this week as the mainstream continues to labor under the misguided notion that the Federal Reserve is going to tighten monetary policy sooner than expected to deal with inflation. Friday Gold Wrap podcast host Mike Maharrey has been arguing the Fed is not going to tighten; it’s going to ramp up quantitative easing to keep rates down. This week, he shares some insights from a mainstream analyst who gets it too.
On Monday, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced plans to dramatically increase its quantitative easing program. Was this an Aussie canary in the coal mine foreshadowing what’s coming down the pike from the Federal Reserve? Peter Schiff talked about the RBA’s move in his podcast. He said, for now, the Australian central bank is doing the Fed’s dirty work.
Gold and silver continue to struggle with significant selling pressure. Last Friday, gold dropped some $40 as bond yields rose yet again. There continues to be this expectation that rising inflation and economic growth are going to force the Fed’s hand and cause it to pivot to tighter monetary policy sooner than expected. But in his podcast, Peter Schiff reminds us that inflation is not a threat to gold. And he says anybody betting against the yellow metal and on the dollar is going to lose.
Jerome Powell was on Capitol Hill this week (at least virtually) to talk to Congress. During his two days of testimony, the Fed chair insisted that there is no inflation. In fact, he claimed it will take years for the central bank to reach its 2% target. SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap podcast host Mike Maharrey says Powell is lying. But if you listen closely and read between the lines, you can dig a bit of truth out from the lies.
The bond market is getting clobbered. Long-term interest rates are rising and that is putting significant pressure on gold. Peter Schiff talked about rising rates and the gold market in a recent podcast. He said the rise in long-term yields is a function of inflation and people seem to forget that inflation is good for gold.
You may have noticed that the financial media has started talking about inflation. But by and large, it’s not a warning. It’s reassurance. Many analysts are dismissive of any concerns raised about inflationary pressure. They often claim the bond market isn’t signaling inflation. But as Peter Schiff points out in a clip from a recent podcast, the bond market is rigged.
Everybody was happy to get 2020 behind them. We figured it can’t get any crazier. Then 2021 showed up and said, “Hold my beer!” During the first full week of 2021, we had surprise election results and protests that went sideways in Washington D.C. That produced strange reactions on Wall Street. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey talks about a wild week one of the new year and ponders what might be coming down the pike.
A lot of pundits and analysts insist inflation isn’t a problem because the bond market isn’t signaling any inflation concerns. But in his podcast, Peter Schiff argues that you can’t rely on this bond market to tell you anything. The bond market is broken, thanks to the Federal Reserve. It’s rigged and it’s sending false signals.
Over the last year, the US government had borrowed over $4.2 trillion. The national debt now stands well above $27 trillion. There is no end in sight to the borrowing and spending and that raises a significant question: who is going to buy all of the bonds necessary to finance the government spending machine?
Not too long ago, Uncle Sam could count on foreign investors to gobble up a big chunk of his IOUs, but times are changing. In 2008, foreign investors held more than half of the outstanding Treasury debt. Today, that amount has plunged to the lowest level since the turn of the century.
