The SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap podcast combines a succinct summary of the week’s precious metals news coupled with thoughtful analysis. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Conventional wisdom holds that an interest rate hike in December will be bad for gold.
But will it?
There is actually evidence the opposite could be true.
The Texas Bullion Depository took a step closer becoming operational earlier this month when officials announced the location of the new facility. The creation of a state bullion depository in Texas represents a power shift away from the federal government to the state, and it provides a blueprint that could ultimately end the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money.
Peter Schiff recently appeared on The Street with Scott Gamm to talk about the stock market. Peter’s analysis was simple and succinct.
Well, the bubble keeps getting bigger.”
Jerome Powell will take the reins of the Federal Reserve next year. After all the speculation about big changes at the Fed with Trump in the White House, it appears the new boss is pretty much the same as the old boss.
So much for draining the swamp. Powell is a swamp creature. As Peter Schiff pointed out, “He has pretty much voted in lockstep with Janet Yellen the entire time she has chaired the Fed. The only real difference between the two is party affiliation. Powell is affiliated with the Republican Party, even though he was nominated to be on the Fed by Barack Obama. So, obviously not that strong a Republican if he was acceptable to Barack Obama.”
In an article published on the Mises Institute blog, Ryan McMaken expanded on this theme, echoing Hunter Lewis who said Powell is more like Chuck Schumer than Donald Trump.
Ron Paul has identified an increase in what he calls the “most insidious tax” buried in the GOP tax reform bill.
A lot of Americans have put a lot of hope in tax reform. As Peter Schiff said in a recent Fox Business interview, the prospect of economic growth spurred by tax reform and other Trump policies have generated a great deal of optimism. But the question remains: can the GOP Congress deliver? And even if Congress does get a reform package passed, some question whether it will actually lead to the economic growth promised. Absent spending cuts, the tax plan will increase the federal debt even further. Evidence indicates high debt levels retard growth.
In a recent article published on the Mises Wire, Ron Paul identified another problem with the Republican tax plan. It actually increases the most insidious of all taxes – the “inflation tax.”
The SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap podcast combines a succinct summary of the week’s precious metals news coupled with thoughtful analysis. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Trump said he was going to drain the swamp.
Apparently, the drain is clogged.
Trump picked another swamp creature to chair the Federal Reserve. Jerome Powell got the nod to replace Janet Yellen when her term as Fed chair ends in February. As Tho Bishop at the Mises Institute put it, “this means Trump will ensure that, while the stationary at the Eccles Building will change, the monetary policy guiding it likely will not.”
When the Fed launched its aggressive monetary policy in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, many free-market economists predicted it would result in massive price inflation. That never materialized. As a result, Keynesian economists like Paul Krugman love to finger-point and mock those who criticize easy money policies designed to “stimulate aggregate demand.” They claim the lack of price inflation proves they were right all along. You can massively increase the money supply during a downturn to stimulate the economy without sparking inflation. Free-market people are wrong.
But just because we don’t see price inflation doesn’t mean there isn’t any inflation at all. After all, the new money has to go someplace. If we don’t see it manifested in rising prices, it’s because we’re looking in the wrong place.
There’s been a lot of focus on the Federal Reserve lately.
Earlier this month, the central bank launched efforts to shrink its balance sheet after years of quantitative easing. Most analysts also expect one more interest rate increase this year. Then there is rampant speculation about who will take the reins at the Fed when Janet Yellen’s term ends early next year. Many observers think Trump will pick a more hawkish Federal Reserve chair who will increase the pace of “normalization.”
But Peter Schiff has said ultimately the Fed doesn’t want to do anything to upset the status quo. And at this point, the central bank is between a rock and a hard place. It can normalize, which will ultimately pop the bubble, or it can continue with its easy money policies and wreck the dollar. Peter has said the Fed will ultimately sacrifice the dollar on the altar of the stock market.
In a recent article published on the Mises Wire, economist Ryan McMaken weighs in, arguing along these same lines. He says the Fed won’t do anything that will spook the markets. That means we can expect more “easy money.” But this raises a question – what happens when the next recession rolls along?
