Commodities are booming. A lot of people seem to think this is a sign of pending economic growth. But in his podcast, Peter Schiff said it’s really a sign of inflation.
Most of the investment world continues to focus on the stock market and they’re not really paying attention to what going on in the commodities markets. And as Peter put it, that’s going to have a big impact on what happens in the supermarket.
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.
There were a number of inauspicious records set in 2020 and the impacts will continue to reverberate through the economy in the future.
The Federal Reserve created money at a record rate. It also increased its balance sheet to record levels. And not to be outdone, the US government set a budget deficit record.
These three records were actually linked. The money printing and expansion of the Fed balance sheet were necessary to monetize the massive federal debt. And there is no sign that anything will be different in 2021.
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.
Somewhat lost in the chaos of the DC protests was the fact that Democrats won both Georgia Senate runoff races. That effectively gives the Democrats control of both houses of Congress. In his podcast, Peter Schiff made the case that Congress is the real threat to America, not the protesters who broke into the Capitol building.
With the coronavirus pandemic serving as a backdrop, 2020 was a record-breaking year in many ways. And some of the economic records that fell were, shall we say, less than ideal. In fact, the impacts of these records will almost certainly ripple through the economy as we move into 2021.
Here are three records that fell last year that didn’t get nearly as much attention as they should have.
There aren’t many people sad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. But there’s no guarantee that 2021 is going to be any better. In his podcast final podcast of 2020, Peter Schiff said that hopefully, the upcoming year will be better healthwise in terms of COVID-19, but economically, this could be the year the chickens come home to roost.
Not just the ones that we let out in 2020 but the ones we have been letting out for the years and years and years that preceded 2020.”
The year 2020 is coming to a merciful end. As it was with pretty much everything, it was a nutty year for the economy and the precious metals markets. We all hope 2021 will be better, but it seems unlikely that it will be any less nutty. In this special Thursday episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey takes a look back at 2020 and speculates on what could lie ahead in 2021.
So far, the US has escaped negative interest rates as a matter of central bank policy. Back in May, many thought a Fed move to negative rates was a real possibility. Of course, much of the world has operated under negative rates as a matter of policy for years. The European Central Bank (ECB) launched negative rates in June 2014. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) introduced negative rates in January 2016. Both are still maintaining a negative rate policy today.
While the Fed has resisted the temptation of a negative rate policy so far, that doesn’t mean Americans have escaped the reality of below-zero real rates. In fact, the world is awash in negative-yielding debt.
Peter Schiff has been saying that all of the “help” the US government and the Federal Reserve have offered up during the coronavirus pandemic isn’t helping. In fact, it’s made the situation worse. In a podcast last month, Peter said that all of the money printing and stimulus allowed people to keep spending, but they aren’t producing anything.
The problem is government doesn’t seem to understand the difference between money that is actually earned by being productive and money you get just because the Federal Reserve or some other central bank conjures out of thin air. When you’re productive, you’re helping to grow the economy. When the Fed prints money, all they’re doing is distorting the economy and increasing the cost of living.”
