It is often said that perception is reality. Politicians spend a tremendous amount of time and energy trying to shape perceptions. So, how does the average American perceive the US economy? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about economic perceptions – both those the politicians are trying to create and those actually held by American consumers.
Joe Biden is telling us the economy is back on track. And the Federal Reserve insists it can slow down the inflation freight train. But the average American isn’t quite so sanguine.
Consumer sentiment plunged to the second-lowest level in a decade in January, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.
Inflation is running hot. Economic data is running cold. Stocks and bonds are under pressure. The Fed is scrambling. In his podcast, Peter Schiff talked about the trajectory of the economy. He said we’re on the cusp of the most obvious crisis that virtually nobody saw coming. The Federal Reserve made this bed. Now we have to lie in it.
Despite an inflationary freight train, gold struggled to gain ground in 2021 as the markets fixated on the Federal Reserve and the possibility of tighter monetary policy to fight inflation. Will gold continue to fight headwinds in 2022 as the Fed launches its “inflation fight,” raises rates and possibly begins to shrink its balance sheet? Or could gold shine in 2022 despite the Fed’s feckless inflation fight?
Peter Schiff recently appeared on the Rob Schmidt Show on Newsmax to talk about the trajectory of the US economy. Peter explains how the Federal Reserve and the US government created a massive bubble, why it is going to ultimately pop, and how to protect your savings and investments when it does.
Elizabeth Warren and others are running around blaming inflation on greedy corporations’ “price gouging.” Of course, this narrative falls apart when you realize producer prices are rising faster than consumer prices. If anything, producers are letting consumers gouge them by not passing on all of their rising costs.
With 2021 now in the rear-view mirror, I believe that future financial historians may regard it as the year of peak speculation.
While the history of American markets is littered with periods of irrational exuberance, none of those episodes can really match the current market for outright delusion and the blatant disregard for basic investment discipline.
December gave us another big jump in consumer prices. But despite a lot of talk about an inflation war, accommodative monetary policy remains in play. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey breaks down the CPI data, Jerome Powell’s Senate testimony, and Joe Biden’s plan to fix rising meat prices. That story has a fun plot twist.
The CPI for December was 0.5% month over month, with a non-seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.0%.
As the chart below shows, the December data reinforced a downward trend we’ve seen since a .95% reading in October. But is the recent omicron COVID spike hiding much higher inflation?
December Consumer Price Index data came out on Wednesday (Jan. 12). Month-on-month, it was again even hotter than expected. Peter called it an inflationary freight train that the Fed’s “field of dreams” monetary policy will not stop.
“Transitory” inflation has now been running hot for a full year.
