In this episode, Peter reacts to a hotter-than-expected CPI report, big trades in Bitcoin, and the federal bill that would ban the popular social media app TikTok. He also notes silver’s historically low price, which is nearly 50% of its 2011 high.
At the end of 2022, investors all around the world who had bet big on cryptocurrency and had their cryptocurrency stored by the crypto exchange, FTX, received bad news. Sam Bankman-Fried and other leaders of the exchange had been using cryptocurrency that was supposedly stored by the exchange to make bets on financial markets. And the FTX leadership was bad at trading and racked up huge losses. FTX declared bankruptcy and many of FTX leaders were convicted of financial crimes. For the investors of FTX, it was a painful experience that came from betting on cryptocurrency and the viability of crypto institutions that managed such assets. Expected losses were claimed to be in the billions.
This analysis takes the BLS inflation data and recalculates the percentage changes at the category level to get unrounded numbers. The total number ties to the BLS, but it gives more detail at the granular level.
With President Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan set to extend more student loan relief to borrowers this summer, the federal government is pretending it can wave a magic wand to make debts disappear. But the truth of student debt “relief” is that they’re simply shifting the burden to everyone else, robbing Peter to pay Paul and funneling more steam into an inflation pressure cooker that’s already set to burst.
This week, Peter reacts to politicians’ sophomoric views on inflation and explains the recent surge in the price of gold. He also comments on the first day of Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony. Be sure to watch Peter’s special extra episode from earlier this week if you missed it.
Everyone’s heard of Javier Milei, the new president of Argentina, called by Fox News the world’s first libertarian president. He has been in the news for his denunciation of leftism, Marxism, and the sprawling bureaucracy that has trapped Argentina in debt. He’s also taken aim at run-away inflation in Argentina. Inflation in the last year was over 200% in Argentina, a rate that the United States hasn’t reached, even with Biden-levels of inflation.
Ron Paul’s recent op-ed from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, reprinted in the Orange County Register, breaks down the profound damage caused by central bank money printing: it pits savers against speculators, encouraging consumers to use debt to fund basic needs since their savings are constantly evaporating due to monetary debasement.
Peter recently appeared on OAN’s Real America with Dan Ball to discuss the minimum wage, government spending, and inflation. He first points out the blatant corruption of the California state government, which recently passed a $20 minimum wage for all fast-food restaurants except those that bake their own bread. The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has received several large campaign donations from the owner of many Panera Bread franchises in California, causing Newsom’s critics to question the motives of such an exception. Peter also points out that, under Newsom’s logic, such an exemption will actually hurt Panera’s employees. If minimum wages are so helpful to workers, why exempt Panera at all?
On this year’s Leap Day, Peter analyzed another round of inflation data and the economic factors at play in the quickly approaching 2024 general election. Bitcoin also surged back above $60,000 after the SEC approved bitcoin ETFs. Inflation came in worse than expected for personal consumption, and gold finished the week at nearly $2090/oz.
JD and Joel discuss Peter’s take on the recent bitcoin craze driven by ETF demand. Is there a limit to Bitcoin’s upside? Plus, what’s driving higher gold prices this week?
