Mainstream pundits and government officials keep talking about the strong economy and resilient consumers while ignoring what’s driving them – borrowing. To listen to them, you would think the road to prosperity is paved with credit cards. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey breaks down the recent household debt data and explains why this isn’t the sign of a strong economy. He also highlights some interesting silver demand news.
Mainstream financial network pundits and government officials keep telling us that the economy is chugging along because Americans continue to spend money. But it’s clear that borrowing is the only thing sustaining this spending spree.
Meanwhile, the “resilient” American consumer is drowning under a surging tidal wave of debt.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he’s not confident interest rates are high enough to slay price inflation. He also said he’s not confident they aren’t. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey wonders out loud why we should have any confidence if Powell doesn’t. Along the way, he breaks down the November Fed meeting and talks about the “colossal” year for central bank gold buying.
The day of reckoning for unproductive credit is in sight.
With G7 national finances spiraling out of control, debt traps are being sprung on all of them, with the sole exception of Germany.
Chalk one up for the status quo.
As expected, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in a range between 5.25 and 5.5% for the second straight FOMV meeting, and chairman Jerome Powell was intentionally noncommital about future Fed moves.
Japan is in the midst of a slow-motion train wreck. The country has a massive national debt and it is starting to feel the pressure of rising interest rates. In his podcast, Peter Schiff talked about the situation in Japan and pointed out some disturbing parallels to what’s happening in the US.
When it comes to economic data, context matters. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey explains how the Fed, many mainstream economists, and financial network talking heads get a lot wrong because of bad data, shoddy economic frameworks, and ignorance of history. Along the way, he covers the GDP and the latest price action for gold.
Will the Federal Reserve raise interest rates again? Or is this hiking cycle over? Will it really hold rates higher longer, or will it cut in the near future? Everybody in the financial world is trying to predict the central bank’s next move.
Fed members insist they are data-dependent and will go where the numbers lead them. But in an interview on CNBC, financial analyst Jim Grant said data alone isn’t enough. You need to put the data into context.
The Biden administration ran a $1.695 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2023. It was the third-largest deficit in US history. The only time the US government ran bigger deficits was during the COVID years of 2020 and 2021.
The government closed out the year with a $170.98 billion deficit in September, according to the final Monthly Treasury Statement of the fiscal year. That was more than double the projection.
The mainstream continues to insist that the economy is fine. Inflation is beat. A soft landing is in play. But in his podcast, Peter Schiff said we’re in the early stages of a financial crisis. It should be obvious, but very few people see it coming.
