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.
The economy is strong. The American consumer is resilient. Everything is great. At least that’s the mainstream narrative. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey explains why it’s all just an illusion of prosperity. Along the way, he covers the September retail sales data, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech this week, and the recent gold rally.
Problems in the commercial real estate (CRE) sector continue to bubble under the surface. This is a major stress point for US banks and could precipitate the next phase of the financial crisis.
A combination of high interest rates and declining tenancy is putting the squeeze on commercial real estate owners. As a result, banks hold a growing portfolio of delinquent CRE loans.
Global debt rose $10 trillion to a record $397 trillion in the first half of 2023, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
The big increase in debt occurred despite tightening credit conditions, and it is an increasingly worrisome problem because the “free lunch” of artificially low interest rates is over.
The CPI has cooled in recent months, but Americans say they’re still struggling with rising prices and they’re worried about inflation. Why is there this dichotomy between people’s perceptions and the official data?
Peter Schiff recently appeared on Real America with Dan Ball to talk about the economy. He said the problem is the government isn’t being honest about inflation.
