We got the August CPI data this week and it came in hotter than expected. Stocks suffered a big selloff. Everybody is betting on the Fed to get even more aggressive in its inflation fight. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey breaks down the data and exposes a dirty little secret that the mainstream still hasn’t come to grips with.
The August Consumer Price Index surprised to the upside, ramping up expectations for another aggressive Federal Reserve rate hike. It also reveals a big problem for the Fed that most people haven’t come to grips with yet.
The CPI for August came in hotter than expected, ratcheting up anticipation of another big Federal Reserve interest rate hike at the September FOMC meeting. Peter Schiff appeared on the Claman Countdown on Fox News and explained why these rate hikes are too little too late. In fact, the Fed is basically spitting into the wind.
The Fed continues to talk tough about fighting inflation. During his Jackson Hole speech, Fed chair Jerome Powell said the central bank will “use our tools forcefully” to attack inflation. Powell even promised some pain.
What exactly does Powell mean by “pain?”
Ron Paul pointed out that Powell wants to “soften the labor market.” In other words, he wants you to get fired.
The European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates another 75 basis points last week. In his podcast, Peter Schiff explained how the ECB inflation fight could create big problems for the Federal Reserve and the US dollar.
This week was the calm before the storm that will begin next week with the August CPI data and continue with the September FOMC meeting the following week. Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey takes advantage of the lull to cover some interesting topics including some more tough talk on inflation from Jerome Powell, the prospect of the Fed recording its first operating loss since 2023, and silver on sale.
What happens if the Federal Reserve loses money?
The Fed typically earns interest income from all of the bonds it holds on its balance sheet. It also collects fees for services that it provides. Most of any Fed operating profit is remitted to the US Treasury under federal law. That money becomes part of the federal government’s operating budget. In other words, the central bank serves as a revenue source for Uncle Sam.
Americans have been laboring under the burden of inflation for well over a year. We feel the pain everywhere, from the gas pump to the grocery store. Once it became impossible to sell the “inflation is transitory” narrative any longer, the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to fight inflation. As a result, the bubble economy is getting shaky. But even some people at the Fed seem to realize this is a fight they can’t win.
In a talk at the Ron Paul Institute, Mises Institute president Jeff Deist called inflation “state-sponsored terrorism.”
Jerome Powell and other central bankers at the Federal Reserve are still talking tough about their inflation fight even as the economy continues to deteriorate. Peter Schiff says we’re nearing an inflection point, but the markets don’t get it yet. As he explained in his podcast, the Fed’s monetary tightening is causing a recession, but ultimately, the central bank will surrender to inflation. There is a day of reckoning ahead and we can’t avoid it much longer.
The Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank published a rather surprising paper that swerves into the truth – the Fed can’t win this inflation fight. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey talks about the paper. He also discusses the possibility of a dollar decline and gives his first impression of the August jobs report.
