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.
Over the last several months, you may have noticed a new series of articles with a data-driven focus here at SchiffGold. In this Metal Exchange interview, host Mike Maharrey talks to the man behind those posts.
Mike and Tony dig into the ins and outs of technical, data-driven analysis and how it can expand our understanding of the gold and silver markets.
The US government is addicted to spending money. And the Federal Reserve is Washington DC’s pusher.
When we talk about inflation, we usually focus on money creation by the Fed. After all, that is the definition of inflation. But the Fed has to keep creating money in order to monetize the massive federal deficit. And until Uncle Sam gets his spending problem under control, inflation will never truly abate.
There is no sign the US government is going to get its spending problem under control. Last month, the feds ran the second-largest July budget deficit in history.
The federal government ran an $88.8 billion budget deficit in June. That was up nearly $22 billion from the previous month, according to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement.
And this is supposed to be good news.
After running a budget surplus in April thanks to an influx of tax-day tax receipts, the federal government reverted back to running a deficit in May.
The budget deficit was $66.22 billion last month, according to the monthly Treasury statement. That raises the current fiscal year deficit to $426.2 billion with four months left to go.
With a surge in April tax receipts, the federal government ran a record budget surplus last month. This seems like good news. And the mainstream spun it as such. But record government revenue is papering over a spending problem that isn’t going away.
The federal government ran a $192.68 billion deficit in March, according to the latest Treasury statement. Somehow, this is supposed to be good news.
The annualized interest payment on the $30-plus trillion US national debt increased by over $16 billion in just six months. With the COVID crisis seemingly in the rear-view mirror, the economy allegedly strong, and the Fed raising interest rates to supposedly fight inflation, you’d think this might be a good time for the government to address its spending problem.
Nope.
The national debt stands at $30.3 trillion and the US government continues to run massive deficits. But does it really matter?
Some people say that it doesn’t because “we just owe the debt to ourselves.”
If you thought the federal government running a budget surplus in January was a sign that Washington D.C. was getting its fiscal house in order, you’re going to be disappointed.
Uncle Sam ran the biggest deficit since last July in February.