Peter's Blog

National Debt Tops $24 Trillion

The US national debt pushed above $24 trillion on Tuesday. The US government was already running massive budget deficits long before the coronavirus pandemic and the debt was piling up at a dizzying pace. Response to the outbreak has put spending and debt in hyperdrive.

What’s the Exit Strategy??

As the coronavirus lockdown drags on and governments at every level enact more and more draconian measures, nobody seems to have an answer for what I believe is a most crucial question. What’s the exit strategy?

The Myth of the Non-Essential Business

As the coronavirus-induced economic lockdowns have tightened across the US, we’ve seen the emergence of a government-inspired fantasy – the myth of the nonessential business.

With Heroes Like This, Who Needs Villains?

According to Owen Ullmann in an op-ed published by USA Today, there are some unsung “heroes” in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic – the brave and courageous bankers at the Federal Reserve. I think Ulmann misspelled “villains.”

The Economy Is Life-Sustaining

Let me be clear upfront. I don’t think coronavirus is “just the flu.” I think the pandemic represents a significant health threat and could potentially overwhelm the healthcare system if the spread isn’t slowed. I think social distancing is wise. But I also think the draconian measures taken by governments that have effectively shut down […]

You Will Sacrifice and It Will Hurt

Many people have likened the battle against coronavirus to a war and invoked imagery of the US fighting World War II. President Trump has even deemed himself a “wartime president.” The president told reporters at a White House briefing that fighting the virus would require a sacrificial national effort just like it took to defeat […]

The Fed Hit the Panic Button and It’s Making Things Worse

Stock markets have been getting hammered, ostensibly because of the economic impacts of the coronavirus. Peter Schiff has been saying this isn’t really about the virus. It was the pin that pricked the bubble. If it wasn’t coronavirus, it would have been something else. Regardless, the Fed hit the panic button last week and slashed […]

Updated and Revised Report: The Student Loan Bubble – Gambling With Your Future

Have you heard? The Democrats are going to fix the student loan mess! They’ve brought up the issue in almost every  Democratic Party presidential debate. All we need is a good government program and we can easily solve this $1.64 trillion problem. Never mind that government programs caused the problem in the first place. Just […]

Peak Irony: Fed Paper Admits Fed Policy Can Lead to Economic Ruin

A paper  by Scott A. Wolla and Kaitlyn Frerking for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis warns that the Fed’s own policy could lead to “economic ruin.” The paper titled “Making Sense of National Debt” explains the pros and cons of national borrowing in typical Keynesian fashion. In a nutshell, a little debt is […]

Powell Lectures Congress About Government Spending the Fed Facilitates

Fiscal 2020 started just like fiscal 2019 ended – with a massive federal budget deficit. And that has Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell worried. In an ironic bit of political theater, Powell lectured Congress about the spending he helps facilitate. The budget shortfall last month was 34% higher than the October 2018 deficit, coming in […]