Peter's Blog

US Government Kicks Off 2020 With Another Big Deficit

The US government posted another massive deficit to start out calendar-year 2020. According to the latest data released by the US Treasury Department, Uncle Sam spent $32.6 billion more than it took in last month. That compares with an $8.7 billion surplus in January 2019. Analysts had projected an $11.5 billion shortfall in January.

Fed Chair Powell Lets the Truth Slip Out

Every once in a while, the truth slips out of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s mouth. Powell was on Capitol Hill this week addressing Congress. He continued to talk up the economy, but in a moment of honesty, tacitly admitted that the central bank is already engaged in extraordinary monetary policy, and confessed the Fed […]

If You Want to Understand the Constitution, Don’t Ask a Lawyer

Most Americans say the Constitution is important. Most Americans say it’s crucial for the government to stay within its constitutional bounds. But what exactly are the constitutional limits on federal power? How do we know? Well, whatever you do, don’t ask a lawyer. Most of them know very little about the Constitution.

Borrowing Our Way to Prosperity?

Americans are driving the US economy along with borrowed money. The question is how much longer can it last? Consumer debt surged once again in December as Americans charged up their credit cards for the holidays. Total consumer credit grew by $22.1 billion in December, according to the latest data released by the Federal Reserve. […]

Gold Holdings in Gold-Backed ETFs Hit All-Time High in January

ETF gold holding reached another record high in January, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council. Gold-backed funds added 61.7 tons of gold last month, boosting holdings to an all-time high of 2,947 tons. This continues a trend we saw in 2019 when gold holdings in ETFs grew 19% and eclipsed all-time […]

Macy’s Puts a Face on Retailers’ Pain

Macy’s department store has announced plans to close 125 stores and cut around 2,000 corporate employees. Along with the store closures, the company will shutter its Cincinnati headquarters and tech offices in San Francisco. Even with the cuts, sales projections for the next three years “look abysmal.” According to CNBC,  same-store sales, on an owned […]

Whether You Call It QE or Not the Fed Is Monetizing the US Debt

Last October, the Federal Reserve relaunched quantitative easing. Of course, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell insists it’s not quantitative easing. But as Peter Schiff pointed out in a recent tweet, that debate is really just semantics. The argument over whether the current Fed balance sheet expansion constitutes QE is pointless. QE was always just a euphemism […]

The Silver-Gold Ratio Is Still Way Out of Whack

The silver-gold ratio has ticked back up to historically high levels of late. As I write this article, the ratio stands at just over 88:1. That means it takes 88 ounces of silver to buy an ounce of gold. To put that into perspective, the average in the modern era has been between 40:1 and […]

The Rent’s Too High!

More and more Americans are struggling to pay their rent. According to a report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, one in four renters are paying more than half their income on housing. This equates to 10.9 million renters.

Corporate Debt: A Slow-Motion Train Wreck

Corporate debt has blown through the roof over the last several years. So much so that the Federal Reserve has issued warnings about the increasing levels of corporate indebtedness. Borrowing by businesses is historically high relative to gross domestic product (GDP), with the most rapid increases in debt concentrated among the riskiest firms amid weak […]