Peter's Blog

J. Powell’s Word-Salad: SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap Oct. 11, 2019

Everybody is talking about the possibility of a trade deal. Well, maybe not everybody. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey rehashes his standard trade war observations and then moves on to bigger news – Jerome Powell’s announcement that the Fed is resuming QE. Of course, Powell didn’t exactly say that. […]

Fiscal Malfeasance: US National Debt Increased $1.2 Trillion in FY2019

The US national debt increased by $1.2 trillion in fiscal 2019, which ended Sept. 30. This follows on the heels of a $1.27 trillion increase in the national debt in fiscal 2018.

US Government Adds Almost Half a Trillion Dollars to National Debt in One Month

The fiscal year budget deficit surged passed $1 trillion last month. Spending deficits necessarily mean more government borrowing and we’re seeing that in the numbers as well. Uncle Sam’s outstanding public debt grew by $450 billion in August alone. The national debt stood at $22.02 trillion on Aug. 1 and surged to $22.47 trillion as […]

Budget Deficit Shoots Past $1 Trillion for Fiscal 2019

The federal government continues to spend money at an insane rate and is running up budget deficits reminiscent of the Great Recession era. With one month left to go, the federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2019 eclipsed $1 trillion in August, according to Treasury Department data released last Thursday.

I Owe, I Owe… SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap Sept. 13, 2019

The price of gold whipsawed this week, driven up and down by various headlines. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey covers some of the big news that moved the markets. But he said that we need to keep our eyes on the big picture. All of this is happening in […]

Uncle Sam Is Spending Like We’re In Recession; What Happens When We Really Are?

Last week we got the updated federal budget deficit numbers. At $867 billion, the 2019 fiscal year budget shortfall has already eclipsed last year’s deficit of $779 billion. The out of control spending and spiraling deficits are concerning enough on their own terms, but they become absolutely horrifying when you consider that these budget shortfalls […]

2019 Federal Budget Deficit Already Above 2018 Number

The federal government continues to spend America into a black hole and has already topped last year’s budget deficit with two months left in the fiscal year. The US budget deficit in July came in at $120 billion thanks to a surge in spending, according to data released by the Treasury Department. Uncle Sam spent […]

The US Government’s Unsustainable Primrose Path of Debt

Month after month, the Trump administration runs multi-billion dollar deficits. The national debt has ballooned to over $22 trillion. According to the most recent Treasury Report, the US has a net worth of negative $21.5 trillion. And this understates the problem. As Wolf Richter of WolfStreet puts it, the US government has “debt out the […]

Spending Us Into Oblivion Is a Bipartisan Sport: SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap 03.29.19

The federal government set an all-time record budget deficit in February. And this is with a Republican in the White House. The GOP is supposed to be the fiscally responsible party. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey offers some interesting analysis that reveals spending money in Washington DC is really […]

Federal Government Runs Largest Deficit Ever in February

The US federal government ran an all-time record deficit of $234 billion in February, according to a Treasury Department report released on Friday. According to Business Insider, the February 2019 deficit topped the previous high of 231.7 billion set in February 2012.