Peter's Blog

The Fed Pulled Off a Masterful Manipulation of the Junk Bond Market

The Federal Reserve pulled off a magnificent manipulation of the junk bond market, facilitated a massive wealth transfer from savers to speculators, pocketed millions of dollars, and then washed its hands of the matter. In March 2020, as governments shut down the economy for coronavirus, the Fed slashed interest rates and launched a massive quantitative […]

The Fed’s Artificially Low Interest Rates Are Eating Away at Social Security

The Federal Reserve has held interest rates artificially low for decades. This causes all kinds of distortions and misallocations in the economy. And it’s creating quite a problem for the Social Security Administration.

The Taper Is On

The Federal Reserve wrapped up its November FOMC meeting on Wednesday and finally did something other than talk. The central bank announced it will begin to taper its massive quantitative easing program.

What’s the Difference Between Naturally and Artificially Low Interest Rates?

We know that the Federal Reserve pushes interest rates artificially low by manipulating the federal funds rate (the target interest rate that commercial banks borrow and lend their excess reserves to each other) and using monetary policy maneuvers such as quantitative easing. But could we have low interest rates without Fed intervention? In this clip, […]

Fed Absorbs $60B of 1 to 5-Year US Treasuries in September

The Fed keeps talk, talk, talking about tapering quantitative easing, but the balance sheet continues to get bigger and bigger and bigger. The Fed balance sheet stands at $8.45 trillion, up by$115 billion from the prior month-end.

Does the Fed Really Want a “Bond Market Tantrum”?

A Reuters article by Stefano Rebaudo argued that the Federal Reserve might welcome a “bond market tantrum” that pushes bond yields higher. But does the Fed really want higher interest rates? And what would that mean for the economy? Despite the post-pandemic economic improvement and wide expectations that the Fed will begin tapering quantitative easing […]

Breaking Down the $171 Billion August Federal Budget Deficit

The Federal Budget Deficit for August 2021 was $171B which was down from the $302B in July. The chart below shows the Federal Budget for the previous 18 months.

Peter Schiff: Jerome Powell Tapers the Taper Talk

Jerome Powell delivered his much-anticipated speech virtually during the Jackson Hole summit on Aug. 27. Peter Schiff talked about the speech during his podcast. Everybody expected a hawkish speech outlining the Fed’s plan to taper quantitative easing. Instead, Powell tapered the taper talk.

Markets Are Moving on a Fantasy

We’ve seen a sharp selloff in both gold and silver. Gold was down over $40 an ounce Friday. Meanwhile, the US dollar saw a sharp increase, along with a rise in long-term Treasury yields. The catalyst for these sharp moves was a better-than-expected jobs report and expectation that it will spark a quick pivot to […]

Central Banks Have Created the Mother of All Bubbles

The Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world have pumped trillions of dollars into the global economy and depressed interest rates to artificially low levels to blow up the mother of all bubbles. The recent acquisition of Afterpay by Square reveals the extent of this global bubble economy that will inevitably have to […]