Peter's Blog

What’s Going on in Turkey?

You’ve probably heard about economic troubles in Turkey. But what’s really going on and what caused it? In simplest terms, Turkey is in the midst of a currency crisis. The value of the lira has dropped to record lows. Year-to-date, the Turkish currency has fallen 45% against the US dollar. The official inflation rate is […]

Cost of Servicing US Debt Hits Decade High

After Pres Trump signed a bill raising the debt ceiling last fall, we warned that rising interest rates could crush the US federal budget under interest payments. Well, interest rates are going up and so is the cost of servicing the US government’s $21-plus trillion debt.

Busting a Myth: Gold Makes Boom-Bust Cycles Worse

Some people claim gold isn’t “sound” money any more than dollars or euros. They argue that the gold supply can be inflated just like a fiat currency. After all, gold is constantly being pulled out of the ground, right? They say a gold standard actually makes the boom-bust cycle worse. But commentators who make this […]

Money Printing Does Not Do an Economy Good

The following article was written by Peter Schmidt. Any views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.  When Nixon closed the gold window in August 1971, the US found itself in exactly the same economic circumstances as Britain had in September 1931 when she reneged on her gold […]

Ben Bernanke and Company Pass “Chapter 9” with Flying Colors

A 1980s era Far Side cartoon featured a veterinary student named Doreen studying equine medicine in Chapter 9 of her textbook. On the left-hand side of the page was a list of horse ailments. They included things like a broken leg, infected eye, runny nose, and a fever to name just a few. On the […]

Modern Monetary Policy Has Gutted Working Class Incomes

The following article was written by Peter Schmidt. Any views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.  When currency was backed by gold, a central bank’s main function was to maintain the value of the issued currency in terms of gold.  For example, if a central bank created […]

Just How Dangerous Is Trump’s Latest Fed Board of Governors Pick?

Last week, Pres. Donald Trump nominated Marvin Goodfriend to fill a vacancy on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. When we reported the news, we called him “another swamp creature” – a member of the Washington D.C./Wall Street clan Trump promised to drain away. We’re not alone in our thinking. In an article on the Mises […]

Walking in Their Footsteps: Powell Will Maintain Status Quo at Fed

It looks like Trump’s pick to chair the Federal Reserve plans to walk in the footsteps of his predecessors. In other words, we can expect the legacy of Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen to continue unbroken. That means a continuation of interventionist monetary policy, artificially low interest rates into the foreseeable future, and plenty of quantitative easing […]

Ron Paul: Republican Tax Plan Increases the Most Insidious Tax

Ron Paul has identified an increase in what he calls the “most insidious tax” buried in the GOP tax reform bill. A lot of Americans have put a lot of hope in tax reform. As Peter Schiff said in a recent Fox Business interview, the prospect of economic growth spurred by tax reform and other […]

In Fed We Trust…Or Do We?

There’s been a lot of focus on the Federal Reserve lately. Earlier this month, the central bank launched efforts to shrink its balance sheet after years of quantitative easing. Most analysts also expect one more interest rate increase this year. Then there is rampant speculation about who will take the reins at the Fed when Janet […]