Peter's Blog

Three Records Broken in 2020 That Were Less Than Ideal

With the coronavirus pandemic serving as a backdrop, 2020 was a record-breaking year in many ways. And some of the economic records that fell were, shall we say, less than ideal. In fact, the impacts of these records will almost certainly ripple through the economy as we move into 2021. Here are three records that […]

US Government Runs Yet Another Really Big Deficit in November

The US government kicked off fiscal 2021 with the biggest October deficit in history. But with the first of November falling on a weekend, some November spending got shifted into October, inflating that month’s deficit. Now that we have the November monthly Treasury Statement, we have a better sense of how big deficits are running in […]

Back to Reality: SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap Dec. 4, 2020

After a dismal November, gold and silver are starting to show some signs of life. But what caused the big drop in the price of precious metals last month? Was it warranted? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey looks at the economic and monetary fundamentals and tries to bring […]

Fed Would Need to Double Quantitative Easing to Keep Pace With US Debt

The US government is increasingly relying on the Federal Reserve to prop up the Treasury market and absorb the trillions of dollars in bonds it’s issuing in order to fund its massive budget deficits. The Fed now holds a record 16.5% of US debt. And it’s going to have to buy trillions of dollars of […]

Foreign Share of US Debt Plunging; Fed Picking Up the Slack

Over the last year, the US government had borrowed over $4.2 trillion. The national debt now stands well above $27 trillion. There is no end in sight to the borrowing and spending and that raises a significant question: who is going to buy all of the bonds necessary to finance the government spending machine? Not […]

The Fed Now Holds a Record Percentage of US Debt

The US government has borrowed $4.2 trillion in the last 12 months, pushing the total national debt to over $27 trillion. In order for Uncle Sam to borrow, somebody has to lend. So, who is buying all of these government bonds? Foreign and domestic investors, commercial banks and US government entities all buy US debt, […]

US Government Runs Biggest October Budget Deficit in History

If you thought maybe the federal government would try to rein in the spending after running a recorded budget deficit of $3.13 trillion in fiscal 2020, you were sorely disappointed. Uncle Sam has not kicked his spending habit. October was the first month of FY 2021 and the federal government kicked off the year with […]

There’s No Immunity from the Fed: SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap Nov. 13, 2020

Gold and silver sold off big and the Dow surged Monday on the announcement the Pfizer had successful coronavirus vaccine trials. But Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey says investors should maybe tap the brakes on thinking that a coronavirus vaccine is a cure-all. In this episode, the looks a little deeper at the long-term […]

Who Will Fix The National Debt? It Looks Like Nobody

The FY2020 budget deficit came in at $3.13 trillion. At some point, the US government will have to reckon with the debt and spending. But according to recent analysis from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget, neither Trump nor Biden appear prepared to do so. In fact, its analysis shows Trump would only be […]

Where Are the Gold Bulls? SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap Oct. 23, 2020

Gold has been trading sideways for several weeks. But there are all kinds of reasons to be bullish on the yellow metal. So why isn’t the price of gold rising faster? Where are the gold bulls? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey tries to answer that question and discusses […]