The expected negative reaction to last night’s from investor Peter Schiff… As usual, it’s a very concise and cogent takedown on the fundamental premises underlying the plans Obama roughly outlined in his address to Congress. Schiff of course is betting on the outcome of the artificial stimulus to the economy being hyperinflation and an eventual collapse of the dollar.
Note: The picture quality is terrible on this one — it’s hoped that before too long, he’ll invest in an inexpensive digital camera for his lap top.
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I read his book — Crash Proof. Very heavy on gold. Government’s evil.
One thing about Schiff… he always predicts hyperinflation. Always.
The commodity bubble we had at the start of the year was his signal that hyperinflation was beginning. But as someone who rebutted Schiff’s point made some interesting points in countering Schiff’s hyperinflation theory.
1. If the US is engaged in hyperinflation, the smartest move would be to buy real estate since there hasn’t been hyperinflation where real estate prices declined. Even Schiff isn’t advising this.
2. The entire world is stimulating, so it’s not as though it’s the US alone who’s inflating money output.
3. The greatest monetary expansion in the US was during the Great Depression and WWII. There wasn’t hyperinflation during that period.
It’s possible Schiff might be right this time, but he’s a little like the boy who called wolf. There’s a layer of cynicism that makes it difficult to believe him, yes, even when he may be right.
Good points. That’s a very comprehensive rebuttal you linked to. Thanks.
Wouldn’t it be great if there weren’t so many conflicting opinions about the economy? I find it so confusing some times. Well, most of the time, actually.
It is confusing. They don’t seem completely wrong — they’re just not completely right. The problem is that economist they seem divided into these various camps where they refine their own theories and seem blind to the theories being spun by the other groups out there. They need to mingle more.
Much like politics in that regard. People get stuck in their ideological trenches more often than not.
Was this video produced by the same group that did the Dion video?
Inflation is a devil we know well, and can fight it should it come around. Right now, we need to be more concerned about deflation.
Schiff looked like a prophet in 2006 when he’d go on Fox News warning about the housing bubble.
I haven’t read his books, I’m only familiar with the Youtube videos about him.
Gold is now hovering around $1000 again, so he’s right in that regard.