Tag Archives: Money/Economy/Taxes

Peter Schiff on the Rises Prices of Everything

One of Peter’s best videos:

* What experts are saying about gold. When asked, Suzanne Orman hesitantly admitted that investors can buy gold, but just a tiny bit, and certainly not the physical stuff, but an ETF.

If you believe in sound money and the JP Morgan Gold fraud, then it seems like she’s taking her talking points from some very powerful people.

* Big Media propaganda talking about this was the best September (typically a down month) in 71 years.

This is obviously flawed. If, for example, the dollar loses half it’s value in a day, the same analysis will call it the best DAY the stock market has ever seen.

Peter compares the Dow’s 7.7% and S&P’s 8.8% gains to other things:

A Commodities index gained 8.7%.
Soy Beans 9.5%
Copper 10%
Rice 10%
Oil 11%
Corn 12%
Silver 13%
OJ 13%
Cotton 17% (Peter’s jockey shorts beat the Dow)
Sugar 19.3%
Australian Dollar 9%

Peter Asks: “Do you think stocks really went up in value in September, or is it more likely that the dollar lost value?”

* The bogus CPI index says prices went up 1.5%. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee says inflation is too low.

The Real Conundrum: Why the Hell Do We Care if China Manipulates Its Currency in Our Favor?

Finally, some good analysis of China’s currency manipulation. Basically, China is hurting itself and helping us. The outcries about them destroying our exports is a rehash of long-discredited mercantilistic ideas.

This great post on Cafe Hayek rewrites part of a Washington Post article.

Read carefully:

open quote

“This week, committees on both sides of Capitol Hill will plumb the conundrum of Chinese currency manipulation. The conundrum isn’t that — or why — China is manipulating its currency: By undervaluing it, China is systematically able to underprice its exports, putting American (and other nations’) manufacturing consumers and businesses that purchase China’ cheap imports at a significant disadvantage. The conundrum is why the hell the United States isn’t doing thinks it should do anything about it.

There are certainly plenty of senators and congressmen — and Main Street Americans U.S. producers that compete with China — who’d like to see the White House place some tariffs taxes on American consumers and businesses who purchase the underpriced low-priced Chinese imports. If the administration doesn’t act, Congress may just consider mandating some tariffs punitive taxes against American consumers and business on its own.”

close quote

Peter Schiff: Markets, gold bubble, Summers, Bernanke, Obama, Tepper

* Peter thinks dollar is bottomless bit.

* Big media calling gold/silver a bubble. Not true b/c no speculative money flowing into mining stocks.

* Larry Summers resigning. (Returning to pollute the minds of Harvard students.) New adviser should be a parrot that says “print money, print money. . . .”

* At Obama’s CNBC Townhall meeting he talked about the American revolution happening b/c there was “repression without representation,” implying that repression with representation is okay.

* Lots of economics ignorance out there.

PETER SCHIFF ON REGULATION (start @ 6:45)

Peter Schiff on Obama’s tax proposal

Skip to 1:40.

President Obama justifies tax cuts only for middle class help because middle class spends while upper income earner are more likely to save and invest. This may be true, but it’s bad economics. The last thing the U.S. needs is more spending. We need savings & investment.

Instead of criticizing people who invest abroad, Obama should figure out why people want to invest abroad. Sweden coorporate tax rate is 27%. The U.S.’s is 35% (and that’s just federal).

Peter Schiff on last weeks jobs report and more

* Slight point of disagreement: One thing I struggle with is Peter’s insistence that we need manufacturing jobs (@0:35). Neither he nor any other single person knows what the economy needs. The free market will decide. Maybe there is a future in services.

Peter says service jobs lead to a trade deficit, but I suspect the whole notion of a trade deficit is BS. Governments (i.e. nations) don’t trade. People trade.

If I buy a loaf of bread from the bakery down the street, I’m richer in bread and the baker is richer in money. Subjective theory of value. We’re both happy.

If I take a long walk, and buy the bread from a baker in Canada, doesn’t the same situation hold true? Isn’t everybody richer? Why do we speak of this latter situation in terms of a trade imbalance? Perhaps it’s for the employment of all those government economists and television pundits.

* Meaningful recoveries all over the world. This is primarily a U.S. problem.

* Metals very strong because dollar is finally weakening. (Investors originally fled to the dollar, follow the old, incorrect philosophy that dollar=security.)

* Tax cuts are good, but government shouldn’t be targeting them, or combining them with business load guarantees.

* Some Bloomberg reporter dismissed double dib with the logic: things are pretty bad, so they probably can’t get worse.

* We probably can’t afford Obama’s latest idea – a new GI bill.