In a recent in-depth interview Peter Schiff, a well-known economist and gold advocate, painted a bleak picture for the U.S. dollar and the broader economy, tracing current inflationary pressures back to the 2008 financial meltdown.
During an interview on First TV, as first reported by Bitcoin.com, Schiff argued that policies adopted post the crisis, specifically the quantitative easing measures dubbed QE1, QE2, and QE3, coupled with the fiscal response to the Covid pandemic, are the primary drivers of the escalating inflation rates.
Schiff also pointed to the US’s growing fiscal imbalances, drawing attention to an annual budget deficit nearing $2 trillion and a steadily mounting national debt. Per his words this is going to “lead to much higher inflation in the future than what we’ve experienced in the past.”
The gold proponent noted that he believes interest rates are “going to be a much bigger problem in 2024” than they were this year, and added:
Interest rates are a price. And it’s an important price for a lot of companies, just like labor, and rent, and raw materials, companies borrow money to conduct their business, to make capital investments, to expand. A lot of these companies have taken up debt over the years and now the cost of servicing that debt has risen sharply.
Schiff also warned that he believes the value of the US dollar is collapsing, saying it’s possible to “already see the world is trying to divest itself of the dollar.” He pointed to a “big movement to look for alternatives” that’s already happening, with trading partners of the United States supposedly looking to move away from the country’s fiat currency.
As this happens, he said, the value of the dollar is “going to fall very fast,” with prices rising “much faster than they have been,” at which point he sees the economy spiraling out of control amid a sovereign debt crisis.
Schiff added he believes the Federal Reserve is then going to “print money until the dollar collapses.” As CryptoGlobe reported, in a recent interview the well-known economist revealed mounting concerns regarding the stability of the U.S. dollar, saying there’s “going to be a massive crisis,” that will send “the economy into a tailspin.”
Featured image via Pixabay.
