In this past week’s radio show, Peter Schiff seems to have taken a turn from his earlier, steadfast resistance to everyone’s recommendations and support he run for US Senate. For the first time now, Schiff concedes that he might run for Senate and that he is considering it. Sites like Peter Schiff for Senate 2010 and on Twitter @Schiff2010 are testimony to all the support Schiff has been getting from the public.
A former advisor to Ron Paul (R-Texas) and founder of EuroPacific Capital, Schiff is a brilliant economic analyst and investment advisor who correctly foresaw the 2008 collapse and who predicts worse to come.
Highlights from his hour-long radio show on May 27, 2009
- it’s better for the US to *honestly* default on its debts rather than through inflation, which is dishonest and worse in the long run
- can you imagine how wealthy Beijing, Shanghai will be in 20 years? Invest in China now
- he’s in process of launching a mutual fund focusing on China sometime within 2009 for smaller clients; he will be running it
- there’s a backup in interest rates, and they’re going to move higher still
- the more money they print to buy bonds, the less attractive they make the bonds
- bond charts look horrific now, looks bearish for bonds going forward
- another downleg for the US dollar is coming; you should buy gold
- some Singaporean stocks have tripled since October 2008, recovered over 90% of their decline
Peter Schiff Is Not Perfect, Even Holds Seemingly Contradictory Positions
Schiff is pretty much a straight-line libertarian, by-the-book Austrian economist. He believes the government should not interfere in any way with capital markets, even if, apparently, purely capitalist principles run awild end up hurting people. But to Schiff’s credit, he also hates oppressive mutual fund fees and lack of transparency (which others would treat with a bit of regulation, something he’s against).
Then there are his thoughts on Sotomayor, the Supreme Court nominee. He thinks she’s going to be biased because she’s proud about her gender and social background. He thinks he’d do a better job with economic policy (assumption: a white male is not embedded in any social context/ideology).
Unfortunately, Peter Schiff believes in the ideal of the fully “rational” actor and assumes everyone is/should be as “rational” an actor as he is. Schiff is pretty rational in the sense of being a really good ideal/rule-follower. He “abides” perfectly by the constitution. To this I sometimes feel like saying that maybe, just MAYBE it’s possible that the constitution can be an imperfect document. (Here it’s fun to recall Obama’s comment about the union which is not perfect but can be perfected.) It can contain mistake, things we might want to do differently. But Schiff sees it much more in black-and-white terms. He says “the constitution doesn’t need to be interpreted. It’s very easy to understand. The only thing that needs to be interpreted are the facts.”
Yet there are still seeming contradictions in his views. Schiff thinks he can do a better job and “interject” better economic policy than Sotomayor would. If so, what happens to his stance on the government not interfering with economics? Looks like that’s what he would be doing in spite of his libertarian positions. As long as there has to be economic policy, there will have to be some de facto level of government “interference” in the economy.
Don’t get me wrong, overall I completely support Schiff’s efforts at educating the populace. Just like I support Robert T. Kiyosaki (of Rich Dad, Poor Dad)’s efforts even if all his advice isn’t suitable for everyone. It’s all about getting yourself educated on financial and economic matters. Peter Schiff is doing an amazing job of that and in the current economic climate I’d support him in Senate as well, if it weren’t for the obvious contradiction this seems to make with his own philosophy (I could be wrong; please correct me!).
Who To Follow On Twitter For Peter Schiff Updates
Schiff himself is not on Twitter yet. Several accounts have been started in his name, however, such as:
@PeterSchiff
@peter_schiff
@PeterDSchiff
And there are others you can follow who give updates about Schiff’s activities, speaking engagements, etc.
@VoxSchiff (Peter’s brother, Andrew)
@ShellyRoche
@PeterSchiffNews
@Schiff2010
If you’ve read up to here, I’ll assume you’re probably also a Peter Schiff fan or at least interested in much of what he has to say. Have you read my review of Schiff’s latest book? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Are you concerned about the US Dollar?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I like Schiff and think that much of his advise is common sense and of course he has predicted the current collapse correctly. But there is something about politics that has the wrong kind of impact on anyone.
I would like to know more about how he would defended the Constitution, Courts and Religion? If he wants the people behind him then he will have to show where he stand on these issues. How will he keep the original intent of the constitution, and remove all the groverment power from taking over everthing?