Many have said this is the new normal in the Trump era, as Congress’ tax cuts kick in and the president’s rules-and-regulations cutting begin to loosen the noose that had been strangling economic growth in the Age of Obama.
But not everyone is all rosy about America’s fiscal outlook and, in fact, some are downright pessimistic about it, to say the least.
Count economic forecaster Peter Schiff.
In a recent warning to clients, the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital notes that the U.S. dollar is just now beginning to weaken but that will continue.
“We have just begun a major, long-term bear market in the dollar,” he said, which is going to cause a spike in oil prices (even though production has also been hitting records, on its way to 10 million barrels per day sooner than expected, according to the Energy Information Agency). Rather than remain in the $55-$65 per barrel range where it’s been in recent weeks, Schiff sees oil heading north — way north — to the $80-$100 range this year.
And, of course, as oil prices rise, that has a compounding effect throughout the economy because everything takes energy to run or produce. When it costs more to make something or get something somewhere, then companies have to charge more for the product in order to pay for the higher production and shipping costs. And so forth.
But the hike in oil prices will be much more, Schiff says. Price increases will serve as a massive tax hike for consumers (who just got tax cuts thanks to Republicans and President Donald J. Trump).
That said, the Federal Reserve is still worried that prices aren’t rising fast enough and “they won’t hit that mystical 2 percent goal,” writes Mac Slavo of SHTFPlan.com. (Related: What happens when socialists run out of money: Venezuelans reach point of desperation as starvation and inflation both go ballistic.)
Schiff sees it differently. “They’re going to hit that out of the park,” he said of inflation. “They’re going to be looking at 2 percent in the rearview mirror — in the distant rearview mirror. That is going to be the big story. They’re going to way overshoot and they’re not going to be able to do anything about it.”
He notes further: “Everything that can go wrong, will,” adding that we’re not really experiencing economic growth, we’re experiencing inflation (home buyers in many of our largest housing markets would already agree with that).
And “high inflation is not good for the dollar,” said Schiff. “By definition, high inflation means the dollar is losing purchasing power. If the dollar is losing purchasing power, that is bad for the dollar.
“If they [investors and the general public] don’t think there’s going to be inflation, they’re wrong. Those expectations are totally wrong,” the economic forecaster claimed. “People are ignoring what’s going on in the currency market, what’s going on in the commodities markets, what’s going on in the bond markets,” he continued. “All of this stuff is flashing inflation — at least the way you measure it, consumer prices.”
He also says we’re “close” to a “major breakdown in the bond market.” While it has “dodged a lot of bullets” recently, Schiff said it will continue to hold up “until it doesn’t.”
When it fails, it will “unravel,” which, he said, could come “very, very quickly.”
He added that the Fed will attempt to ward off a crash in the stock market by not raising interest rates, but that will “lead to the imploding of the dollar.”
“I don’t know if this is going to unravel very quickly, but it is close,” he warned.
Listen here:
https://youtu.be/StYxb3hNqxY
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J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.
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