Peter Schiff, a U.S. economist and gold advocate, has attributed the lacklustre performance of gold mining companies to the rising inflation rate, which contrasts with a largely static gold price. Schiff maintains that the U.S. inflation rate would have been even higher if the U.S. Federal Reserve had not increased interest rates. The economist also sharply criticized a New York court’s ruling against former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Economist Peter Schiff Says Gold Price Not Rising Fast Enough, Condemns Civil Ruling Against Donald Trump
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Gold Mining Stocks ‘Ironic Victims of Inflation’
Peter Schiff, an economist, has attributed the struggles of gold mining companies, such as Newmont Corporation, to rising inflation on one side and a stagnant gold price on the other. This mismatch, according to Schiff, renders the extraction of the precious commodity prohibitively expensive, thereby eroding a gold miner’s profits.
The economist also attributes the underwhelming performance of gold mining stocks, currently at a 25-year low, to a disproportionate increase in mining costs relative to the gold price. The latter has averaged just under $2,000 per ounce in recent years. Schiff, a gold advocate and prominent bitcoin critic, believes this situation demonstrates that gold stocks are “ironic victims of inflation.”
Furthermore, Schiff views this scenario as a vindication of an argument he has long been making about the impact of inflation-fueling policies by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks. However, despite his history of criticizing the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policies over the past two decades, Schiff maintains that the Federal Reserve’s current interest rate policy is an appropriate one for the U.S. economy.
Judgment Against Trump Undermines Confidence in U.S. Legal System
In his weekly podcast, Schiff contended that absent the rate hikes that were a mainstay of the Federal Reserve’s policy announcements in 2023, the U.S. inflation rate would be even higher. Addressing critics of this interest rate policy, Schiff stated:
“This is not restrictive monetary policy. Again, less loose doesn’t qualify as tight… What is being restricted? Is the government being restricted? Is there any cutback in government spending? Is the government borrowing less because the Fed has increased the cost of borrowing money? No! The government is borrowing more! In fact, they’re borrowing more to pay the higher interest rates.”
Shifting his focus to a New York court’s decision to impose a more than $350 million fine on Donald Trump, Schiff expressed his dismay over what he perceives as the politicization of the U.S. legal system.
According to a Washington Post report, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron recently signed a judgment of more than $350 million against the former U.S. President. The penalty relates to Trump’s alleged fraudulent business practices committed between 2011 and 2021.
However, in Schiff’s view, such a ruling erodes trust in the United States’ legal system and may drive international money away from the U.S.
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