Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital is a familiar name to economy watchers. As Martin Weiss says,
Not only was his massively best-selling book — Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Economic Collapse — dead right about the debt crisis and the Great Recession, but he has now taken this effort to the next level: A maverick campaign for Senate in the State of Connecticut.
I am not putting up this post because Schiff is running for the Senate, but because I think it useful to be familiar with his views on the economy. Memorable lines:
Schiff: Forget about “double dip.” I do not believe the recession ever ended. In fact, I think we are in the early stages of a depression. True, GDP grew in the last few quarters, but none of that growth was real. It simply resulted from spending more borrowed money, which we now have to repay. If you net the debt out of the growth, we didn’t really grow at all. We simply dug ourselves into a deeper hole. . .
If policy makers don't wise up to counsels such as his, Schiff offers a warning (a real zinger to me):
I think many of our grandchildren will decide to leave [America]. They will go to other countries. And I’d much prefer not to force them to emigrate the way my grandparents had to, coming to America in search of freedom.
I don’t want our descendants to have to go to Asia to find freedom. I’d rather have freedom here. But if we make it so inhospitable, if we regulate them and tax away their freedoms, if we try to stick them with all the bills, they will leave us with the tab. We will have to suffer the consequences of our own profligacy. [more . .]