The United States economy will slump into an "inflationary depression" imminently, says economist and investor Peter Schiff.
Many banks and financial firms are anticipating a slight recession occurring over the next year or two. Wells Fargo released an adjusted base case forecast that predicts a mild economic downturn in the middle of 2023. However, Schiff, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Euro Pacific Capital, says that economic weakness will be pronounced over a long period of time. Schiff says he hesitates to call this future slump a recession, as it doesn't seem to capture the severity of the incoming collapse. He adds that the United States will spend most of the next decade in a depression, as prices will skyrocket much higher than in the inflation crisis of the 1970s.
To Schiff, we are already in a recession with low unemployment and have been for the past six or seven months. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that new job postings are at their lowest since April 2021, and as this apparent current recession worsens, he says that unemployment will begin to rise, putting more pressure on the economy. To prevent this from occurring, Schiff says that the Federal government needs to aid the central bank in tamping down inflation. Though inflation will fall to 6% soon, this will lull many into a false sense of security. Over time, monetary policies that fuel inflation will wreak havoc on the economy, and rates could be as high as 11% soon without Fed intervention.
"They're talking about quantitative tightening, but they're not going to do it," Schiff tells The Epoch Times. "They're going to print more money because that's the only way the government can finance these debts."
