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Gold or the Government, which do you believe?

Peter Schiff
Sep 18, 2005

Earlier this week, Wall Street Pollyannas reacted with glee to the release of seemingly mild producer and consumer prices data. While August PPI and CPI rose .6% and .5%, annualizing to 7.5% and 6% respectively, the completely meaningless, highly manipulated, "core" numbers, which have conveniently become the only figures making headlines, were far less alarming. According to the government, August "core" PPI was unchanged, while "core" CPI rose a scant .1%.

However, not to be fooled, the price of gold, considered by many to be the ultimate inflation indicator, rose to a new seventeen-year high, gaining about ten dollars this week, and over twenty dollars in the last three. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index (XAU) gained about 7% on the week, bringing its three-week gain to 17%.

As the price of Gold tends to rise in inflationary periods, economists should ask themselves if they believe the government or gold. History and recent anecdotal evidence certainly favor gold. On Thursday, the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturers report for September revealed that despite a sharp slowdown, its prices paid index surged 257 points to its highest reading since January. In addition, this week the national average price of unleaded gasoline breached the three dollar per gallon level for the first time ever, exceeding the inflation adjusted peak of $2.94 set back in 1981. Actually, today's average would be even higher if it reflected the same percentage of gas sold at full service prices as was the case in 1981.

Also the week saw fresh releases of trade and current account deficit data. As an example of the power of diminished expectations, July's horrific $57.9 Billion trade deficit was greeted as good news, as it was less than the slightly more horrifying $60 billion that had been feared. The second quarter current account deficit, which came in at a higher than expected $195.7 billion, would have been a new all-time record, had it not been for the upward revision of the first quarter current account deficit to $198.7 billion. The $3 billion narrowing in the quarterly current account deficit (the first time since 2003) can hardly be seen as progress, as it resulted entirely from a $4.4 billion reduction in foreign aid. Widening trade and current account deficits will exert additional downward pressure on the dollar and upward pressure on consumer prices. Finally, President Bush's "Marshall Plan" for the Gulf Coast will only fuel inflation's fire, as the money needed to fund it will either be created by the Fed, or borrowed from abroad.

Perhaps the most important reason to be skeptical of government inflation numbers is that the government, like a fox campaigning to guard a hen house, has many reasons to be disingenuous. As the world's largest debtor, the Federal Government, is inflation's primary beneficiary. More importantly, for America's bubble economy to continue expanding, politicians must keep consumers borrowing and spending. By transferring wealth from creditors to debtors, inflation helps makes this possible. For debtors, inflation reduces the real burden of debt service, while simultaneously increasing the prices of their assets, particularly their houses. Unfortunately for creditors, the vast majority of American voters are debtors, and monetary policy is therefore conducted specifically to benefit the latter. Considering the fact that so many creditors are foreigners, and therefore ineligible to vote, this amounts to a political no-brainer.

However, this policy can only "succeed" as long as the Government can con America's creditors into believing that inflation is not a threat, even as it creates it with increased veracity. Recent evidence suggests that this propaganda campaign is beginning to wear thin. This week's pronounced weakness in the bond market, despite soft economic data and "benign core" inflation numbers, reveals that more investors are getting wise to the con, and looking to gold rather than the government as a reliable indicator of inflation.

Sep 16, 2005

Do not wait for pull backs that may never come. Buy gold at current prices and do not look back. I still believe the best way for average investors to participate is though the Perth Mint in Australia. For more information on their unique, safe, private, low-cost program visit www.goldyoucanfold.com.

In addition, as the dollar's value is likely to sink far faster than those of other fiat currencies, investors can learn strategies to protect wealth and preserve purchasing power by downloading my free research report on the coming collapse of the U.S. dollar at www.researchreportone.com and subscribing to my free, on-line investment newsletter at http://www.europac.net/newsletter/newsletter.asp.

Peter Schiff
C.E.O. and Chief Global Strategist
Euro Pacific Capital, Inc.
1 800-727-7922
email: pschiff@europac.net

website: www.europac.net
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Mr. Schiff is one of the few non-biased investment advisors (not committed solely to the short side of the market) to have correctly called the current bear market before it began and to have positioned his clients accordingly. As a result of his accurate forecasts on the U.S. stock market, commodities, gold and the dollar, he is becoming increasingly more renowned. He has been quoted in many of the nation's leading newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Investor's Business Daily, The Financial Times, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, The Miami Herald, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Arizona Republic, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Christian Science Monitor, and has appeared on CNBC, CNNfn., and Bloomberg. In addition, his views are frequently quoted locally in the Orange County Register.

Mr. Schiff began his investment career as a financial consultant with Shearson Lehman Brothers, after having earned a degree in finance and accounting from U.C. Berkley in 1987. A financial professional for seventeen years he joined Euro Pacific in 1996 and has served as its President since January 2000. An expert on money, economic theory, and international investing, he is a highly recommended broker by many of the nation's financial newsletters and advisory services.

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