Peter Schiff to Bernanke: “I’m Your Biggest Critic”

by SchiffGold 4 12

Peter Schiff spoke briefly with Ben Bernanke at the SkyBridge Alternatives (SALT) Conference yesterday. Approaching the former Federal Reserve Chairman, Peter warned, “In full disclosure, I’m your biggest critic.” Bernanke didn’t miss a beat: “You have a lot of competition.”

Of course, it’s no secret that Peter has been a highly respected critic of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies since well before the financial crisis of 2008. Peter consistently argues that the Fed’s go-to “solution” of zero-percent interest rates and quantitative easing is only prolonging the Great Recession that the Fed itself created.

Yesterday, Peter published his latest criticism of the Fed. “The Embarrassment of Transparency” skewers the central bank for its terrible track record of economic forecasting. Using the Fed’s own public GDP forecasts, Peter demonstrates that the Fed “has been consistently, and sometimes spectacularly, wrong.” He argues that Fed officials are either (a) simply terrible forecasters, (b) ignorant of the true economic effects of the Fed’s policies, or (c) knowing cheerleaders for a misleading recovery narrative.

Peter’s biting and contrarian viewpoints seem to have been somewhat welcomed at SALT, at least as reported by the national media. As The New York Times put it:

Mr. Schiff, who is bearish on the United States economy, drew applause and laughter from the audience when he likened taking a long bet on the United States to being long on subprime mortgages, which helped ignite the financial crisis in 2008.”

Peter also pushed back against the government’s claims that declining employment figures are simply due to retiring Baby Boomers. Instead, he emphasized for the crowd of hedge fund managers and business titans how the economic slump has hit young people hardest:

They used to say if you don’t want to work at McDonald’s, go to college. Now they say if you want to work at McDonald’s, go to college.”

Want to hear exactly how Peter’s conversation with Bernanke went down? Click here to listen to Peter’s podcast on the encounter.

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