Schiff: If You Understand What Gold Is, You Should Always Have Some

Via SchiffGold.com,

Peter Schiff recently appeared on RT Boom Bust with Ben Swann to talk about safe-haven assets in the age of COVID-19. Peter made the case for gold, saying if you understand its role as money, you know you should always have some. He also debated Swann on the long-term value of bitcoin.

The World Gold Council recently released a report saying gold still has some room to run higher given all of the dynamics in the market. So, where does Peter think gold will go from here? He said he thinks the World Gold Council is underestimating just how high gold will climb.

Because I think they’re also underestimating just how much inflation global central banks are going to create – in particular the Federal Reserve – and how much value the US dollar is going to lose against other fiat currencies, but in particular against real money, which is gold.”

Peter was asked if he thought there was ever a time gold isn’t a good investment.

I don’t even look at gold bullion as an investment. I look at it as a store of value — as an alternative to cash. So, I always think it makes sense to have some cash, right? I mean, especially if you think assets are expensive; if you think stocks are overpriced; if you think real estate is overpriced. And you don’t want to buy now — you want to buy later — how are you going to store that purchasing power? I think storing it in gold is historically much better than just relying on a piece of paper. Even the best fiat currencies have a poor track record relative to gold. So, if you understand what gold is, you should always have some.”

Peter went on to say having gold right now is particularly important given how much money central banks are printing.

I think gold is going to make a much bigger rise against these fiat currencies. But as an investment, I think investors should be at gold mining stocks. I think Warren Buffett had it right by buying Barrick Gold, which I own myself, and I’ve owned for a long time. But there’s a lot of other gold stocks that I think are particularly good investments right now given how much value I think gold is going to gain in the months and years ahead.”

Swann talked about bitcoin, saying he thinks crypto prices will continue to rise for the same reason as gold, noting Jerome Powell’s recent announcement that the Fed will allow inflation to run above 2% with an “average 2%” strategy. He said, this is a long-term game and, “The Fed is not winning a long-term game. They continue to print money, devalue the currency, and continue to essentially run the American currency into the ground.”

Peter said he thinks bitcoin will eventually collapse under its own weight.

I just don’t think bitcoin is a viable alternative to gold. I don’t think it’s a store of value. I agree that there are some people who mistakenly believe it is, and so they may buy it.”

Ben conceded there is a lot of debate about whether bitcoin is truly a store of value. But he insisted you can’t ignore cryptocurrency because of the tremendous technological innovation going on around the blockchain technology that underlies it.

Peter responded saying that just because blockchain technology has value doesn’t mean bitcoin itself does.

I think it’s just a speculative digital token.”