Benzinga - by Shanthi Rexaline, Benzinga Editor.
Noted economist and gold bull Peter Schiff on Wednesday issued a dire warning, as he took cognizance of the recent weak economic data.
What Happened: “If Americans think the economy is bad now, just wait until they see what's coming,” Schiff said.
The July month's “Job Opening and Labor Turnover” survey showed that job vacancies fell to the lowest level in 28 months, data released earlier this week showed. ADP's private payrolls survey for August showed that the sector added a less-than-expected 177,000 jobs, markedly lower than the July gain of 371,000.
Consumer confidence, which has been resilient so far, took a turn for the worse in August, with the Conference Board's consumer confidence slipping to nearly a 1-1/2 year low in August. This is bad news for the near term, as consumers fuel two-thirds of the economic activity.
The stock market has taken the bad news in its stride, given its hope that the bad data points will prompt the Fed to hold fire.
If Americans think the #economy is bad now, just wait until they see what's coming. Once the dollar cracks, both #inflation and interest rates will rise sharply. This will send the economy deeper into #recession, causing many people to lose their jobs. That's the real Bidenomics.— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) August 30, 2023
Economy Hanging On Cliff? Schiff warned of a bigger impact once the dollar begins to crack. The Dollar Index, which ended last week at 104.08, has pulled back amid the release of the weak data. It settled Wednesday's session at $103.13, down 0.39%.
If the dollar caves in, inflation and interest rates will rise sharply, Schiff warned. A weaker dollar pushes up import costs, as importers may have to shelve out more dollars for the same quantity of goods than they did earlier. A weaker dollar also makes the country's products and services less competitive in the global markets.
“This will send the economy deeper into #recession, causing many people to lose their jobs," he said, adding, "That's the real Bidenomics.”
The iShares TIPS Bond ETF (NYSE:TIP), an exchange-traded fund tracking the performance of an index composed of inflation-protected U.S. Treasury bonds, ended Wednesday’s session down 0.15% at $105.85, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Read Next: Inflation Still Bites: Gold Bull Peter Schiff Foresees Triple-Digit McDonald’s Family Lunch Prices
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