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Are "gold bugs" Unpatriotic?Peter Schiff I can not speak for everyone, but as a self professed "gold-bug" myself, if there were any way for America's many economic imbalances to be resolved painlessly, of course I would root for that outcome. However, as this is no more possible than a heroin addict kicking the habit without going through withdrawal, it makes no sense to hope for it simply to satisfy someone else's misguided concept of patriotism. In fact, from my perspective, letting my emotions guide my investment recommendations, even under the pretext of patriotism, would be completely irresponsible. As I have often written, America's problems are in reality no different than the problems facing many of its individual families -- we live beyond our means by consuming more than we produce, financing the difference by borrowing from abroad. Ultimately the enormous accumulation of external liabilities means that Americans will be forced to significantly reduce their future consumption in order to service and repay these debts. In effect, rather than our excess consumption reflecting superior economic performance, it merely evidences our willingness to trade future for present consumption. Of course, a significant reduction in consumption, which accounts for better than 70% of GDP, means a severe recession. However, recognizing that this recession is absolutely necessary, and preferring that it occur sooner rather than later, does that make me unpatriotic. On the contrary, the further in the future this recession takes place the more painful and disruptive it will be. The bigger the economic hole we dig for ourselves, the more difficult it will be to get out. My forecast however does not imply that I am happy about having to make it. I would certainly have preferred it if Americans had not gotten themselves into this mess in the first place. Because of my concerns, I have advised my clients to invest abroad. When the dollar falls, those investments benefit from that decline. Certainly as a broker I am happy about that outcome, but as an American I would have preferred not to have been forced to invest abroad in the first place. While it is true that a falling dollar benefits my clients, in the long run it will also benefit America, as its decline is a necessary step in the badly-needed, long overdue adjustment process. The longer the dollar is supported at artificially high levels, the deeper our imbalances become. Would I prefer it if a fundamentally strong U.S economy produced an equally strong dollar? Would such an outcome be preferable to an unbalanced economy producing a dollar collapse? Of course, but since that scenario is impossible, why waste time or risk my clients' money, on sheer fantasy? While I am certainly glad that I have been able to protect so many Americans from potentially suffering the full impact of the dollar's coming demise, that does not mean that I am happy about having to have done so in the first place. As I am powerless to alter the course our nation is on, I am making a difference the only way I can. However, I am keenly aware of the pain millions of Americans not fortunate enough to be among my clients will undoubtedly suffer, and expect to take no joy in their collective misfortune. On the bright side, at least those Americans whose wealth I am able to help protect will be better positioned to assist other Americans who lacked the foresight to do likewise. Ironically, despite aspersions about their patriotism, I find most "gold-bugs" to be among America's most patriotic citizens. The Constitution of the United States specifically establishes gold and silver as money in Article 1, Section 10 by denying the states the power to make anything other than gold and silver coin legal tender in payment of debt, and in Article 1, Section 8 by only authorizing the Federal government to coin money (gold and silver) and regulate its value. Since none of the monetary provisions of the Constitution have ever been repealed or amended, they remain in effect to this day. Since in America we do not swear oaths to defend the government, but to preserve and protect the Constitution, not only is gold ownership financially prudent, it is down-right patriotic. Note on today's GDP numbers Be a patriot. Protect your wealth
and preserve your purchasing power before it's too late. Discover
the best way to buy gold at www.goldyoucanfold.com, download my free
research report on the powerful case for investing in foreign
equities available at www.researchreportone.com, and subscribe to
my free, on-line investment newsletter at http://www.europac.net/newsletter/newsletter.asp.
321gold Inc |
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.