The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that it is keeping interest rates unchanged (SEE: Federal Reserve will not be raising interest rates (updates)). The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided against hiking rates, which was supposedly a lock just a month ago until the turmoil that occurred in the stock market. Everyone was saying that the United States central bank would raise rates, except one person: Peter Schiff.
That’s right. Peter Schiff was right. Again.
For months, Schiff appeared on CNBC and other business news networks to explain that the Fed wouldn’t be raising interest rates at all because it simply can’t, citing the fragile economy and astronomical amounts of debt. Schiff was ridiculed and insulted of making outlandish predictions that never come true (SEE: Peter Schiff gets into shouting match with trader on CNBC).
Schiff’s biggest prediction is that the Fed will turn on the printing press once again and introduce a fourth edition of quantitative easing. Most people disagree with this sentiment, but these were the same people who thought the Fed was going to raise interest rates on multiple occasions.
Here are comments that Schiff has made for the last several months pertaining to the Fed and interest rates:
“I don’t think the Fed ever really, seriously considered raising rates in the first place. I think they wanted to create that impression, they wanted the markets to believe that rate hikes were under consideration, because they want markets to believe that the economic recovery is legitimate and that the economy can actually withstand the higher rates that they’re pretending that they’re ready to deliver.” – Kitco News, Sept. 2
“It should be clear the Janet Yellen-controlled Fed would not want to risk such a scenario. This is why I believe that if the sharp sell-off in stocks continues, we will get a clear signal that rate hikes are off the table.” – Financial Post, Aug. 26
“For awhile, people thought that the stock market can handle higher interest rates. That was just a pipe dream. They can’t. That’s the only thing propping up the market.” – CNBC, Aug. 26
“If the Fed takes away the zero percent interest rates, this market is going to implode and we’re right back at recession… that is what is hurting markets around the world. It’s the fear of higher interest rates. That’s propping up the dollar, that’s depressing emerging markets, that’s depressing commodity markets.” – Russia Today, Aug. 26
“They’re going to back away. The Fed’s going to call off the rate hike. In fact, I don’t think they ever planned on raising rates. The whole thing was a bluff. The markets just haven’t figured that out yet.” – Newsmax, Aug. 24
“Our economy is in much worse shape than the Chinese economy. The Fed is going to be forced to admit this. They’re not going to be raising interest rates; they’re going to be doing QE4.” – Newsmax, Aug. 13
“They are going to do QE4, they’re going to do QE5, they’re going to do QE’s indefinitely until a currency crisis ends the party and they can’t do it anymore. And that crisis is going to come. That is what the drug addicts on Wall Street want. They want another fix, and I think the pushers are going to provide it, unfortunately.” – CNBC, Aug. 12
“I believe that the Fed wants us to think that the economy is strong, in the hopes that perception may one day soon become reality. But I do not believe the Fed has any actual intention of delivering the rate increases that it may expect will damage our already weak economy.” – Newsmax, May 28
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