John Williams discusses the economy, monetary policy, precious metals

Chris Waltzek, Goldseek Radio, Released on 3/30/16

• Economist John Williams of Shadowstats.com returns to the show with a characteristically non-sanguine stance on the economy.
• Global QE operations are detrimental, meant only for temporary banking system support, as a result long-term QE operations have caused economic dependence.
• The low rate methodology is particularly deleterious for retiree’s, many of whom
• House loans are challenging to procure; 25% of existing house sales are cash transactions, indicating nervousness on the part of lenders.
• Our guest expects Fed policymakers to revamp QE operations to prevent a systemic collapse in the US dollar.
• Anything to avoid a Great Deflation – sending inflation to much higher levels.
• The action fails to address the Fiscal spending / monetary debt issues. John Williams favors physical bullion, gold / silver sovereign coins over bullion bars.
• The host / guest agree that as the dollar slide begins in earnest, WTIC, crude oil prices will rebound in spectacular fashion.
• When the unscrupulous share buyback effects are removed from US stock indexes, clearly market momentum has stalled.
• The US economy never truly recovered from the 2008 Great Recession and could roll over into a similar scenario.
• The host notes that the US has been in a recession since the year 2000, when the GDP is properly adjusted for inflation – the guest responds that the current economic quagmire is comparable to the Great Depression (Figure 1.1.).
• The reason why it has not been recognized by the mainline media as a Great Depression, is due to government subsidies.
• Without such programs, lines would form miles long around national soup kitchens.
• John Williams views gold and silver as the ultimate investment portfolio hedging components – essential balancing mechanisms.
• Our guest not only joins the chorus of leading financial pundits, but projects the voice above them all, calling for $100,000-$1,000,000 per ounce gold.

Walter J. “John” Williams has been a private consulting economist and a specialist in government economic reporting for more than 30 years. His economic consultancy is called Shadow Government Statistics (shadowstats.com). His early work in economic reporting led to front-page stories in The New York Times and Investor’s Business Daily. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics, cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1971, and was awarded a master’s degree in business administration from Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School of Business Administration in 1972, where he was named an Edward Tuck Scholar.