Hyperinflation Could Hit US In 5-10 Years: Marc Faber

In the interview he said other countries are likely to inflate as well.

 

Q. You've lampooned President Obama as "the Great Obutu" and called him a commissar, and you've been critical of the Fed's leadership as well. Would it be fair to say you're contemptuous of American policies and American leadership at the moment?

A. I think that's a fair comment. I'm disgusted by the kind of crony capitalism that has emerged in the United States where the doors of the Federal Reserve, of the US Treasury, of the Wall Street establishment are all open to each other. The economic policy of the US since 1982 has been to stimulate consumption. But you can't create prosperity from consumption—you need savings and capital spending.

http://marcfaberblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/latest-interview-risk-reward-not.html

 

Good question. Peter Schiff was down also.

 

Do you have a link or source for his 08 performance? AFAIK he's been in his place in Thailand for a few years now.

 

my source is one of his former clients in HK. not sure of exact figures though.

 

Apparently your wife does the grocery shopping. We are currently running 4-6% real inflation in the overall economy in spite of government lies. I don't see hyperinflation anytime soon but rather an eventual return to double digits, as we touched briefly in 2008. That's inevitable given the Feds approach to dealing with the credit crisis. The official government figures will continue to understate inflation as doing so has become a necessity. Inflation will happen despite continued high unemployment. It won't be pretty. There will be no actual deflation in the overall economy. A few states have experienced deflation in some sectors, namely real estate in Arizona, Nevada, California, and Florida. Oil and other commodities are down at the producer level from their bubble highs of last year and some of this is beginning to show up at the consumer level. Along the Gulfcoast oil rigs are beginning to be shut down. Property and and other taxes are already up or will be going up soon. I don't think anyone knows when exactly inflation will become a recognized problem for the economy, but it seems likely that by 2011 everyone will take notice, even LincolnArmy.

 

Housing, stocks, cars, and other big-ticket items are off 20-50%. Wages in many industries are down. Compared to that, a little markup on the groceries is nothing.

More data: http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=ak53nrCL71MU

College fees rising at their lowest rate for decades, the list goes on.

 

I was, of course, referring to the poster's remarkable selective vision when he said he did not see any inflation, because inflation in foodstuffs has been very noticeable to most. We currently have a mixed bag with some sectors up, some unchanged and some down. The more recent figures show about 2% inflation which is low by historical standards. We are coming off a period of considerably higher inflation. I would not expect the low current rate to last much past 2010. One thing that that could potentially hold down inflation would be real progress in actually reducing medical and insurance costs of all kinds, though recent cost movement in these sectors has been up, not down. see shadowstats.com

 

I suspect that Stagflation will be the real problem in the not to distant future, with your comments reflecting the foundations being set in place. Devalued asset values + spiraling inflation.

Regards

Johno

 

Indeed!