Where We Vote: Peter Schiff

Reply to Troy

So, criticizing Schiff makes me a de facto liberal, huh? What an interestingly simplistic take on the world you must have! BTW, isn't a "talking point" a thing that all the people in one camp are saying, en masse? Please cite for me some liberal--or anybody at all, for that matter--who has made these points. Above all else, I hate being unoriginal. Wherein did I suggest that I was in favor of big government? In fact, if you read more carefully, you might note that I pointed out one of the problems with big government, i.e. the situation at MMS.

thanks

didn't realize ctalarski was posting from listeners comments, which is probably just a reflection of listener-base.

Ctalarski

Troy, just as a head's up, and as John wrote earlier, CTalarski is our Senior Producer, Catie Talarski, and she is posting listener emails, not her own views. Thanks for your post!

ctalarski and randall young

ctalarski and randall young are obviously liberals who want to debate the merits of big government and free market capitalism. i wonder if these are feeble attempts from the mcmahon camp to undermine peter schiff by using none other than liberal talking points. why else would so many lefties be so interested in a GOP primary?

Reply to patriot, Pt2

At risk of belaboring the obvious, let me just add that there is a significant difference between these two predictions: 1) "The world is going to end, and we're all gonna die"; and 2) "The world is going to end, and we're all gonna die... on Dec. 21, 2012." In case 1) we have no actionable information. In case 2) I can enjoy my cheeseburgers with impunity, and so can you! Plus, I can pare down my Christmas list considerably. Case 1) is a vacuous truism, much like Peter Schiff's time-free prophecies. Like his hyperinflation remarks, there's just no way to falsify the statement--at least, not until the end of days. In other words, there's no 'there' there. But such BS is more than enough to get you on the Fox News Channel, it appears. Of course, they are not often cited for their critical thinking skills. And who knows? Maybe it's good enough to get Schiff elected, if the Connecticut citizenry is as credulous in general as some of the people here seem to be.

Patriot, You must realize

Patriot, You must realize that Schiff is in the prediction business. He makes lots of them, and sells them to his clients. Like any good salesman, he focuses on the good parts of his product, and downplays the not-so-good aspects. Anyone will make correct predictions now and again, provided he makes enough of them. It is all the easier when you don't give time frames for your prognostications--and, as you note, Schiff conveniently skirts the timing issue. For instance: I predict the stock market will go up 1000 points. Also, I predict it will go down 1000 points. Am I wrong? Why don't you buy a few index options? Oh, oh! I know! Because they all have EXPIRATION DATES! (Schiff's clients lost something on the order of 40% of their stakes by following his "predictions" during the downturn. Frankly, I don't consider this sort of advice very prescient... but, hey, who am I? Although, if the truth be known, my investments only lost about 23% in the same period. Maybe I should start a counseling firm, eh?)

What can government do well?

Well, it can kill millions of people pretty well. It can steal a bunch of money pretty well. It can destroy an economy pretty well. It can write a bunch of nonsense laws pretty well. It can lie pretty well. I don't know, I think it does a lot of things well. It can trick a lot of people into thinking they're smart. I can't believe some of these comments. I hope the host was playing devil's advocate. He's worried about monopolies, well what is more monopolistic than government? Public school monopoly, court monopoly, land monopoly, law enforcement monopoly, health monopoly, money monopoly...are you kidding? And everything is economics. It is not some political talking point. It is a science, people should learn something about it. But anyways good interview, I enjoyed it.

Re: Randall Young

I was told if I ate double cheeseburgers everyday I would get fat and probably die of heart disease. Well, I've been eating them for the last 3 days, and I look and feel fine. Obviously that person didn't know what they were talking about. Besides, a cheeseburger contains all four of the food groups! It couldn't be more obvious that they're healthy, and tasty too! My point? WAIT FOR IT. Peter's conclusions are inevitable based on the policies being pursued. He has never given a time table. Just like the cheeseburger, enjoy the party while it lasts, but reality will catch up to you

Lets not forget that this is

Lets not forget that this is all about a primary between Peter Schiff and Linda McMahan. One of the two will win the nomination. So are the people on here trashing Peter saying to vote for Linda McMahan? No one seems to know anything about her policies. The liberals on here should hope Peter wins so they can have a debate between a big government candidate and a a small government candidate. Nanny state collectivism or individual freedom.

With regards to Mr. Schiff's

With regards to Mr. Schiff's much vaunted predictive powers, what ever happened to the hyperinflation he so boldly predicted in 2008? And how about those gold prices? (Remember, even a broken clock is right twice a day.)

???

Like your grammar, this thinking is somewhat out of date. The reason that not many are in government is that their policies are politically untenable to all but a very vocal and agitated minority. When normal people find out what the specifics actually are, it seems that the libertarian candidate loses by a landslide. Most people don't subscribe to Gordon Gekko's dictum. Even as they personally succumb to greed, they nonetheless recognize greed for the evil it is, in spite of their weakness in the face of it.

Moving out

Methinks you haven't been keeping up, Anonymous. The current Russian Federation implements more of your libertarian ideals than the USA does--what with the Bratva and all, which operates largely beyond the reach of those inconvenient gov't regulations. The Russians even have their very own libertarian party, the RLD(!) Perhaps it is you who should consider such a move, being that you so dislike the results of the free elections we have here. (BTW, aren't you afraid you might break your '!' key?)

To which libertarian society

To which libertarian society is it that you refer? The one in your imagination?

Libertarians Don't want to

Libertarians Don't want to run your life I would error that is why their is not a lot of them in government.

People Need To Move...

It looks like most of the people on this forum LIKE BIG government and poverty, dependency...Hey move to Russia! Please move out of our FREE Republic! We want freedom, not handouts! The government has corrupted our FREE market with THEIR fascist policies! THE PEOPLE are the ones who keep freedom alive and PEOPLE are the ones who bring about tyranny! A free Republic doesn't support what most of the people on this forum want! You all need to move OUT to a country who will GIVE YOU HANDOUTS!!! Please MOVE OUT! Please!!!!

Are you for real "Don"?

Lost your vote when he decided to run for office? What planet are you living on? I guess you don't see WHO IS running for office!! Criminals!! It's about time someone with some integrity is running! People like you need to appreciate people like Peter Schiff! If you can't do that, maybe Russia is the place for you! Plenty of room there for people like you! Small mind, small aspirations, get it?

Another point I would make is

Another point I would make is that when you say "just rule"-"just court", aren't you hedging a bit? I mean, doesn't this leave the door open to those darkly foreboding '2nd amendment solutions' that Sharon Angle, et al., talk about? Just like every radical group in the world--right, left, or none-of-the-above--the libertarians have a faction that is willing to take up arms AGAINST the elected government and recognized law simply by declaring it "unjust". What this really means is that they just don't agree with it! Actual law-abiding citizens respect even those laws they might personally think are unjust. If you disagree with this line, Dan, perhaps you'd be willing to define just what it is YOU mean by the word "just"? (It seems to me that Justice, like Beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. But the libertarians conveniently overlook this problem, and pretend that abstractions like Freedom and Justice are inarguable absolutes, as if they were some sort of natural law. Obviously, this is a bad assumption-- for, if it were true, then all Supreme Court rulings would be 9-0. In fact, I don't know why we'd even need a Supreme Court in the first place!)

I guess the free market

I guess the free market system doesn't attach much value to having children! Does this mean it's only going to work for one generation? But seriously, Dan (not verified), what the libertarians fail to take into account is this: One of the very first things that a successful free-marketer will invest in is politicians and judges who will see things his way (or, should I say, FAIL to see certain things?). Hence, the tight relations between Big Oil and the MMS. Concentrated wealth simply buys the 'justice' and 'regulations' that favor its further concentration. After all, isn't that the way of libertarianism? It is a self-undermining philosophy, and that is why there aren't any decent examples of such societies for you to point to.

I watched this interview on

I watched this interview on TV on July 13. Peter don't do television. You have a tell, when you're being disingenuous. You smile out of the right side of your mouth. No kidding Peter you lost my vote when you decided to become a politician. Please stick to predicting the depression you've been yelling about for the last 25 years.

slight correction

Dan, just so that you know, you're responding to "Ann" in the "80%" question, not "ctalarski." Catie Talarski, the Senior Producer of the show, posted Ann's email as a post here. Thanks, jd

Libertarian societies don't

Libertarian societies don't exist because people have a tendency to control and centralize government and the populace. I think the better question is why is our Keynesian society failing? This guy predicted the financial crisis in 2001, he predicted to the month the housing and financial market collapse. Check out the youtube video "Peter Schiff was right". Why didn't the liberal and conservative economists get it right? Why didn't Bernanke, arguably the most powerful man in the world, say there was a problem? Why are our politicians on both sides not doing anything about it? You can't just spend your way to prosperity. If that worked, why doesn't the government give everyone 100k? Check out more on Peter Schiff, Austrian economics, and Thomas Woods.

If you look at the financial

If you look at the financial crisis, you see the government taking the risk out of risk taking. In a free market, everyone that takes a risk in business knows that they could fail and lose money. Government took the risk away. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guaranteed half of all home loans. That means the the government told the mortgage companies not to worry about any of the loans that they made because the government was going to guarantee them. If you were a mortgage broker, and someone came to you to get a loan with A. Poor Credit, B. Poor Job History, C. Little or no down payment, D. Multiple delinquincies, would you give them a home loan? OF COURSE NOT!!!! Now what if a third party came to you and said, "Don't worry about that loan, if they default, we'll guarantee the money." Would you make the loan then? OF COURSE YOU WOULD!!!! If you were a mortgage broker, and your job was to originate mortgages, you don't make money unless you originate mortgages!!!! So it should be no surprise that mortgage companies took on as many loans as they could because now, thanks to the government, they weren't responsible if any of the loans went bad. Mortgage brokers would NEVER have made such foolish loans if the government wasn't so foolish as to guarantee them. START BLAMING THE GOVERNMENT!!!! They are the culprits for the financial crisis.

Reponses

randall: That's just ridiculous. Somalia? Really? Libertarians respect just rule of law, just court systems and protection of private property. That means pollution of other people's property would be illegal, not "regulated" like it is today. Regulation allows corporations to pollute, a libertarian society respects property rights does not. This is another government created problem you speak of. ctalarski: Yes, women put in only 80% partly because the government requires companies to give them maternity leave and companies don't have a crystal ball to know which ones will use it. This is very expensive because the company must use a lot of resources to train somebody else for their position which will only be held temporarily since they are required to give them their job when they return. Men cannot take maternity leave which makes them a more dependable long-term employee so they get paid more. This is another government created problem that you are complaining about.

Heh

I can see that you 2 are new to the whole freedom philosophy. Dont worry, it takes time for it to sink in after decades of keynesian indoctrination. Reason that there isnt a perfect libertarian country out there is due to the fact that human nature isnt perfect and always seeks to get more power. In a libertarian society the executive branch needs to resist the temptation of power grabbing. Usually they grab it with all the best intentions, like making it equal for men and women, black and white etc. When it proves impossible to deliver, they always claim they didnt have enough power so they grab more and it goes on.

Wow

Get to Washington Schiff ! You are going to work your butt off for 6 years. I am going to give you all my money to make sure you do and all of time to keep you focused on dismantling the Goverment. Thank you NPR

not a very probative interview, I must say!

If you ever get a chance to ask Peter any more questions, how about this: Where are all the libertarian societies in the world? If this system works so well, one would imagine they'd be all around us! Alas, the best, truest example of such a 'society' (if you can call it that) is Somalia. Perhaps he should move his business over there! I hear the taxes are very low, and the government intervention is virtually non-existent. This should be an ideal situation for him, I'd think.

Listener Email from Ann

If I understand him correctly, Peter Schiff's argument is that government services leads to greed. Has he forgotten Gordon Gekko famous statement "Greed is good" in 1987's "Wall Street". Capitalism is driven by greed and not by what's best for the vast majority of the population. Just look at the recent Financial crisis and the oil spill debacle in the Gulf.

Listener Email from Miriam

People get out from the free market what they put in? Is he kidding? It's a fairly well-known statistic that women earn less than 80 cents for every dollar that men earn in the same job. Is Peter Schiff saying that women are only putting in 80% of what men are? And let's not even get onto the subject of minorities and discrimination. The free market does NOTHING to help discrimination and probably perpetuates it. Honestly, when I turned on the radio and heard this wacko I double-checked to make sure I was on NPR and not some right-wing talk station.

Listener Email from Steve

I am taken back by your not putting Peter’s feet to the fire. He compared mail service with phone calls. Phone calls are not labor intensive. Had he compared with news paper delivery then he would not have any argument. He complains about paying 50% taxes. Well, he has much more to protect than someone of considerably less income and expects the government to protect it. He has to pay for the military budget for what he wants government protection. Is this not an entitlement?