Schiff w/ Livera: Debt is the Bubble, Bitcoin Isn’t the Answer

At the end of January, in addition to his highly anticipated debate at the Plan B Bitcoin Forum in El Salvador, Peter also took part in an interview with debate moderator Stephan Livera on his podcast. In their conversation, Peter lays out a broad critique of where he thinks American policy and markets are headed: runaway federal debt, political incentives that prop up asset bubbles like housing, and a predictable tilt toward dovish Fed policy. He strikes a familiar line — cautious about monetary intervention, skeptical of crypto as a monetary solution.

He opens by returning to his central theme: the national debt overwhelms every other issue, and political incentives mean the problem will only get worse. He warns this debt dynamic makes bubbles self-reinforcing, even in housing policy:

But the biggest reason of them all is our runaway debt, that it should be obvious to everybody that, regardless of which political party is in control, the debt train isn’t going to slow down. We’re just going to keep on running, ever increasing debt that we have no ability to repay. In fact, we can’t even really service it. And even yesterday, you know, Donald Trump mentioned that his main goal for housing is to keep prices rising. Even though it’s clearly a bubble because people can’t afford to buy, he wants the prices to go up anyway.

From that fiscal backdrop, Peter turns to the Federal Reserve and the politics of appointments, arguing that presidents appoint chairs who reflect the monetary stance they want — and that Trump’s public complaints about Jerome Powell actually signal he wants easier policy, not tighter discipline: