Peter Schiff: free marketeer who predicted the crisis

Peter Schiff appeared on America's national stage just as the credit bubble was set to pop, with a devastating critique of the USA's unsustainable debt-fuelled economic trajectory.

Peter Schiff is loud, reckons Time. And it's hard to get him to stop talking. Ask a simple question and you get a ten-minute harangue featuring libertarian political opinions that some may think pretty extreme. Yet Schiff is far from being an opinionated boor. He did a better job than most of forecasting what would happen in financial markets, storming onto the national stage just as the credit bubble was set to pop, with a devastating critique of America's unsustainable debt-fuelled economic trajectory.

Back then, he was widely mocked; but when markets collapsed, Schiff, 46, achieved cult status when a ten-minute YouTube clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0QN-Fykpw of his predictions, complete with smirking rebuttals from eminent critics, became an instant hit. "What makes that clip so good is not so much me as everybody else," he says. "People like laughing at people." Now, having acted as economic adviser to fellow libertarian Ron Paul during his 2008 presidential campaign, Schiff hopes to stand in Connecticut as Republican candidate for the Senate in 2010. Some claim he's got the drive and charisma to go all the way to the top. You would certainly be hard pushed to find a more deeply convinced, articulate opponent of Big Government in America.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
MoneyWeek

MoneyWeek is written by a team of experienced and award-winning journalists, plus expert columnists. As well as daily digital news and features, MoneyWeek also publishes a weekly magazine, covering investing and personal finance. From share tips, pensions, gold to practical investment tips - we provide a round-up to help you make money and keep it.