Biography of Peter Schiff

Unfortunately the situation in New Orleans is a microcosm of our nation as a whole. Although our reliance on foreign savings and production are widely known, and most economists accept the fact that a real economic disaster would ensue should foreigners discontinue such subsidies, dump their hoards of U.S. treasuries, and refuse to exchange real goods for paper dollars. However, rather than perusing policies to re-balance our economy, we simply do nothing and hope that day of reckoning never arrives. However, just as that strategy backfired in New Orleans, so, too, will it for America as a whole.

These famous words were uttered by Peter D. Schiff, an American economic commentator, author, licensed stock broker, investment advisor and president of Euro Pacific Capital Inc. His company is a brokerage firm based in Darien, Connecticut. Schiff rose to prominence after claiming the prediction of the economic crisis of 2008, and following the publication of his book Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse, in 2007. Schiff is the host of a live and popular Internet/shortwave radio show called Wall Street Unspun, and has also endorsed Murray Sabrin for the U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey.

Childhood and Early Life
Peter Schiff was born on March 23, 1963, in New Haven, Connecticut, and was raised in Manhattan and Miami. His father Irwin Schiff, was a well-known American tax protester. In 1987, Schiff graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in finance and accounting. After that, he started working for Shearson Lehman Brothers in the field of financial consulting. In 1996, Schiff started his own firm Euro Pacific Capital, after buying up a bankrupt broker-dealer in Florida, and went on to reincorporate the business in California.

Career and Popularity
In 2005, Schiff relocated to Darien, in order to find brokers and recruit them for his own firm. Presently his company Euro Pacific Capital, retains an office in Newport Beach, California, Arizona, Scottsdale, Florida, Palm Beach, Los Angeles and Manhattan. The company promotes Schiff's view of the U.S. Economy, and recommends an investment strategy which focuses heavily on non-U.S. stocks and precious metals.

Schiff correctly predicted the fall in real estate prices on Dec 31, 2006, in a debate on Fox News. He said that the real estate prices are going to come crashing back down to earth, and speculated that the absence of lending standards would be the potential cause for the housing crisis. On December 13, 2007, facing an interview on the show Open Exchange, Schiff further said that the economic crisis would extend to the credit card lending industry.

Schiff has often laid stress on the benefits one can derive from the current economic crisis. In his book Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse, he supports his idea with relevant arguments. He also claims that the a higher level of borrowing and spending cannot be accomplished without a severe economic recession, and that the American government is not providing any solution with the various stimulus packages and bailouts. In his opinion, such actions will only worsen the situation and possibly result in hyperinflation.