Economic trajectory has become hard to predict, given the uncertainty surrounding the sum of the parts that make up the economy. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki apparently is in the pessimistic camp, going by his recent comments.
What Happened: “Giant crash is coming. Depression possible,” Kiyosaki tweeted late on Sunday. His comments come against the backdrop of the setback seen in the past week after the financial markets were cruising along nicely this year.
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Inflation fears and some mixed earnings reports put brakes on the year’s market rally in the week ended Feb. 10. Depression is a more severe form of recession, which, in turn, is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
The best-selling author’s comments may be a little farfetched, going by the consensus view about the near-term economic trajectory. Despite the multiple overhangs, the U.S. economy is still holding up. The job market has been particularly vibrant. The January non-farm payrolls report showed that the U.S. economy added 517,000 jobs and the jobless rate was at a 53-year low of 3.4%.
That said, inflation continues to be a pushback. As pricing pressure remains at levels that are far from encouraging, the Federal Reserve under Jerome Powell is not able to take its foot off the pedal. Therefore, the prospect is bigger hikes for longer is staring at the economy.
Most economists vouch for some form of recession in the year’s second half amid the rollback of the Fed’s expansionary policy. Participants at a recent panel discussion organized by the University of Chicago Booth School Of Business suggested that there would be a mild recession toward the end of the year, given the Fed has enough tools in its hands to keep the situation from getting out of control.
Shuns Dollar, Throws Weight Behind 3 Assets: Amid this gloomy backdrop, Kiyosaki continued to back gold, silver and Bitcoin BTC/USD.
Giving his rationale, he said, faith in the U.S. dollar, which he called “fake money” will be destroyed. Gold and silver are precious metals denominated in the U.S. dollar and they share an inverse relationship with the dollar. The dollar losing its appeal would mean people favoring decentralized alternatives such as Bitcoin.
Kiyosaki called gold and silver “God’s money” and Bitcoin the people’s dollar. By 2025, he expects gold to climb to $5,000, silver to $500 and Bitcoin to $500,000.
Spot gold is currently trading at $1,858.61 per ounce, spot silver at $21.86 per ounce and Bitcoin at $21,864.35.
Price Action: The SPDR Gold Shares GLD ended Friday's session up 0.19% at $173.36, the iShares Silver Trust SLV gained 0.30% to $20.24, according to Benzinga Pro data. Bitcoin traded up 0.20% at $21,855.79 in the Asian session on Monday.
Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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