Peter Schiff facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Peter Schiff
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Schiff in 2016
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| Born | Peter David Schiff March 23, 1962 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation | Stock broker, financial commentator, radio personality, author |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (BS) |
| Subject | Business Investing Economics Personal finance |
| Spouse | Lauren Schiff |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent | Irwin Schiff (father) |
Peter David Schiff (born March 23, 1963) is an American stockbroker, financial expert, and radio host. He is famous for his strong opinions on the economy and for correctly predicting the 2008 financial crisis. This earned him the nickname "Dr. Doom."
Schiff co-founded a company called Echelon Wealth Partners in Canada. He is also involved with other financial companies, like Euro Pacific Asset Management and Schiff Gold. He often criticizes how the United States government and banks handle money.
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Personal life
Peter Schiff was born into a middle-class Jewish family in New Haven, Connecticut. His father, Irwin Schiff, was the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland and served in the US Army during World War II.
Schiff's parents divorced when he was young. He moved around the country with his mother and brother, living in places like Manhattan, Florida, and Southern California. Peter gives his father credit for teaching him about the Austrian School of economic thought, which is a specific way of looking at how money and business work.
Irwin Schiff was a well-known person in the tax protester movement, meaning he disagreed with the government about paying taxes. This led to serious legal problems for him. Peter did not agree with his father's methods. He thought his father's protests were a "futile resistance" that would not succeed.
Business career
Schiff started his career in the early 1990s as a stockbroker at a company called Shearson Lehman Brothers. A stockbroker is someone who helps people buy and sell stocks in companies.
In 1996, Schiff and a partner bought a small brokerage firm and renamed it Euro Pacific Capital. They moved the company from Los Angeles to Connecticut. Schiff later sold this company, which is now called Alliance Global Partners.
Schiff also started Euro Pacific Bank, a bank that was based in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and later moved to Puerto Rico.
Bank investigation
In 2022, government officials in Puerto Rico suspended the operations of Schiff's bank. They believed the bank was not following important financial rules. The bank was eventually closed down.
Schiff said the investigation happened because of negative stories about his bank on an Australian TV show called 60 Minutes Australia. He sued the TV network for defamation, which means saying something untrue that harms someone's reputation. An Australian judge ruled that the TV show had defamed him. The case was settled, and the TV network paid Schiff money and removed the stories.
Economic ideas
Schiff is famous for his economic predictions and his unique views on how the economy should work.
Predicting the 2008 financial crisis
Years before it happened, Schiff warned that a major financial crisis was coming. In a 2006 interview, he said, "The United States is like the Titanic and I am here with the lifeboat trying to get people to leave the ship." He correctly predicted that house prices, which were very high, would crash.
In his 2007 book, Crash Proof, Schiff argued that the U.S. economy was not stable. He said the country was consuming (buying) far more than it was producing (making). He believed this would cause big problems. To fix this, he said people needed to save more money and businesses needed to produce more goods.
Views on taxes and government programs
Schiff has some interesting ideas about taxes. He thinks the country should replace income taxes with a national sales tax. A sales tax is a tax you pay when you buy things. He believes this would encourage people to work and save more.
He has also been critical of government programs like Medicare. He once called it a "Ponzi scheme," meaning he thinks it's a system that can't last forever. He believes the program needs major changes to avoid future problems.
What he thinks about Bitcoin
Schiff is a well-known Bitcoin skeptic. He has often said that he thinks Bitcoin is a bubble, similar to the tulip mania in the 1600s when the price of tulip bulbs soared to crazy levels before crashing.
In 2020, he had a personal problem with Bitcoin. He announced that he had lost access to his Bitcoin wallet because he forgot his password and didn't save his recovery phrase. He said this showed how risky Bitcoin could be.
How people reacted to his views
Because of his warnings about economic disaster, Schiff was nicknamed "Dr. Doom." After his predictions about the 2008 crisis came true, a YouTube video called "Peter Schiff was right" became very popular. It showed clips of him on TV news shows from 2005 to 2007, warning about the coming crash.
However, not everyone agrees with him. Some people who followed his investment advice lost money, especially if they invested right before the 2008 market crash. Schiff argued that his strategy works well over the long term.
The famous economist Paul Krugman has often criticized Schiff. Krugman and Schiff disagree on what causes inflation (when prices for goods and services rise). Schiff has predicted very high inflation in the U.S. for many years, but so far, it has not happened in the way he described.
Political life
Schiff has also been involved in politics. He believes in smaller government and less regulation.
2008 Ron Paul campaign
In 2008, Schiff was an economic adviser to Ron Paul during his campaign for president. Ron Paul shared many of Schiff's ideas about the economy and government.
2010 Senate campaign
In 2009, Schiff announced he was running for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut as a Republican. He started a campaign and received support from thousands of people.
At the Republican convention, he did not get enough votes from party delegates to automatically be in the primary election. However, he collected enough signatures from voters to get on the ballot. In the primary election, he came in third place and did not win the nomination.
Media career
Schiff has shared his ideas through many types of media. He has appeared on TV channels like CNBC and Fox Business. He also hosted a radio show and has a popular YouTube channel where he posts his thoughts on the economy. He has also been a guest on Joe Rogan's popular podcast.
Books
Schiff has written several books about economics and investing:
- Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse (2007)
- The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets: How to Keep your Portfolio Up When the Market is Down (2008)
- Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit From the Economic Collapse, 2nd Edition (2009)
- The Little Book of Bull Moves, Updated and Expanded: How to Keep Your Portfolio Up When the Market Is Up, Down, Or Sideways (2010)
- How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes (2010)
- The Real Crash: America's Coming Bankruptcy – How to Save Yourself and Your Country (2012)
See also
In Spanish: Peter Schiff para niños
