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Economist Peter Schiff made his name by predicting the 2008 financial crisis.
Now, he says he sees something even more fiscally ominous on the horizon — and this time, he believes it’s coming straight for the U.S.
“We are headed for an economic crisis again that will make the 2008 financial crisis look like a Sunday school picnic,” Schiff said in a February interview with Fox Business (1).
“The biggest difference between the crisis that we’re about to have and the one we had back then is this one is all in America.”
Schiff’s comments came before the U.S. declared war on Iran. In an X post on March 25, Schiff analyzed February data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, citing major hikes in import and export prices in just a single month — and that’s before the war made oil prices soar (2).
“Unless the Fed raises rates several hundred basis points now, inflation will skyrocket,” he wrote (3).
The crisis he predicts is not only due to inflation, however. It’s down to how much debt the U.S. is carrying: a record $39 trillion (4), with a reported $50 billion more to be added as a result of waging war in the Middle East.
Schiff wrote on X on March 17, “Trump will ask Congress for $50B to fund the Iran war… he should ask for $50B in other spending cuts or tax hikes to pay for it. The debt is a greater threat than Iran (5).”
And it turns out Schiff was low-balling. In early April, the White House released 2027’s budget, which included a request for $1.5 trillion in defense spending from Congress — a 44% increase.
According to Schiff, the issue is embedded in the structure of the U.S. economy and its monetary system.
“We have a dysfunctional, consumer-based credit economy that rests on the foundation of the U.S. dollar’s reserve currency status,” he explained. “And the world is now pulling the rug out from under the U.S. The dollar is going to collapse. The dollar is going to be replaced by gold. Central banks are buying gold to back up their currencies.”
Some recent data points lend support to that view. The U.S. Dollar Index — which tracks the greenback against a basket of major foreign currencies — fell to its lowest level in four years (6) in February, and only rebounded slightly since the war began. Economists still predict that the dollar will perform weakly in 2026 (7).
At the same time, reports show that central banks have more than doubled their gold purchases to over 1,000 tonnes a year since 2022 (8). While gold dipped earlier this year, it remains to be seen if more countries will hedge their bets with continued gold purchases by the end of the year.
At the start of 2026, gold prices surged, breaking past the $5,400-an-ounce mark in January.
Schiff, who is also involved with SchiffGold, believes the rally in precious metals is more than just a trade — he sees it as a warning signal for rampant inflation.
“Inflation is going to be much more pernicious over the next few years than it was when Biden was president, unfortunately. That’s what gold and silver are telling you — they are a warning,” he said.
Inflation has steadily eroded the dollar’s purchasing power, regardless of who was in the White House. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, $100 in 2025 buys what just $12.05 did in 1970 (9).
Gold has long served as a hedge against inflation.
Unlike paper currency, the precious metal can’t be printed at will by central banks, nor is it tied to the fortunes of any single country or economy — qualities that often draw investor interest during periods of uncertainty.
Schiff declined to put a specific price target on gold. When asked how high he thinks it could go, he said in February, “I don’t have a target price other than much higher, because there’s no floor on the dollar, so there’s no ceiling on gold.”
Other prominent voices on Wall Street have also highlighted gold’s potential.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently said that in this environment, referring to high asset prices, gold could “easily” rise to $10,000 an ounce.
One way to invest in gold that can also provide significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of Priority Gold.
Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, thereby combining the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold. This makes it one option for those looking to help shield their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.
When you make a qualifying purchase with Priority Gold, you can receive up to $10,000 in precious metals for free.
Read More: I’m almost 50 years old and don’t have retirement savings. Is it too late?
During the interview, Schiff was asked about two precious-metals mining stocks he highlighted in September 2024 — Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) and Pan American Silver (PAAS) — which have since climbed roughly 161% and 206%, respectively, as of early April.
Despite those gains, Schiff says he still sees value.
“Even though those stocks are up a lot … they’re actually cheaper now than they were back then because the earnings of these companies have gone up a lot more than the share price,” he said.
Some investors, Schiff noted, argue that gold and silver prices are already in bubble territory. He disagrees.
“It’s not a bubble. It’s the pin. The bubble is in the dollar. The bubble is in the U.S. economy,” he said. “And when investors start to realize that not only are gold prices and silver prices not going back down, but they’re going to keep going up, these stocks are going to go ballistic.”
Beyond those two names, Schiff also pointed to Franco-Nevada (FNV) as a “real high-quality” gold stock.
He added that this year’s biggest movers may be junior mining companies — smaller, lesser-known names that didn’t rally as much last year.
If you want to pick individual stocks in mining companies to invest in, you’ll need top-of the-line tools to make smarter trading decisions.
Platforms like Moby aim to simplify the process. Their team of former hedge fund analysts does the heavy lifting — breaking down the market, flagging quality stocks and making the research easy to digest.
In fact, across nearly 400 stock picks over the past four years, Moby’s recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts and takes the guesswork out of choosing investments.
Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.
With the right advice comes a need for investing tools that are simple to use, but powerful enough to enable complex trades.
Platforms like Robinhood are designed to make investing simpler and more approachable. You can buy and sell individual stocks, fractional shares and options (for qualified traders) — backed by 24/7 support. Stocks, ETFs and their options trades are commission-free.
With access to popular ETFs like the Vanguard S&P 500, you can build diversified exposure without needing to pick individual stocks.
The platform also offers both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA, so you can choose the tax strategy that fits your retirement plan.
With its recurring investment feature, you can set up automatic investments of your preferred fractional shares, stocks and ETFs on your own schedule.
Over time, this helps make investing a habit and steadily grows your portfolio.
Gold isn’t the only asset investors turn to during inflationary times. Real estate has also proven to be a powerful hedge.
When inflation rises, property values often increase as well, reflecting the higher costs of materials, labor and land. At the same time, rental income tends to go up, providing landlords with a revenue stream that adjusts for inflation.
Over the past ten years, the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index has jumped by more than 87%, reflecting strong demand and limited housing supply (10).
Of course, high home prices can make buying a home more challenging, especially with mortgage rates still elevated. And being a landlord isn’t exactly hands-off work — managing tenants, maintenance and repairs can quickly eat into your time (and returns).
The good news? You don’t need to buy a property outright — or deal with leaky faucets — to invest in real estate today.
Mogul is a real estate investment platform offering fractional ownership in blue-chip rental properties, which gives investors monthly rental income, real-time appreciation and tax benefits — without the need for a hefty down payment or 3 a.m. tenant calls.
Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate investors, the team hand-picks the top 1% of single-family rental homes nationwide for you. Simply put, you can invest in institutional quality offerings for a fraction of the usual cost.
Each property undergoes a vetting process, requiring a minimum 12% return even in downside scenarios. Across the board, the platform features an average annual IRR of 18.8%. Their cash-on-cash yields, meanwhile, average between 10 to 12% annually. Offerings often sell out in under three hours, with investments typically ranging between $15,000 and $40,000 per property.
Every investment is secured by real assets, not dependent on the platform’s viability. Each property is held in a standalone Propco LLC, so investors own the property — not the platform. Blockchain-based fractionalization adds a layer of safety, ensuring a “permanent, verifiable record of each stake.
Getting started is a quick and easy process. You can sign up for an account and then browse available properties. Once you verify your information with their team, you can invest like a mogul in just a few clicks.
Schiff’s warning comes as the U.S. stock market hovers near record highs.
That backdrop has renewed the case for diversification. Nearly 40% of the S&P 500’s weight is concentrated in its ten largest stocks, and the index’s CAPE ratio hasn’t been this high since the dot-com boom (11).
This is where, for many investors, alternative assets come into play.
These can include everything from real estate and precious metals to private equity and collectibles.
Billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates continue to invest heavily in stocks, but they also carve out a portion of their portfolios for assets that behave differently from the market.
One standout example: post-war and contemporary art, which outpaced the S&P 500 by 15% from 1995 to 2025 while showing near-zero correlation to traditional equities.
Until recently, this world was off-limits. Now, with Masterworks, you can buy fractional shares in multimillion-dollar works by icons like Banksy, Picasso and Basquiat. While art can be illiquid and typically requires a long-term hold, it offers unique portfolio diversification.
Masterworks has sold 27 artworks so far, yielding net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8%.
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Note that past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investing involves risk. See important Regulation A disclosures at Masterworks.com/cd
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Peter Schiff (1), (3), (5); The Street (2); Peter G. Peterson Foundation (4); The Guardian (6); CNBC (7), (11); World Gold Council (8); Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (9); S&P Global (10)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.