PETER SCHIFF BIOGRAPHY

Peter David Schiff was born on March 23, 1963. He is the Chief Executive Officer of EPC – Euro Pacific Capital Incorporated. He is also the author of several books, an investment broker and a financial commentator. He is based in Connecticut as a broker-dealer. The CEO post of Euro Pacific Precious Metals also belongs to him.

His birthplace was Connecticut, New Heaven more precisely. Irwin Schiff is his father, an important figure in the American movement of tax protest. Nowadays, he is serving a sentence of thirteen years in Federal prison, because of tax evasion. Young Peter was a student at Beverly Hills High School, California. In 1987 he graduated with a degree in accounting and finance from the University of California.

His career began with him being employed as a stockbroker at a brokerage of Shearson Lehman Brothers. Schiff and a partner of his acquired a small firm for brokerage in 1996. The firm was originally founded in 1980. They renamed it to the nowadays known Euro Pacific Capital. In 2005 Schiff decided to relocate the firm in Darien, Connecticut. In his words, the reason for this was that there were not many American brokers who share his views and strategies and also – the largest broker pool in the US was found in the Metro NY region. This would make it easier for him to recruit employees who are like-minded. Nowadays, the headquarters of Euro Pacific Capital Incorporated are in Westport. The Company is a broker-dealer, registered and in full service and specialises in securities and markets that are non-U.S. Offices of the Company can be found in Florida, Boca Raton, NYC, LA, Arizona, Scottsdale, California and Newport Beach. The Company Euro Pacific Precious Metals promotes the physical owing of silver and gold as an important element in the portfolio of every prudent investor. It was founded about two years ago. Its headquarters are found in NYC. Michael Freedman is its manager. As for other affiliates of EPC – there are Euro Pacific International, Euro Pacific Bank Limited, EP Advisors Limited and EP Funds SCC Limited. The webpages of these companies claim that they were created in order to provide products which reflect Schiff’s philosophy of investment to investors outside the United States.

As for public appearances, he is often a guest on television shows concerning finance and economy. Some major publications in finance have quoted his views on several matters. After being the host of a podcast on the web, called Wall Street Unspun, he created his very own ‘The Peter Schiff Show’ – a broadcast on the radio. About two years ago Schiff tried for the seat of the US Senate in Connecticut. However, he could not beat Linda McMahon and lost the seat to her. He is famous for his views on the American dollar and economy, which are considered ‘bearish’, and for his bullish views on foreign stocks and currencies as well. He is very supportive of the school of economic thought in Austria.When it comes to Schiff’s views on economy, there is this expression he is famous for – the US is the Titanic and he has the lifeboat – meaning that he foresees a big financial crisis ahead. In 2007 he wrote a book called Crash Proof. In it, he defines the economic policies of the US as unsound. It was his belief that the imbalance between the production and consumption in the United States would lead to serious economic issues. Increased personal production and savings was what Schiff suggested as a way to avoid those future troubles. One of the reasons for the transformation of the US from one of the largest creditors to one of the countries with largest debts, he says, is the low rate of personal savings. In 2008, 2010 Schiff made two appearances on television. They were on Fox News and the CNBC network for financial news. There he mentioned some factors, like the lack of standards of lending, which he pointed out as one of the reasons for the 2007 housing crisis. In 2007 he showed up for a Boomerang TV interview, on Open Exchange. In this interview he said the crisis was going to extend to the industry of credit card lending. He described consumer credit as a ‘cancer’ on the economy of free market. It was his belief that interest rates were going to rise and the dollar would certainly ‘collapse’. He foresaw a big crisis concerning credit card finance coming in 2008. The result, in his words, would be that card issuers would slash the limits on card spending and consumer credit. Americans faced the threat of inability of using credit card lines for making purchases. Hyperinflation would come upon the United States, without changes in the economic policy of the government – Schiff has said this numerous times since 2007. In a speech he gave in 2009, he stated that repayment of the American debt to China is impossible. That is unless the value of the U.S dollar is reduced through inflation. In September the same year, he said that it would not come as a surprise to him if in the future he saw the prices of gold at 5000 dollars. He called the rally of the stock market that year a ‘bear market rally’. In Schiff’s opinion, the minimum wage laws are only hurtful to the people who have little skill by reducing the possibility of them gaining the experience they need for a higher chance of employment. In 2011 (March), he said that the tax on corporate income should be abolished. In October 2012 he made a prediction on gold prices - they would reach 5000 dollars per ounce in the course of the next two years.

Here is some information on Schiff’s political career. He was Ron Paul’s economic adviser, when he entered the presidential campaign in 2008, with unsuccessful outcome. To support Paul’s plan for economic revitalization, Schiff stated that his plan was the only strategy that had the power to turn events to a positive direction. The same year, he supported Murray Sabrin for the seat in the Senate of the U.S in New Jersey. His attitude towards the reduction of the economic regulation of the government was positive. He also had some concerns about the President’s administration causing the increase of regulations such as this one. According to Schiff’s words, the government’s act to make ‘a printing press’ the replacement of legitimate savings, will lead to a state of hyperinflation.

Peter Schiff authored six books. His most famous work is ‘Crash Proof’. It became a bestseller on the lists of both Wall Street Journal and the NY Times.