Peter Schiff: "We're in a Depression in the United States"

“We have to cut $1.5 trillion out of this year’s budget,” says investment advisor, author, and radio host Peter Schiff.

Reason’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Schiff at July’s FreedomFest in Las Vegas.

Schiff, whose most recent book is How and Economy Grows and Why it Crashes, says that the economic downturn of 2008 is only a mild preview of what’s in store for the U.S. economy in the future and predicts much higher unemployment and huge inflation over the next few years. The only way out of this mess, says Schiff, is for the government to get out of the way and let the inevitable market correction occur. “It would be painful to cut spending by that degree,” he acknowledges, “but not nearly as painful as it’s going to be if we don’t cut spending by that degree.”

Shot by Jim Epstein and Zach Weissmueller and edited by Zach Weissmueller.

About 5 minutes long.

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Held every July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is an annual gathering of about 2,000 free-market and libertarian enthusiasts. This year’s speakers included Reason’s Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch, Sen. Rand Paul, Judge Andrew Napolitano, and scores of others. Reason.tv conducted interviews with more than two dozen speakers, which we’ll be releasing over the next several weeks. Our growing playlist can be watched online here.