Friday, 11 Jan 2013 08:52 AM

By Dan Weil

The government reports that consumer prices rose 1.8 percent in the year through November. But don’t believe that hype, says Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital.

“The CPI [consumer price index] isn’t an accurate measure of inflation,” he tells Yahoo.

“It’s sheer propaganda. Prices are rising at a much more rapid rate than the CPI would suggest.”

He offered the example of the prices of newspapers and magazines. The government says their prices have risen 35 percent over the last 12 years. But looking at cover prices, Schiff and his colleagues found that prices rose 135 percent.

“How can you believe the statistics when the numbers are so flawed?” Schiff says. To be sure, it’s possible that the newspapers and magazines lifted their subscription prices far less than their newsstand prices.

“I don’t care what the government is telling me. If the government weatherman tells me it’s a sunny day and I can see it’s pouring rain, I’m not going to believe the government, I’m going to go outside with an umbrella.”

As for the true level of inflation, “If it’s not 10 or 11 percent, it’s certainly 7, 8 or 9 percent,” Schiff says. “It’s going to get a lot higher. If we keep printing money, … we’re going to have a huge inflation problem.”

Plenty of economists disagree with Schiff.

“Inflation remains tame,” Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Bank, told Bloomberg after the announcement that consumer prices fell 0.3 percent in November. “It’s difficult for firms to raise prices in the current environment. Labor costs are low, profit margins are good.”

Editor's Note: See the Disturbing Charts: 50% Unemployment, 90% Stock Market Crash, 100% Inflation

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