Gold bug unfazed despite a slide in prices

[NEW YORK] Peter Schiff predicts repeatedly on his daily two-hour radio show broadcast from his basement studio to 68 stations in 30 states and 50,000 listeners online that paper money will become worthless. The unabashed gold bug's Euro Pacific Capital Inc manages a US$20 million mutual fund that invests in stocks related to gold and lost 6.4 per cent since it began in July. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold and Silver Index slid 1.5 per cent in the same period.

Mr Schiff, 50, isn't fazed that gold is heading for its first annual price drop in 13 years, or that Goldman Sachs Group Inc has called it a "slam-dunk sell". He predicts that bullion will reverse its 21 per cent year-to-date decline and probably surge 52 per cent to reach a record US$2,000 an ounce within a year. That's just the beginning: Mr Schiff said that he would "be amazed" if the US dollar didn't collapse and gold failed to skyrocket before President Barack Obama leaves office in 2017.

"I'm waiting for the dollar crash, I'm waiting for the real crisis to hit that I know will benefit gold," Mr Schiff said on Oct 18. "The longer it takes, the longer I have to wait for that payday. But the longer it takes, the bigger that payday is going to be."