(JEWISH VOICE NEWS) As gold continues climbing to historic highs, economist Peter Schiff is urging investors to see the rally as more than a traditional safety play — arguing it could signal accelerating inflation, weakening confidence in the U.S. dollar and a looming economic shock, as Fox News Digital reported.

Schiff said during a recent appearance on The Claman Countdown that precious metals are flashing warning signs about a deeper financial problem on the horizon.

“Gold and silver are warning about a bigger crisis that’s gonna hit either later this year or maybe next year. We are headed for a U.S. dollar crisis and a sovereign debt crisis,” Schiff said, according to Fox News Digital reported.

He added that foreign central banks are increasingly shifting away from U.S. assets.

“Central banks are buying gold to back up their currencies. They’re getting rid of dollars. They are getting rid of Treasuries,” Schiff said, warning the next downturn could dwarf the 2008 collapse — remarks highlighted as Fox News Digital reported.

Recent global data helps explain why gold has been surging. Worldwide demand for the metal hit a record in 2025 as investors sought protection from geopolitical instability and declining confidence in the dollar, while prices have surged sharply in recent years.

Still, not everyone agrees with Schiff’s outlook. Carrie Sheffield of the Independent Women’s Forum told Fox News Digital reported that some analysts make dramatic predictions that don’t always play out in reality.

Schiff has argued that government fiscal policy and monetary conditions are major drivers behind gold’s record run, saying the metal’s strength reflects structural weakness in the dollar. He has also suggested official economic data may understate inflation pressures — a claim he reiterated during the Fox Business interview, as Fox News Digital reported.

During the discussion, host Liz Claman pointed to strong income trends and improving productivity numbers. Schiff pushed back, arguing those figures may be distorted by inflation effects and could be revised later — comments Fox News Digital reported from the broadcast.

Schiff also compared today’s environment to the period leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, saying early warning signals were similarly dismissed at the time. He warned that the current situation could be more severe because it is centered in the United States rather than spreading outward from global markets, according to Fox News Digital reported.

He further argued that the global economic system depends heavily on foreign manufacturing and lending, suggesting America’s consumer-driven credit economy relies on the dollar’s reserve currency status — something he believes is now being challenged, as Fox News Digital reported.

Schiff has gone as far as predicting gold could eventually replace the dollar as the dominant store of value globally and said there may be no ceiling on gold prices if the dollar continues weakening, according to Fox News Digital reported.

The White House, however, struck a more optimistic tone. Officials pointed to strong foreign investment and continued demand for U.S. Treasury debt, arguing that predictions of economic collapse have repeatedly failed to materialize. A spokesperson said inflation has cooled, wages have risen and economic growth has accelerated under current policies, as Fox News Digital reported.

Meanwhile, analysts note that institutional and investor demand for gold — not just central bank buying — is now a major force behind the metal’s strength, reinforcing the broader debate over whether the rally signals crisis or simply strong hedging deman