Thread by @PeterSchiff

I said from day one that the #PPP would be rife with fraud. None of the 600 asset management firms that got "loans" needed the money. They got paid to retain workers they had no intention of firing. I could have taken the free money myself, but didn't want to lie to obtain it.

Asset management firms like mine were not shut down. Our employees worked from home, none of our revenue stopped coming in, and soaring asset prices actually resulted in more revenue after #COVID19 than before. The #PPP money merely added to the windfall. It was a total fraud.

In fact, every government that ordered businesses to close, exempted financial services companies from those orders as the services they provide were deemed to be essential. So, even if some employees were not able to work from home, they still had access to their offices.

The Fed’s monetary policy response to #COVID19 inflated asset prices, providing firms that manage those inflated assets with the windfall of higher fees. Then Congress passed the #PPP, giving many of those same firms another opportunity to fraudulently obtain a second windfall.

The #PPP was unconstitutional and bad policy. The least lawmakers could've done was limit the program to businesses that were actually shut down and needed the money to avoid layoffs. Those that require customers or employees to be physically present, like leisure & hospitality.

I challenge any asset management or brokerage firm that took #PPP money to prove that its revenue really declined to the point where it couldn't meet its payroll and that a single employee would have been fired without the money. If your firm took any PPP money, fire your firm.