Charles Gibson, an analyst with London-based Edison Investment Research, is nervous. Gibson says the U.S. Federal Reserve’s statement that it would push the benchmark interest rate to 1.375% by the end of 2016 could send the U.S. economy in the wrong direction for the sake of containing mostly nonexistent inflation. He says the economy’s capacity to sustain higher interest rates—especially higher real interest rates—is limited and that could ultimately create greater safe-haven investment demand for gold. In light of some choppy economic times ahead, Gibson and his colleague Tom Hayes recommend defensive equity names with little risk in this interview with The Gold Report.
