Thomas Peterffy to Newsmax: Social Infrastructure 'Disastrous' for Inflation

The approval of social infrastructure legislation could prove "disastrous," Hungarian-born billionaire Thomas Peterffy, the founder of investment giant Interactive Brokers, tells Newsmax.

"We already have a shortage of skilled labor," said Peterffy to Newsmax host Eric Bolling on "The Balance." "The more handoffs, the more people choose to stay home."

At issue is a $3.5 trillion Democrat-backed bill that provides for spending that includes expanded child care, help for senior citizens, more Medicare benefits for dental and vision services, free community college, and much more, and Peterffy said that will be dangerous "from an inflationary point of view."

However, he also said it's important to remember that while prices of everyday goods are climbing, stock prices are also "rising with everything else."

"I wish we had that fear that the money stops coming in, but we don't," he said. "We have exactly the opposite. Then you're talking about more and more money, and I'm very worried about more serious inflation coming."

Meanwhile, Peterffy has strongly criticized the advance of socialism in the United States, but he told Bolling he still believes that if one devotes "all your time and energies to anything," a person can succeed.

"I grew up in socialist times," said Peterffy. "They just stopped the Second World War. We were locked in there behind the Iron Curtain. We had no freedom to do or say anything that the government officials did not like. There was censorship, but my grandmother had some books from before the war, and as a young boy, I read or the American novels she had."

The books were written mostly in the 1920s, Peterffy recalled, and through them, he developed a picture of America as a place that where if you were "determined and willing to work hard, you could get whatever you wanted, and I completely believe that."

He said he came to the United States when he was 21 years old, and "set about doing just that, and the amazing thing is that it is actually true ... you can succeed still today. That's my story."

Meanwhile, the United States is in a "difficult situation," said Peterffy, after Bolling asked him about the effects of social media censorship of conservative thought, but the billionaire investor also said he thinks "much of what goes on about censorship is just talk" and "positive things are happening all the time."

"Something I consider extremely positive is happening tonight (with) Robinhood going public, the fact that they were able to bring in 22.5 million young people who are on the platform," said Peterffy. "They are finding out how corporations are and how they work and how they fit into the everyday economy. (That) is absolutely fantastic. A broad section of these young people are coming into the economy now and I think that's very transformative."

Peterffy also commented on the growth of cryptocurrency, commenting that he does believe it has a "small chance of success," but if it succeeds, "it is going to be a very great success."

"I, for example, have some cryptocurrency and I recommend to everyone to take a very small part of their wealth and invest it in cryptocurrency because there is a small chance that the paper dollar could go out the door and never come back. Cryptocurrency and gold; everybody should have a little."

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