Peter's Blog

The current study of economics in an academic setting is extremely overrun by empiricists. Empiricism is a method of study that involves primarily driving conclusions from what can be observed rather than first principles. Empiricism links the validity of every idea back to observable points of evidence that can be used to support it. While […]

The last time that you looked at a truly beautiful piece of Roman statuary, did you remember to read the plaque? If you haven’t, I’ll spare you the trouble of going to the antiquity Museum of your nearest metropolis. Nearly every piece of beautiful naturalistic Roman statuary has inscribed on the plaque beneath it the […]

On Friday’s episode of The Peter Schiff Show, Peter walks listeners through the fiscal and monetary forces that make inflation all but inevitable. He ties together soaring debt service, a bubble-driven stock market, wartime spending, and misguided corporate Bitcoin bets to argue that sound money and precious metals are the sensible hedge right now. He […]

Most analysts treat economic data as the starting point for understanding the economy: if GDP rises, things are good; if it falls, things are bad. What they fail to appreciate is that data without theory is meaningless, and that any interpretation of economic data already presupposes a theoretical framework, whether the analyst knows it or […]

As Kevin Warsh takes over as Fed chair, his stated preference for narrower, trimmed inflation measures is drawing scrutiny, and for good reason. Though it is technically correct that government-driven price hikes from wars, lockdowns, and years of interventionist policy are not “inflation” in the strict monetary sense, Warsh’s push to exclude them from the […]

Inflation’s embers flared again in May, dashing hopes that last year’s price scare was fading. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.5 percent for the month, lifting the headline rate to 4.2 percent year-over-year and marking a second straight acceleration. Energy was the chief culprit, and the renewed heat pushed safe-haven […]

American households are plummeting to razor-thin financial margins as the personal savings rate falls to numbers last seen before COVID.  Personal savings fell from around 4.3% of disposable income in January to just over 2.5% in April, all as the cost of living continues to climb. Americans are drawing down reserves to cover groceries, housing, […]

In popular culture, entrepreneurs are often praised and speculators are to be shamed. They are seen as fundamentally different classes of individuals. An entrepreneur is described as someone who creates something and actually cares about their mission. A speculator seen as someone who shifts around between different industries for only the goal of financial reward. […]

One of the central ideas of Austrian economics is that local knowledge cannot be encapsulated and transported into a different situation; however, relevant information can be transported within the price system. This insight suggests that only individuals will have the best information regarding their lives, and that only towns will have the best information regarding […]

In Friday’s episode of The Peter Schiff Show, Peter connects the dots between Washington’s fiscal choices, Federal Reserve policy, and the asset bubbles those choices create. He covers inflation’s true drivers, the hidden costs of today’s tech buildout, why Bitcoin is vulnerable, and why gold and silver remain the prudent hedge for savers. He closes […]