Peter's Blog

Central Banking: Legalized Monetary Piracy

In a free market for money, monetary policy would be unnecessary, with market forces governing the production and use of money. In the current monetary landscape, monetary policy constitutes a coercive, redistributive, and intentional force that benefits the political class at the expense of everyday consumers. The following article was originally published by the Mises […]

Interest Rates Are Set by People, Not Central Banks

Interventionists see interest rates as a key policy parameter set by central bank bureaucrats, betraying a crucial misunderstanding about the nature of interest. In reality, rates are determined by individual time preference– the willingness to trade off future and present consumption. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do […]

Why “Public” Education Can Never Be Neutral

The state of the American economy testifies to the dangers of central planning in monetary and fiscal policy. Yet, many overlook the exact same dangers in education, where state provision of educational services produces equally disastrous results. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those […]

Why Home Prices Are High by Design: Government Policy, Not the Market

With the Fed’s recent policy decisions set to increase inflation yet again, rising prices will continue to ravage the economy and the housing sector in particular. Before housing prices rise further, it’s worth examining how high home prices are the deliberate and intentional result of government policy and the special interest groups that lobby for […]

How Inflation Turns Housing into an Intergenerational Battleground

Inflationary monetary policy pits Americans against themselves, with those benefitting from rising prices wielding state power to steal from those who bear the brunt of inflation. Nowhere is this clearer than in the housing sector, where decades of inflation essentially require Americans to pay ever-rising prices to get a home. The following article was originally […]

CPI Inflation Cools Amid Falling Oil Prices and Slowing Rents

With the CPI coming in at 2.7% last week– lower than the expected 3.1% – markets rallied at the hope that inflation is being tamed. 2.7% is still nearly a full point higher than the Fed’s 2.0% goal, and this hope is misplaced: the Fed’s latest cuts will only drive inflation higher. The following article […]

How Government Policy Turns Generations and Classes Against Each Other

In a limping and heavily distorted economy, it’s easy to blame one group or demographic for “ruining the economy.” Caste analysis, in the tradition of the Austrian school, shows us that it’s not one specific demographic or class that’s to blame. Rather, the economy’s woes result from those who seize political power for selfish gain. […]

The Fed’s “Sick Design”: How Post-2008 Policy Supercharged the Cantillon Effect

With the Fed cutting rates this month, free-market economists stand alone again in their condemnation of inflationary monetary policy. Despite recent years of high inflation, most economists still don’t appreciate the sinister and destructive effect inflation has on the economy, even in small amounts. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The […]

The Economics of Affordability: Why Government Can’t Make Life Cheaper

Politicians on both sides have found a new mantra to address concerns about the economy: “affordability.” Economics shows us how these same politicians are responsible for inflation, taxation, and regulation– three forces that inevitably make goods and services less affordable. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not […]

Money Supply Surges to 3-Year High as Fed Quietly Eases Policy

With the market betting on a rate cut at this week’s FOMC meeting, many are hoping for another few months of easy monetary policy. Money supply growth data, however, shows how monetary policy is already too free, and the money supply is already growing too much. The following article  was originally published by the Mises […]