Peter's Blog

The American services engine came more than one point under expectations but stayed in the green by the slimmest of margins last month, even as price pressures roared back to life and trade frictions deepened. The Institute for Supply Management’s Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 50.1 for July, just a whisker above […]

Japan’s central bankers are juggling a stubbornly hot CPI, cooling exports, and a fresh volley of U.S. tariffs—all while investors pile into gold. In its July 30th-31st policy meeting, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) conceded the economy “has recovered moderately,” yet warned that escalating trade friction is set to sap growth “in the near term.” […]

Along with Trump, market watchers are salivating for rate cuts. But rates should be higher, not lower—and in a free market, they would be. In a free market, interest rates are determined by the supply and demand for credit. Savers provide capital (supply) while borrowers like businesses, consumers, and governments create demand. Rates would reflect […]

The summer labor market is losing momentum. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said Friday that non-farm payrolls grew by only 73,000 in July, barely budging overall employment since April and capping two straight months of sharp downward revisions. The headline unemployment rate stayed at 4.2 percent—on paper a healthy figure—yet a closer look shows […]

Treasury Secretary Bessent recently expressed displeasure with the Fed, implying that he’s interested in investigating whether or not the Fed is successful in promoting price stability. If Bessent digs deep enough, he’ll realize that the Fed has been both utterly unsuccessful and damaging to the economy.

While some still cling to the idea that economic and governmental development of Third World countries will come from external forces, it is becoming a much more widely accepted truth that the most robust long-term growth only comes when it is spurred by the countries themselves. Even when resources come from other countries, a great […]

Trump has repeatedly pressured Powell to lower interest rates, thinking that a spiral of Keynesian growth can undo the damage he has wrought with tariffs and one of the most hands on governments economically in recent memory. Let alone the theoretical weakness of Trump’s stands, he is viewing the Fed in an unprecedented yet still […]

The once-red-hot U.S. labor market is cooling at the edges. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), released July 29, shows total openings falling to 7.4 million in June—a 4.4 percent openings rate. Hiring was flat at 5.2 million, while total separations came in slightly lower at 5.1 million. […]

July’s advance purchasing-manager numbers paint a tale of two economies. The S&P Global Flash U.S. Composite PMI jumped to 54.6—its best showing in seven months—thanks almost entirely to a roaring service sector that notched a 55.2 reading. Manufacturing, by contrast, slipped back into contraction territory at 49.5, a full three points below Wall Street’s consensus […]

President Trump’s insistence on lowering interest rates serves only the ever-growing spending state. Lower interest rates may relieve some price pressure in the housing market, but printing money is only going to make things worse in the long run.