Peter's Blog

Inflation has come to be one the defining economic phenomena of this generation. As the money supply grows seemingly without end, it’s easy to miss how the erosion of our money wreaks both economic and – more subtly– cultural havoc.

Critics of free markets often argue that the competition found in markets is akin to animals in the wild; in the “dog-eat-dog” world of capitalism, they say, people must fight for survival. In this argument, however, lies insidious equivocation. On the contrary, markets are the most effective means for promoting both peace and social cooperation.

As Trump’s crypto and sovereign wealth reserves gain momentum, free-marketers should recall that such measures, while perhaps a temporary improvement, are not the key to a healthy economy. If Trump wants to fix the economy, he should focus on fixing the debt and hardening our money.

The division of labor and specialization in the free market are responsible for the vast wealth the developed world has accumulated over the last two centuries. With monetary and fiscal threats to the market at every political corner, it’s worth revisiting why the market– and the competition that drives it– is so important.

True economic growth doesn’t come from inflation or regulation but from entrepreneurs who cut costs and drive industries forward. But as inflation quietly eats away, those who get the new money first enjoy a temporary gain, while everyone else suffers from rising prices and shrinking buying power.

Fiat money is intrinsically worthless and yet people still value it. Where does this value come from? Our guest commentator cites Austrian thinkers Menger and Mises. He traces the purchasing power of paper money back its historical root: real money, i.e. physical gold.

December saw a resurgence of “degrowth” advocates in the media, with two articles published by Nature garnering special attention on X (formerly Twitter). The fallacies underlying the degrowth movement are not new in economics, but it’s worth revisiting them and their important connections to monetary policy in the age of central banking.

An important error in statistical analysis is that mathematical economists have lost sight of what their beloved statistics represent —none more so than with GDP. In this analysis, I explain why GDP is simply the total of accumulating currency and credit which is wrongly taken to reflect economic progress — there being no such thing […]

Context is key. During last week’s Friday Gold Wrap podcast, Mike Maharrey emphasized the importance of understanding sound economic theory. Without a firm grasp of basic economic principles, it becomes impossible to properly evaluate any observations you make and to properly interpret economic data. As economist Frank Shostak put it in a recent article published […]