Peter's Blog

Inflation, high prices, stagnant wages, and recurring financial crises are usually treated as separate problems, but Austrian economists argue they are connected consequences of interventions that distort the price signals a market economy relies on to coordinate itself. Sound money, free prices, secure property, open competition, capital accumulation, and profit-and-loss discipline are the key to […]

Although Aristotle lived over 2000 years ago, he had ideas about money that are extremely relevant to today. He believed that rather than having some intrinsic worth, money was a human convention that enabled coordination between people. He also believed that money was best used to satisfy needs rather than wants, which he made it […]

Americans own far less gold than they should. Less than .5% of American consumer portfolios are gold. Although gold provides countercyclical safety to the market and has grown consistently in relation to the dollar and performed not dramatically differently from the S&P over the last 25 years, Americans still only allocate a tiny portion of […]

Commentators have labeled the divide between soaring asset prices and stagnant wages the “K-shaped economy,” but slapping a name on the pattern is not the same as explaining it. The real driver is the Cantillon effect: new money enters the economy through the banking system first, inflating the assets held disproportionately by the wealthy while […]

As Washington continues piling up debt, deficits, and monetary intervention, meaningful reform is increasingly unlikely to come from the federal level, pushing the real action down to the states. Florida offers an imperfect but instructive model of lower taxation, spending restraint, and sound money, including its move to recognize gold and silver as legal tender, […]

Monetary authorities increasingly argue for eliminating physical cash altogether, citing tax evasion, the shadow economy, and the instability caused when people run for cash during a crisis. But money is a commodity that emerged through voluntary market selection, not something a central bank can conjure by decree, and abolishing cash strikes at the medium of […]

Monetary inflation and technological revolution have combined to produce dangerous asset bubbles throughout history, from the precious-metal inflows and printing press of the Northern Renaissance to today’s digital-era boom in equities and speculative assets. The technology-driven productivity gains mask rising prices in goods markets, giving central banks cover to keep interest rates artificially low, fuel […]

As the United States prepares to commemorate its 250th anniversary, Americans will celebrate the nation’s founding with pageantry, parades, pomp and patriotism. Loving one’s country of birth and taking pride in its independence-inspired origins, praiseworthy accomplishments, and laudable legacy is a natural inclination and respectable trait. Similar celebration and reverence shouldn’t apply to the dollar, […]

Central banks are not easing off the gold pedal. According to the World Gold Council’s newly released 2026 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey, monetary authorities have been snapping up an average of 1,000 tonnes of bullion annually over the past four years– double the pace seen in the prior decade. Nearly nine in ten survey […]

Last week Peter joined Shannon Joy on her podcast to warn listeners that runaway government spending and a corrupting alliance between state and corporate power are eating away at living standards. He connects collapsing consumer confidence, rising interest rates, and a political media culture that shields power to make the case that savers need sound […]