Peter's Blog

When the Data Is Bad, Just Lie

Bad jobs numbers? Just say they’re good. High inflation? Just claim it’s low. While the old adage “numbers don’t lie” may have a ring of truth, in reality, people lie a lot, and governments lie constantly—and they’re releasing the data that all the big decisions are supposed to be based on.  For example, if people […]

Producer Prices Punch 0.9% Higher in July, Surpassing Consensus Estimates

Upstream price pressures roared back in July, according to Thursday’s Producer Price Index (PPI) release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The headline PPI for final demand leapt 0.9 percent after a flat reading in June. Year-over-year, producer prices are now 3.3 percent higher, the largest 12-month increase since February. The data landed just 2 […]

Trump Extends Tariff Pause on Chinese Goods

On Monday President Trump signed an executive order that temporarily keeps additional duties on Chinese imports from snapping back into force, extending a 90-day tariff reprieve that would have expired just after midnight on August 12. The new directive, “Further Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates to Reflect Ongoing Discussions with the People’s Republic of China,” pushes […]

Fed’s Barkin Says “Fasten Your Seatbelts” for Bumpy Road

Economic cross-currents, political headwinds, and an elevated gold price framed Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Tom Barkin’s August 12 remarks to The Health Management Academy in Chicago. Barkin told the Four Seasons crowd that U.S. real GDP expanded at just 1.2 percent during the first half of 2025, less than half last year’s 2.5 […]

ISM Services PMI Barely Hangs On to Expansion

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 […]

BOJ Flags Trade-War Headwinds, Hints at Rate Hikes

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.” […]

Interest Rates Should Be Higher, Not Lower

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 […]

Jobs Stall: July Payroll Gain Just 73K

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 […]

What Trump and Powell’s Tiff Shows About the Core of the Fed

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 […]

Job Openings Miss Expectations, Slip to 7.4 Million

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. […]