Peter's Blog

Trouble Ahead? The Gold-Oil Ratio Is Inching Back Up

The Gold-Oil ratio — which signifies how many barrels of oil you can buy with an ounce of gold — has been steadily rising since its dramatic COVID-era spike in April 2020. A high ratio tends to signify economic trouble and a weak dollar, since it demonstrates that gold has an even more dramatic rise […]

Dollar Store Stocks Are Cratering and Pundits Can’t Agree Why

A decade of slow growth delivered magnificent gains for “dollar store” stocks like Dollar Tree and Dollar General, but both are now going off a cliff. However, pundits can’t agree: Is it because high inflation is making the poor even poorer, pricing them out of even the cheapest retail option in town? Or is it […]

Open-Source Stability: How Some Emerging Markets Have Thrived as Others Inflate

While monetary independence is a highly appealing concept, maintaining it has been an endless struggle for many emerging markets. While a great improvement from 50 years ago, the 8.3% inflation of emerging markets and developing economies in 2023 still dwarfs the 2.6% of advanced economies. All countries, no matter their stage of development, have experienced […]

A “New Deal” With Iran? U.S. Officials Say It’s Unlikely

There’s “no harm” in talking with the West, Iran’s supreme leader said in a recent speech, sparking hopes among some of the country’s adversaries that a nuclear treaty could be on the horizon.

“Heating Up” in the Arctic?

In the same week that Biden said he would not seek reelection, Russian and Chinese bombers were escorted out of the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Russia and China acting so boldly near American soil is an unprecedented move that signals the rising tensions of recent years.

Demagogue Elizabeth Warren Flunks Econ 101:

Last week, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren appeared on CNBC to defend Vice President Harris’ recent proposal to implement price controls. What followed was a predictable progressive screed full of economic fallacies and finger-pointing. Here we’ll take apart two of her claims. In the first, she engages in question-begging about the effects of price gouging laws. […]

How Patent Abuse Fuels America’s Drug Pricing Problem

The United States patent system, originally designed to foster innovation and protect inventors, has become a battleground where pharmaceutical companies wage war against competition and affordability. While patents play an important role in incentivizing research and development, the current system has been manipulated to extend monopolies far beyond their intended duration, resulting in skyrocketing drug […]

UBS: Taylor Swift Could Derail the Global Battle Against Inflation

Just when you thought the headlines couldn’t seem more absurd, Swiss banking giant UBS has issued a warning that in the global battle against inflation, the worst enemy of central banks could be none other than pop star Taylor Swift.

Table for 1: The Solo Service Economy

A last measure of desperation and relational duress in the 1980s is today a common sight. Film and TV from an era even as recent as the early 2000s now seems both frighteningly prophetic and offensive. The species of the solo diner has recently grown in both number and severity, particularly in the last 4 […]

The “Biden Brand” Is Unconstitutional, Alleges House GOP Report

President Joe Biden committed “impeachable offenses” while in office, according to a hot-off-the-press report from the House GOP.