Peter's Blog

Democracy Was Not Meant For Us

Democracy truly was not meant for us. Democracy was built for people that are so different from us that they would hardly recognize us or the form of government we have built on democratic principles. Democracy was meant to be governance of all by the free. In our society, except for circumstances of age or […]

Why Would a President Welcome Inflation?

Inflation benefits debtors at the expense of creditors, and there is no bigger debtor than the US government. By silently eroding the real value of its massive debt through currency debasement, inflation allows the government to avoid politically painful spending cuts or tax hikes. This explains why politicians like President Trump love inflation despite the […]

Americans Are Spending More, but Their Savings Are Quietly Disappearing

May’s economic data tells a story that sounds good on the surface but gets more complicated the closer you look. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its report Friday showing personal income climbed 0.7 percent last month, adding $181.6 billion, with disposable income rising by that same margin. Americans didn’t sit on that extra […]

The Hidden Costs of China’s Industrial Policy

China’s economic rise in recent decades has been nothing short of remarkable. Many attribute this success to the country’s ambitious industrial policy, which involves central planning and heavy government intervention in the economy. However, a closer look reveals that this approach leads to inefficiency and distortions that ultimately undermine economic progress. The following article was […]

Corporatism vs. Capitalism

When people point to the problems they observe with capitalism, they are most often thinking of things they notice in corporatism. Corporatism is a form of society and governance in which large institutions directly make agreements with the government rather than the intermediaries of the people. This has become much more common as the size […]

The Entrepreneur as Practitioner/Philosopher

The divide between philosophy and action has continually widened for centuries. Particularly in the 20th century, when people began to believe that education for most people was applied skills training, and only the most theoretically inclined were encouraged to study ideas. Even for those who chose to study philosophy, their education was intended to prepare […]

Building Institutions That Go From 0 to 1

Going from zero to one is creating something that is fundamentally new. While creating another software-as-a-service company could be extremely lucrative, it is something fundamentally different from going zero to one, as it is more like going from 28,332 to 28,333. Business ideas that already exist can be optimized and maximized by clever people but […]

Empiricism Is NOT The Answer

The current study of economics in an academic setting is extremely overrun by empiricists. Empiricism is a method of study that involves primarily driving conclusions from what can be observed rather than first principles. Empiricism links the validity of every idea back to observable points of evidence that can be used to support it. While […]

Aeneas, China, and Odysseus

The last time that you looked at a truly beautiful piece of Roman statuary, did you remember to read the plaque? If you haven’t, I’ll spare you the trouble of going to the antiquity Museum of your nearest metropolis. Nearly every piece of beautiful naturalistic Roman statuary has inscribed on the plaque beneath it the […]

Inflation Pops to 4.2%, Energy Fuels Surge 

Inflation’s embers flared again in May, dashing hopes that last year’s price scare was fading. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.5 percent for the month, lifting the headline rate to 4.2 percent year-over-year and marking a second straight acceleration. Energy was the chief culprit, and the renewed heat pushed safe-haven […]