Peter's Blog

Why Are The Markets Wrong?

The role of the market as a creator and processor of information is central to Austrian economics. Prices should reflect the collective evaluation of everyone in the market as they utilize their own constrained resources. While the Austrian theory holds the market to be an important creator of information, it does provides a compelling answer […]

Forget Stocks, Buy Pokémon

“Buy Pokémon cards, not stocks” might seem like a ridiculous phrase until one examines the price history. The market over the past several years has been extremely volatile. From mid-February to early April of 2025, the S&P 500 pulled back nearly 20% from its all-time high, and even the ‘safe’ index of American blue-chip companies […]

The Austrian Anthropology

Austrian economics does not reduce people to mechanisms like most other forms of economics do. While the Austrian perspective is still to approach economics as a positive rather than a normative science, it avoids numerous pitfalls by simply not making simplifying assumptions about people internally and the way they make choices. Rather than boxing people […]

The Fourth of July and Human Capital

Two hundred and fifty years ago, something unique happened, the people of a nation were able to step away from what had been and envision what a nation could be. The people and the governing structure had never been so intertwined. A deep understanding of the people was necessary to create this new framework of […]

Oil Shock, AI Boom Complicate Fed’s Path, Vice Chair Jefferson Says

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson told an audience at Stanford University on July 16 that monetary policy is facing a “delicate balancing act,” as overlapping shocks from the Middle East conflict, post-pandemic imbalances, and newly erected trade barriers keep inflation above target and threaten to unmoor expectations. The remarks, delivered at the Stanford Institute […]

Why Local Governments Can’t Stop The Spend

50 of the 75 largest US cities are currently operating with budget deficits. While 100% of American Federal Governments are operating with a budget deficit, the Federal Government faces constant scrutiny, but these cities avoid scrutiny even while in close proximity to the communities they overspend for. It would be far easier for people to […]

Don’t Blame Billionaires – Blame the Incentives

As wealth inequality continues to rise, many are quick to blame billionaires for society’s ills. However, focusing on individual wealthy people obscures the underlying institutional factors that shape economic outcomes. Rather than vilifying the rich, we should examine how government policies and central bank interventions create perverse incentives that concentrate wealth and distort markets. The […]

The Keynesian Demand Fallacy

Keynesian economists often attribute economic downturns to insufficient aggregate demand, arguing that government intervention is necessary to boost spending and restore growth. However, this theory fails to recognize that consumer demand is not an independent variable but rather a consequence of prior production and savings. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. […]

Warsh Vows “No Tolerance” for Inflation. Do We Believe Him?

In his first appearance before the House Financial Services Committee on July 14, new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh took a firm stance, telling lawmakers that the central bank has “no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation.” Warsh confirmed that June’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting left the federal-funds-rate target unchanged at 3.50 to 3.75 percent, […]

Government Spending has Increased 89% since 2016 to $7.2T

Federal Budget The Federal Government publishes the spending and revenue numbers on a monthly basis. The charts and tables below give an in depth review of the Federal Budget, showing where the money is coming from, where it is going to, and the surplus or deficit. The government fiscal year closes at the end of […]