Peter's Blog

The Market’s Safety Net: How Underwriters Laboratories Keeps Us Safe

Free-marketers rightly argue that the market is capable of providing many services that the government currently controls, from the choice and use of money to contract enforcement. There are even private means of regulating business, and as it turns out, we already benefit from them.

Industrial Policy’s Risky Revival

The American right, the progressive left, and politicians around the world have long been enamored with industrial policy. While it fell out of Americans’ favor for a time, industrial policy is making a resurgence in the Trump administration and accordingly must be refuted once again.

Fed Holds Rates Steady as Inflation Persists, Gold Climbs Higher

Yesterday the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced its decision to hold the federal funds rate steady within a target range of 4-1/4 to 4-1/2 percent, signaling caution as inflation remains persistently high and economic uncertainty lingers. Fed Chair Jerome Powell maintained an optimistic stance, asserting the economy remains in a “solid position,” despite continued […]

New York Manufacturing Slumps Again

New York’s manufacturing sector faced another difficult month, marking a consistent four-month decline according to the recent Empire State Manufacturing Survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The general business conditions index fell sharply to -16.0 in June, emphasizing the continued contraction in regional economic activity. Despite the deteriorating conditions, there is […]

Why Gold is Still King

While gold has been used to hoard wealth since the beginning of history, many mainstream experts still deride it in favor of nearly any newly invented investment opportunity. Financial advisors only suggest that gold should make up under 10% of an individual’s portfolio. Independent individual investors, dark money, and governments have recently contributed to gold’s […]

The Silver Bull is Finally Here

With silver classically lagging behind gold during the yellow metal’s stunning recent rise, the long-anticipated bull market for silver is finally here in earnest. And in a bull market, silver tends to outperform gold—once it finally catches up.

New ECB Report: Gold Surpasses Euro as Second Most Important Reserve Asset

In a report released yesterday by the European Central Bank, new data revealed that gold is now second only to the dollar as the world’s preferred reserve currency. This revelation follows a year where gold prices soared to historic highs, surpassing the inflation-adjusted peak of the 1979 oil crisis. This renewed enthusiasm for gold coincides […]

Trump’s Trade Trap: The Triffin Dilemma

As the Trump administration continues to navigate turbulent trade waters, it’s faced with an impossible set of economic trade-offs. These trade-offs, known as Triffin’s paradox, are key to understanding the United States’ current trade predicament.

Why the Money Supply Should Stay Fixed

Much of the current regime is predicated on the notion that ivory tower intellectuals are capable of determining and controlling the “optimal money supply.” In reality, this is preposterous. All the Fed’s tinkering accomplishes is cultural decline, rising prices, and misplaced anger at the private businesses that serve the economy.

Jobs: Household Survey and Downward Revisions Paint a Much Bleaker Employment Picture

The analysis below covers the Employment picture released on the first Friday of every month. While most of the attention goes to the Headline Report, it can be helpful to look at the details, revisions, and other reports to get a better gauge of what is really going on.