Peter's Blog

Freedom in Money: Gold, Crypto, and the Fed

For the government to undermine a nation’s currency, as the Federal Reserve has done, a money printer isn’t enough. If the state truly wants to give its currency power, it must also wage ideological war against alternatives to fiat, like gold and silver, to prevent citizens from using sound money. The following article was originally […]

Central Banking: Legalized Monetary Piracy

In a free market for money, monetary policy would be unnecessary, with market forces governing the production and use of money. In the current monetary landscape, monetary policy constitutes a coercive, redistributive, and intentional force that benefits the political class at the expense of everyday consumers. The following article was originally published by the Mises […]

Interest Rates Are Set by People, Not Central Banks

Interventionists see interest rates as a key policy parameter set by central bank bureaucrats, betraying a crucial misunderstanding about the nature of interest. In reality, rates are determined by individual time preference– the willingness to trade off future and present consumption. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do […]

We Still Haven’t Faced the Economic Madness of 2020

It has been more than 5 years since the federal government led a complete upheaval of American society in the name of public safety. Even after 5 years, America hasn’t fully realized the irreparable damage that the state did to social and economic life. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The […]

Sentiment Trading and the Limits of Knowledge

While value investors examine companies’ financial data and future outlook, most short-term investment strategies now incorporate some sentiment analysis insights. Rather than analyzing the long-term ability to create value of a company, quantitative traders recognize that investor sentiment is the primary driving factor of short term price fluctuation. Far from the perfect competition assumption of […]

Loose Money, Tight Money, and the Illusion of Control

With the Fed’s latest rate cut still in view, economic fallacies abound. Policymakers and talking heads speak of monetary policy as a lever that can be flipped back and forth without issue. But, as the Austrian school demonstrates, simply reversing monetary course cannot undo the malinvestment caused by easy money. The following article was originally […]

The Fed Wouldn’t Cut it as a Normal Bank

The Fed is governed by institutional rules that separate it in operation and incentive from all other banks. Rather than being driven by profit and benevolence, it is ruled by a convoluted system of spoken and unspoken incentives that are often at odds with one another. The purpose of the Fed is nominally to keep […]

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 […]

Abolish the Bank of Portugal Before It Causes More Damage

Free-marketers are quick (and correct) to blame the Fed for America’s monetary troubles. But as bad as the Federal Reserve is, other countries, like Portugal, have corrupt central banks that rival the Fed in its corporatism, inflationism, and irresponsibility. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not necessarily […]

Challenging Secretary Bessent on the Fed’s Failures

Treasury Secretary Bessent recently expressed displeasure with the Fed, implying that he’s interested in investigating whether or not the Fed is successful in promoting price stability. If Bessent digs deep enough, he’ll realize that the Fed has been both utterly unsuccessful and damaging to the economy.