Peter's Blog

The Many Costs of Public Control of Water Rights

Although water rights are often used as the poster child of the need for government intervention, the private market actually presents many compelling solutions for their allocation. State control of water rights, while compelling, actually presents many unseen costs and damages the efficient allocation of one of the necessities of life. Clear ownership frameworks and […]

AI Won’t Kill Jobs – Regulation Might

As AI continues to grow more complex and capable, many are understandably concerned about its economic consequences. The true AI-related danger, however, is not its displacement of jobs, but the regime that will likely emerge to funnel its benefits to the state and its favored rent-seekers. The following article was originally published by the Mises […]

The Deadly Tradeoff Between Learning and Safety

Although learning things the hard way is often seen as a benchmark of failure, it often might be the only way to learn. Particularly in situations of first time discovery, repeated failure is all but necessary to produce a meaningful new outcome. Learning things the hard way should only be seen as failure when one […]

Germany’s Painfully Boring Economic Decline

While it’s been known for many years that Germany’s economy is in poor health, the debate about the cause is quite contentious. Some claim that the government should have stepped in earlier while others claim that the government was the problem the whole time. Numerous German governments have tried to tackle this problem, but to […]

​​The Austrian Mindset and the Ambiguous Future

One of the key tenets of Austrian economics is a deep focus on process rather than outcomes. While many other forms of economic or political theory have a stronger emphasis on results, Austrian economics is unique in that it believes that the best results will ultimately arise from the enablement of good processes rather than […]

Coffee Houses and the Free Market of Ideas

While there’s a far greater amount of information accessible to all, there has rarely been a society where different types of people are able to have less discourse with one another. The ability for various groups to advocate for their beliefs in a hostile environment is greatly diminished by the fragmentation allowed by the Internet […]

The Fallacy of Planned Obsolescence

Interventionists look for any excuse or pretext to regulate private enterprise. One recent justification for additional regulation is so-called “planned obsolescence,” but as with other reasons for state action, this justification falls apart under close scrutiny. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of […]

Why Government Isn’t Like Other Institutions

Many on the left and right speak about the government as if it’s equivalent to a business. This rhetoric, deployed to justify the seizure of productive capital or make the state “more efficient,” obscures the fact that business and government are fundamentally different. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions […]

Why Business Must Keep its Hands Out of Regulation

Even free of outside interest, the government would still create inefficiencies and have numerous conflicts of interest, but a recurring core of over regulation and poor governmental choices is interference by businesses. While there are many legal paths to this, they most often end very poorly for both citizens and most businesses. Business interference in […]

The Double-Edged Sword of Information in the Innovation Economy

Almost everyone in the field of economics believes that information possessed by more people will lead to better overall outcomes. More freedom of information means that the decision makers upon which the economy hinges are able to make the right decision for themselves and everyone else involved. Even when people are competitive to the harm […]