Peter's Blog

Whenever public services prove to be inferior or counterproductive, their advocates always advance the same argument: “public services are underfunded!” This comes as no surprise to those acquainted with the logic of state action. When the signals of profit and loss cease to function, public agencies inevitably seek to expand their budget. The following article […]

Socialism seems to be on the rise, with jurisdictions like New York City electing avowed socialists to “fix the economy.” Whether it’s state control of the money supply or intervention in capital and labor markets, sound economics demonstrates that central planning never works. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions […]

Last week was a revealing one for the economy, with turbulence on Wall Street and abysmally low consumer sentiment data coming in Friday. These are only the most visible signs of decades of government tinkering in the economy. With central banking, regulation, and extreme taxation plaguing the economy, the only possible outcome is economic collapse. […]

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 […]

Opponents of sound money rely on harebrained explanations of the origin of money. Perhaps chief among them is the Chartalist school of thought, which struggles even to adequately explain what the “first day of money” would look like in its framework. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do […]

Many economists and businesses look to survey data to judge the state of the economy. These data can provide interesting insight and will certainly sway markets, but whether they can actually capture real economic phenomena is up for debate.

Inflation has come to be one the defining economic phenomena of this generation. As the money supply grows seemingly without end, it’s easy to miss how the erosion of our money wreaks both economic and – more subtly– cultural havoc.

Critics of free markets often argue that the competition found in markets is akin to animals in the wild; in the “dog-eat-dog” world of capitalism, they say, people must fight for survival. In this argument, however, lies insidious equivocation. On the contrary, markets are the most effective means for promoting both peace and social cooperation.

As Trump’s crypto and sovereign wealth reserves gain momentum, free-marketers should recall that such measures, while perhaps a temporary improvement, are not the key to a healthy economy. If Trump wants to fix the economy, he should focus on fixing the debt and hardening our money.

The division of labor and specialization in the free market are responsible for the vast wealth the developed world has accumulated over the last two centuries. With monetary and fiscal threats to the market at every political corner, it’s worth revisiting why the market– and the competition that drives it– is so important.