Peter's Blog

One key feature of market economies is the “profit and loss test,” whereby successful companies are rewarded for creating value and wasteful companies go bankrupt. But, when the state gets involved, losses can be rewarded, and the financial system can obscure true market signals. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The […]

On Monday’s episode of the Commodity Culture podcast, Peter joins host Jesse Day and walks listeners through what he sees as a pivotal moment for precious metals and for the dollar. He argues that gold quietly began a new leg of its bull market in 2024, that the labor market is weaker than officials admit, […]

After its Bitcoin-buying spree, El Salvador has made its largest gold purchase in over three decades, diversifying its holdings into real money. Across the world, Bitcoin evangelists are joining central banks and funneling capital into history’s one and only hard money asset. If they were smart, El Salvador would trade all their so-called “digital gold” […]

From 2003 to 2014, Deutsche Bank manipulated the daily price of gold. In the past, they set gold prices in conjunction with four other banks through phone calls, and they positioned themselves before releasing the prices to the public. Of course, this archaic means of price-setting was done away with, but this situation showed gold […]

According to a report from the World Gold Council, global investors poured another US$5.5 billion into physically backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) during August, extending a three-month buying streak and pushing total assets under management (AUM) to a record US$407 billion. Holdings climbed by 53 tonnes to 3,692 tonnes—the highest month-end tally since mid-2022—even as […]

Gold hit a fresh record high in the wake of Jerome Powell’s dovish comments that the Fed will consider cutting interest rates at its upcoming September FOMC meeting. As the Fed is forced into accommodative policy and possibly even eventual QE, get ready for even more record highs for the yellow metal. But just don’t […]

In a recent VRIC Media interview, Peter lays out a straightforward critique of modern monetary policy and the political choices driving today’s economy. He connects low interest rates, tariffs, and misguided enthusiasm for crypto to a brewing misallocation of resources, and points listeners toward gold and real assets as sensible hedges. He starts by taking […]

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller used a Thursday night speech at the Economic Club of Miami to press, yet again, for easier money. Declaring that “the time has come to ease monetary policy and move it to a more neutral stance,” the long-time dove said he would have cut rates in July and plans […]

After posturing to use tariffs to eliminate income tax, the Trump administration has now shifted to a narrative that they’ll pay off deficits. Both promises are hollow.  Deficits as massive and persistent as ours demand massive Treasury issuance. That means markets have to absorb ever-larger supply, pushing yields higher if demand fails to keep up. […]

Three weeks after the Federal Open Market Committee opted to leave its target range unchanged at 4.25%–4.50%, fresh details from the July meeting shed light on why policymakers are growing uneasy even as they stay on hold. Minutes released Wednesday reveal officials wrestling with sticky price pressures, new tariffs, and a cooling labor market—all while […]