Peter's Blog

Although Aristotle lived over 2000 years ago, he had ideas about money that are extremely relevant to today. He believed that rather than having some intrinsic worth, money was a human convention that enabled coordination between people. He also believed that money was best used to satisfy needs rather than wants, which he made it […]

Monetary authorities increasingly argue for eliminating physical cash altogether, citing tax evasion, the shadow economy, and the instability caused when people run for cash during a crisis. But money is a commodity that emerged through voluntary market selection, not something a central bank can conjure by decree, and abolishing cash strikes at the medium of […]

The dramatic heart of the play, Merchant of Venice, centers around a deal that turns a bad financial decision into a matter much more serious than money. In a situation where the titular merchant, Antonio, seeks to help out a friend in a time of social need, Shylock the moneylender gives him a loan of […]

For better or worse, Elon Musk has taken a liking to old Milton Friedman videos. On the good side, Musk has embraced Friedman’s distrust of government and money printing. Friedman, however, was no Rothbard regarding the consistent application of ethical and economic principles to the actions of the state. Despite Friedman’s compromises and error-ridden macroeconomic theorizing, there’s […]

Some so-called “experts” are pushing for the removal of cash. Here’s why this threatens the economy and drives society even further away from freedom and sound money.

Our nation’s top financier had it correct 111 years ago: “Money is gold, and nothing else.” J.P. Morgan was convinced of this. Still, government agencies have schemed over the centuries to dismantle the gold standard.  Our guest commenter explains that, even though the Fed still holds gold, there was never a time when the dollar […]

US stocks surged with the promise of interest rate cuts. Then stocks tanked when some Fed officials tried to walk that promise back. Then they surged again when some weak economic data put rate cuts back on the table. As Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey put it, easy money is one heck of a […]

Did you know Thanksgiving almost didn’t happen thanks to the Pilgrims’ experiment with socialism? It didn’t work. Fortunately, they figured out some economic truths and the rest is history. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey tells the Thanksgiving story you almost certainly didn’t hear in school. He also explains why […]

“Resilient” American consumers are digging into their retirement funds to pay their bills. Mainstream financial pundits, politicians, and Fed officials keep telling us the economy is strong because Americans keep spending money. They just assume this is a sign of economic strength without ever asking exactly how they’re paying for all of this “robust” spending.

When it comes to economic data, context matters. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey explains how the Fed, many mainstream economists, and financial network talking heads get a lot wrong because of bad data, shoddy economic frameworks, and ignorance of history. Along the way, he covers the GDP and the […]