Peter's Blog

The unique dangers of artificial intelligence are often used to argue that development should be taken out of the hands of profit-driven private actors. The government is presented as a force for good that can develop AI responsibly for the common good. While this line of reasoning can soothe the minds of well-meaning citizens, it […]

As wealth inequality continues to rise, many are quick to blame billionaires for society’s ills. However, focusing on individual wealthy people obscures the underlying institutional factors that shape economic outcomes. Rather than vilifying the rich, we should examine how government policies and central bank interventions create perverse incentives that concentrate wealth and distort markets. The […]

The model of software-as-a-service is dead. Already successful businesses have been able to hold onto some of their past glory, but new SaaS businesses have it much more difficult than they did even five years ago. Businesses are tired of paying for tools that have potential to make them more efficient. People are ready to […]

People love to lie to themselves, particularly about themselves. This has been true throughout all of history, and it is now revealing itself to be even more true because of incredible material abundance and new technologies. Artificial intelligence is explicitly sycophantic, but there has always been a large market for things that can increase the […]

Going from zero to one is creating something that is fundamentally new. While creating another software-as-a-service company could be extremely lucrative, it is something fundamentally different from going zero to one, as it is more like going from 28,332 to 28,333. Business ideas that already exist can be optimized and maximized by clever people but […]

Whether one is a fan or a foe of AI, almost everyone believes in its incredible world changing power. What I’m about to tell you might be a shock, but AI will not fundamentally change the way the world works. While it does have some unique capabilities, it is far from the panacea that most […]

While constantly predicting the inevitable decline of the dollar and the governmentally-entwined systems of commerce that our society is centered around is not often a joyful job, there are still some things that should give you hope for the state of our country and the world. SchiffGold is so often focused on the negatives because […]

A recent, and extremely controversial, Palantir essay advocates for a deep enmeshment of the state with artificial intelligence for the purpose of national security. Karl et. al make the case that those who are unwilling or unable to integrate artificial intelligence into their nation’s security infrastructure will become overtaken by those who do. Businesses and […]

I doubt that I’m the only one who feels that something different is happening in the entrepreneurial world. While the emergence of our current world-defining tech companies in the 80s and 90s looked very different from the origin of the industrial giants of the 20th century, they still shared some recurring themes at their advent. […]

Silver is booming. So, is Elon Musk right that the industrial need for silver will reveal that recent price action is only a bubble?  Or will the rise continue, raising the price of technology in the process? One of the downstream effects of higher silver prices could certainly be higher prices for other goods that […]