Peter's Blog

China-Brazil Trade Deal Ditches the Dollar

More bad news for the dollar. Last week, China and Brazil announced a trade deal in their own currencies, completely bypassing the dollar. This represents another small shift away from dollar dominance.

Services Price Inflation at Highest Level Since 1984

Energy prices have moderated and the price of some goods has dropped in recent months, but the cost of services continues to rise at a red-hot pace and is at the highest level since 1984. As a result, the core personal consumption expenditures price (PCE) index rose by  4.6% year on year. This is yet […]

Tennessee Governor Signs Bill Authorizing State Gold and Silver Reserves

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed a bill into law that creates a process for the state to buy, sell, and hold gold and silver. This sets a foundation for Tennessee to achieve more financial independence with gold and silver reserves and could help undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money.

Will Central Bank Gold Buying Continue?

Central banks have been gobbling up gold. On net, central banks bought 1,136 tons of gold in 2022. It was the highest level of net purchases on record dating back to 1950 and the 13th straight year of net gold purchases. The question is will central banks continue to have an appetite for gold through […]

Silver Jewelry Sales Boom Will Help Drive Overall Silver Demand Higher

Jewelry production is an important driver of overall silver demand. In 2022, the amount of silver used in jewelry was up around 29% as overall silver demand hit record levels. Silver jewelry production used around 235 million ounces of silver. And according to a recent survey by the Silver Institute, silver jewelry sales are on […]

Chinese Gold Demand Continued to Surge in February

After ending 2022 on an upward trend that continued into January, Chinese gold demand surged again in February as the economy continues to rebound from government-imposed COVID policies. Gold withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) totaled 169 tons in February. This is a reflection of strong wholesale demand and signals an ongoing rebound in […]

The Exploding Budget Deficit Is Another Big Problem for the Federal Reserve

February has historically been a big budget deficit month, but the Biden administration still managed to overachieve and run the second-largest February deficit ever. The only time the US government has run a February deficit bigger than the $262.4 billion shortfall last month was in February 2021 in the midst of the COVID stimulus. This […]

India’s Oil Deals With Russia Further Erodes Petrodollar Dominance

Every government policy has consequences – some intended and some unintended. There is at least one serious unintended consequence of the economic sanctions levied against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine – an erosion of the US dollar dominance.

Credit Card Borrowing Spiked in January Even as Big-Ticket Spending Slowed

In January, retail sales came in much hotter than expected. Now we know how consumers paid for the spending spree. They put it on credit cards. After slowing modestly in December, growth in revolving debt spiked again in January. But a slowdown in non-revolving credit moderated the overall increase in consumer debt. Overall, this signals […]

Solar Energy Production Could Require Most of the Global Silver Reserves by 2050

Silver demand was at record levels in 2022 and there is reason to believe it will continue to run hot over the next several decades. One reason is the rapidly increasing demand for silver in the green energy sector. In fact, an Australian study projects solar cells may use most of the world’s silver reserves […]