Peter C. Earle
Peter C. Earle is an economist who joined AIER in 2018. Prior to that he spent over 20 years as a trader and analyst at a number of securities firms and hedge funds in the New York metropolitan area. His research focuses on financial markets, monetary policy, and problems in economic measurement. He has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, CNBC, Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, NPR, and in numerous other media outlets and publications. Pete holds an MA in Applied Economics from American University, an MBA (Finance), and a BS in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Peter C. Earle Articles
American households are hurting. With wage growth lagging and inflation compounding, no amount of presidential bluster can mask the math.
This explainer will outline what the gold standard was, how it operated, the benefits and criticisms surrounding it, and how its rise and eventual collapse shaped the global monetary system.
Imagine a parallel universe where, with the stroke of a pen, President Trump declares an end to the ill-conceived trade war that, while it intensified sharply in April 2025, started in 2017.
On and shortly after Liberation Day, economists warned that tariffs would raise prices, snarl supply chains, and cut into economic growth. Prices are higher, certainly, but haven’t skyrocketed.
If a dollar were constant, like an inch or an hour, trade would collapse. A core part of currency’s purpose is to contract and expand, signaling scarcity and abundance.
Numbers do not speak for themselves. They are framed, spun, and selectively emphasized.
In the early hours of trading on Friday, August 8, 2025, global markets were shaken by the announcement of a 39 percent tariff on imported gold bars weighing 100 ounces or more by the Trump administration. US December gold futures reached...
By any serious measure, and certainly by every economic metric, the claim that the United States has been “ripped off” or “mistreated” by its trading partners over the past several decades is incoherent.
The recent weakness in the US dollar has reignited the debate over the durability of the dollar’s dominance in global finance. Over the first half of the year, the Bloomberg Dollar Index has fallen nearly 8.5 percent, marking one of the...
Government spending comes at a cost to our standard of living: it’s time to stop counting weapons systems as citizens’ economic welfare.
