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Roger Pielke Jr.’s Appallingly Bad Analysis of Billion Dollar Disasters

October 26, 2025

In a recent paper called Scientific integrity and U.S. “Billion Dollar Disasters”, Roger Pielke Jr. published a chart that's so bad I've devoted a whole essay to debunking it.

Insights from the Lotka-Volterra Model

September 15, 2025

The Lotka-Volterra equations are a toy model of predator-prey dynamics. But despite its simplicity, the Lotka-Volterra model has a lot to say about how humans exploit resources.

The Soviet Experiment with Empire

May 13, 2025

I chart the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, as measured by its share of world energy consumption.

The Half Life of Empire

May 04, 2025

I look at the rise and fall of the British and US empires, measured in terms of their share of world energy consumption.

The Deep Roots of Fascist Thought

April 15, 2025

Now seems like a good time to talk about fascism. In this post, I use linguistic data to probe the deep origins of fascist thought. And I gaze at the rising tide of fascist sentiment in anglophone writing.

Partisan Politics and the Road to Plutocracy

January 31, 2025

In this essay, I take a deep dive into the history of American plutocracy and its conspicuously Republican roots.

The American Housing Crisis: A Theft, Not a Shortage

October 23, 2024

I test if the US housing crisis could be solved by taking money from the rich and handing it too the poor. Spoilers … it would work.

From Commodity to Asset: The Truth Behind Rising House Prices

August 22, 2024

Houses are getting more expensive. In this post, I look at the reasons why.

A Tour of the Jevons Paradox: How Energy Efficiency Backfires

May 18, 2024

Efficiency isn't a tool for conserving energy — it's a catalyst for technological sprawl.

Five Years of Economics from the Top Down

April 27, 2024

It appears that I've been blogging for five years. Here's some obligatory navel gazing to celebrate.

Is Bitcoin More Energy Intensive Than Mainstream Finance?

March 21, 2024

Yes, the Bitcoin network uses loads of energy. But so does mainstream finance. So which system is more energy intensive? In this post, I do the math.

Nixing Technological Lock In

February 17, 2024

I take a dive into the world of software and look at the problem of managing dependencies. From the Unix design, we've inherited many problems. Can we nix them with 'Nix'?

Massaging the Message: How Oilpatch Newspapers Censor the News

December 22, 2023

Building on Regan Boychuk's work, I take a quantitative look at how newspapers in Canada's oilpatch censor the reporting of environmental journalist Mike De Souza.

Stocking Up on Wealth … Concentration

November 23, 2023

There's a straight line that connects elite wealth concentration to corporate consolidation, and the neoliberal wave of mergers and acquisitions.

When Stocks Go Up, Who Benefits?

October 28, 2023

Rising stock prices clawback wealth from the poor and hand it to the rich. It's Robin Hood in reverse, and here's what it looks like in the United States.

The Great Gatsby Curve Among America’s Über Rich

October 13, 2023

I continue my Forbes kick by looking at the Great Gatsby Curve among the richest Americans — the tendency for increasing inequality to come with decreasing social mobility.

How the Rich Get Richer

September 24, 2023

It turns out that studying the Forbes 400 is a great way to understand how the (American) rich have gotten richer. This is the first in series of posts in which I analyze the Forbes 400 archive.

Billionaires Are So Predictable

September 03, 2023

I use data for income inequality to show that billionaires are socially made.

Mapping the Ownership Network of Canada’s Billionaire Families

June 23, 2023

DT Cochrane and I look at the network of corporate power behind Canada's richest families.

A Blind Leap

June 18, 2023

With my postdoctoral fellowship wrapping up, I muse about what comes next.

No, AI Does Not Pose an Existential Risk to Humanity

June 10, 2023

I’m sick of the AI hype and scaremongering. The idea that AI could take over the world is laughable.

Masochistic Fun with Plutocratic Murder

May 20, 2023

Twitter trolls don't think much of my chart relating income inequality to murder rates. Here's a detailed response.

Red Team Blues: Cory Doctorow's Anti-Finance Thriller

May 13, 2023

How do you tell the story of plutocratic crime? If you're Cory Doctorow, you write a detective novel about a forensic accountant. It's a must-read book that sheds light on the often-ignored world of elite finance.

Unemployment and the Maturity of Capitalism

May 06, 2023

Nitzan and Bichler show that the ratio of net interest to profit is strongly related to the rate of unemployment. Here's my take on their research, along with some data updates.

Interest Rates and Unemployment: An Underwhelming Relation

April 30, 2023

Do higher interest rate increase unemployment? I look at the evidence and find it lacking.

How Interest Rates Redistribute Income

April 16, 2023

Are interest rates a neutral policy variable? Or are they a tool for class warfare? It turns out that the evidence speaks for itself. Here are three ways that higher interest rates redistribute income.

Inflation! The Battle Between Creditors and Workers

March 23, 2023

I look at the class battle between wage workers and creditors, and how this struggle relates to inflation.

The Key to Managing Inflation? Higher Wages

March 02, 2023

Using standard tools of economic analysis, I show that the key to reducing inflation is to raise wages as fast as possible.

Interest Rates and Inflation: Knives Out

February 19, 2023

There is strong evidence that higher interest rates don’t mitigate inflation. Instead, they might make it worse. I wade through the details here.

Do High Interest Rates Reduce Inflation? A Test of Monetary Faith

February 04, 2023

According to economic orthodoxy, higher interest rates reduce inflation. In this post, I hold your monetary faith to the fire. Can it survive?

The Cause of Stagflation

January 26, 2023

Low energy growth tends to come with high inflation — what economists call ‘stagflation’. But what causes what? I have a look here.

Is Stagflation the Norm?

January 17, 2023

I use World Bank data to test Nitzan and Bichler's 'stagflation thesis' — the idea that inflation in the midst of economic stagnation is the norm.

Inflation: Everywhere and Always Differential

December 15, 2022

Here’s an update to my post ‘The Truth About Inflation’. As expected, inflation is still differential. And no, it’s not caused by government spending.

Firming Up Hierarchy

November 19, 2022

I use a model of hierarchy to explore how income has been redistributed within US firms.

How To Be an Academic Hyper-Producer

October 18, 2022

A how-to guide for academics who want to have their name on lots of papers.

How to Make the Oil Industry Go Bust

September 24, 2022

Want to kill the oil industry? Just enforce its obligation to cleanup old wells.

Dualism in Science, Theology, and Economics

August 10, 2022

I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog debunking economists’ claims about productivity. Usually, I come at the problem from a fairly technical angle, meaning I break down the contradictions involved in economists’ methods. Today, I want to try a more philosophical approach. I’m going to talk about dualism — the idea that something […]

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