Most Popular

Here are the 20 most-viewed posts on Economics from the Top Down.

  1. The Dunning-Kruger Effect is Autocorrelation

Do unskilled people actually underestimate their incompetence?

  1. The Truth About Inflation

When it comes to inflation, economists get it wrong. Inflation is always and everywhere differential.

  1. Debunking the ‘Productivity-Pay Gap’

The 'productivity-pay gap' has nothing to do with productivity. Here's why.

  1. What Trait Affects Income the Most?

Ever wondered what trait most affects your income? Turns out it’s your rank in a hierarchy.

  1. Why America Won’t Be ‘Great’ Again

The rise and fall of empires is written in the language of energy. Let's have a look at this 'energy book' and see why America won't be 'great' again.

  1. Peak Oil Never Went Away

Peak oil was all the rage a decade ago. Now nobody's talking about it. The funny thing is, it's still happening.

  1. Stocks Are Up. Wages Are Down. What Does it Mean?

The US is in uncharted territory. Never before have stocks been so high relative to wages. Here's what it means.

  1. No, Productivity Does Not Explain Income

The idea that income is proportional to productivity is a thought virus that needs to die.

  1. Why Isn’t Modern Monetary Theory Common Knowledge?

I’ve always been baffled that modern monetary theory is called a ‘theory’. Why don’t we just call it ‘the way money is’?

  1. The Ritual of Capitalization

I take a detailed look at the quantitative ritual that orders our social world.

  1. Can the World Get Along Without Natural Resources?

I dissect how neoclassical economics treats (neglects) natural resources, and discuss ways to fix it.

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

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

  1. Supply and Demand Deconstructed

In a new video, Jonathan Nitzan demolishes the neoclassical theory of prices. Here's a summary and some consequences.

  1. Productivity Does Not Explain Wages

Wages correlate with firms' sales per worker. Does this mean that productivity explains wages? The answer is no.

  1. The Free Market as a Double Lie

What if the free market has never been about freedom?

  1. As We Exhaust Our Oil, It Will Get Cheaper But Less Affordable

As we run out of oil, many people believe that its price will skyrocket. But I think the opposite will happen. Oil prices will plummet … yet oil will grow increasingly unaffordable.

  1. Deconstructing Econospeak

I built a bot that counts word frequency. Here's what it says about the language in economics textbooks.

  1. How the Labor Theory of Value Emerges from Egalitarianism

Karl Marx declared that all value stems from labor. Was he right?

  1. The Rise of Human Capital Theory

What's the most pernicious scientific idea ever? I'd give first prize to eugenics and second prize to human capital theory.

  1. A Case Study of Fossil-Fuel Depletion

I crunch the numbers on oil-and-gas depletion in Alberta.