Here are the 20 most-viewed posts on Economics from the Top Down.
- A Review of Geoffrey West’s ‘Scale’
Yes you should read 'Scale'. No, don't believe everything it says.
- Supply and Demand Deconstructed
In a new video, Jonathan Nitzan demolishes the neoclassical theory of prices. Here's a summary and some consequences.
- Weird Consilience: A Review of Joseph Henrich’s ‘The WEIRDest People in the World’
In his recent book, Joseph Henrich argues Western culture exists because the Catholic Church got obsessed with incest. Here's my in-depth review.
- The Half Life of Empire
I look at the rise and fall of the British and US empires, measured in terms of their share of world energy consumption.
- Can the World Get Along Without Natural Resources?
I dissect how neoclassical economics treats (neglects) natural resources, and discuss ways to fix it.
- 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?
- A Tour of the Jevons Paradox: How Energy Efficiency Backfires
Efficiency isn't a tool for conserving energy — it's a catalyst for technological sprawl.
- Visualizing Power-Law Distributions
Power laws are everywhere, but hard to grasp intuitively. I discuss some tricks for visualizing them.
- The Ritual of Capitalization
I take a detailed look at the quantitative ritual that orders our social world.
- 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’?
- No, Productivity Does Not Explain Income
The idea that income is proportional to productivity is a thought virus that needs to die.
- 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.
- Mapping the Ownership Network of Canada’s Billionaire Families
DT Cochrane and I look at the network of corporate power behind Canada's richest families.
- Interest Rates and Unemployment: An Underwhelming Relation
Do higher interest rate increase unemployment? I look at the evidence and find it lacking.
- 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.
- 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.
- What Trait Affects Income the Most?
Ever wondered what trait most affects your income? Turns out it’s your rank in a hierarchy.
- The Truth About Inflation
When it comes to inflation, economists get it wrong. Inflation is always and everywhere differential.
- Debunking the ‘Productivity-Pay Gap’
The 'productivity-pay gap' has nothing to do with productivity. Here's why.
- The Dunning-Kruger Effect is Autocorrelation
Do unskilled people actually underestimate their incompetence?