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blair_fix, to random
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

The United Kingdom discovers the Jevons paradox.

As energy efficiency increased throughout the 20th century, so did energy consumption.

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2024/05/18/a-tour-of-the-jevons-paradox-how-energy-efficiency-backfires/

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

@pies

Yes, having more machines is part of the efficiency backfire.

blair_fix, to random
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

Counterintuitively, efficiency is not a tool for conservation. It's a catalyst for technological sprawl.

Here's my deep dive into the Jevons paradox.

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2024/05/18/a-tour-of-the-jevons-paradox-how-energy-efficiency-backfires/

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

If you prefer to consume your science in video form, you can watch the post here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaFJGd0NTLY

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

And if you enjoy my work, you can support it here. Cheers!

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/membership/

blair_fix, to random
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

Critics often argue that cryptocurrencies are too speculative to be 'real' money. What they seem to miss is that lots of 'real' fiat currencies are highly speculative.

Here's how the volatility of Bitcoin and Ether compare to the exchange-rate volatility of the world's fiat currencies.

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2024/03/21/is-bitcoin-more-energy-intensive-than-mainstream-finance/

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

@caseyjennings

I'm comparing all currencies to US dollars.

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

@caseyjennings

I take each currency's US exchange rate and measure its coefficient of variation across time. Then I plot the distribution of the COV across all currencies.

blair_fix, to random
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

Well folks, I've waded into the world of Bitcoin.

We all know the Bitcoin network uses loads of energy. But how does it stack up to mainstream finance? In this post I do the math.

(I'm bracing myself for angry comments.)

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2024/03/21/is-bitcoin-more-energy-intensive-than-mainstream-finance/

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

If you enjoy my research, consider becoming a supporter. Cheers!

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/membership/

blair_fix, to random
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

Peter Thiel says that competition is for losers. He's right of course.

The best way to concentrate wealth is to limit competition and buy your way to power. Here's a look at the evidence.

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2023/11/23/stocking-up-on-wealth-concentration/

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

Thanks to everyone who supports my research. If you enjoy my number crunching, you can support it here.

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/membership/

pluralistic, to Toronto
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar
blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

@pluralistic

I love that library. Such a gem for the commons.

blair_fix, to science
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

Here's the first in a two-part post in which I reflect on the philosophy of science, and the difficulties of challenging academic orthodoxy.

From the archives: "The Challenges of Doing Revolutionary Science"

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2020/03/22/the-challenges-of-doing-revolutionary-science-part-1/

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar
tomstafford, to random
@tomstafford@mastodon.online avatar

Hello all, please can you help me test whether substack records mastodon referrals?

Currently substack suggests NO ONE has ever read my newsletter because of mastodon

Here's a link to latest https://tomstafford.substack.com/p/radiation-laced-chapatis-as-a-test

If you have time, please click it. I will report the results.

Or, if you know the answer about substack traffic tracking just reply here instead

Thanks!

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

@tomstafford @Edent

I have a similar problem with WordPress not tracking Mastodon referrals. Perhaps its because of federation, so that each Mastodon instance is considered a separate site?

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

@Edent @tomstafford

Ah, the old norefer link!

blair_fix, to random
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

Here's the words vs. code for my last post on the Forbes 400. The analysis sat on the back burner for a few months, then led to some furious coding to scrape the Forbes data.

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2023/09/24/how-the-rich-get-richer/

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

@myeyesaredim

Much appreciated!

pluralistic, (edited ) to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Hey folks! I've got a folder of 100+ HTML files; I'd like to get a word-count of the rendered text (e.g. excluding tags). Is there an ubuntu utility I could use for this?

ETA: I figured it out. I just did

> cat * > merged.html

then I opened the file in Firefox, copied the text, pasted it into Gedit, and used the Document Statistics tool.

Dirty and ugly, but it got the job done.

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

@pluralistic

You could use pandoc to convert all the html files to plain text:

> for f in *.html; do pandoc "$f" -s -o "${f%.html}.txt"; done

Then cat all the files and pipe them to wc to get a word count:

> cat *.txt | wc

blair_fix, to random
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

Here's more fun with Forbes data. I use the Forbes 400 to chart how the American rich have gotten (obscenely) richer over the last four decades.

The rise of inequality in a rainbow chart!

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2023/09/24/how-the-rich-get-richer/

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

If you enjoy my research, consider becoming a supporter. You'll help me continue to do data-driven science, written in a way that (I hope) is accessible.

Thanks!

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/membership/

blair_fix, to random
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

Who owns Canada's largest oil refinery, built in partnership with Standard Oil?

That would be the Irving family — east coast elites who also control the English media in New Brunswick.

Here's the Irving network of power. My work with @DTCochrane.

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2023/06/23/mapping-the-ownership-network-of-canadas-billionaire-families/

blair_fix,
@blair_fix@mastodon.online avatar

@DTCochrane

Fun fact: in 1971, family patriarch KC Irving moved to Bermuda to avoid paying taxes. Here's how Senator Charles McElman described the scheme:

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