I have a confession: I’m a recovering academic writer. Here I share resources that have helped my recovery.

Gregory Clark proposes that the differential reproduction of the rich led to the industrial revolution. He’s probably wrong.

The less free market we have, the more we use the phrase ‘free market’. George Orwell would be proud.

An update to “The The Growth of Hierarchy and the Death of the Free Market”. I show you which countries are which.

Can a service transition help us reduce carbon emissions? The evidence says no.

Yesterday I was reminded of what got me interested in economics. I’ll preface this by saying that I make my living as a substitute teacher in Toronto. It’s not glamorous, but it pays the bills. It gives me time to do research from outside academia. When I’m in high school classrooms, I always browse the posters on the wall. It’s funny what you see. You find things (both good and bad) that you’d never see in institutions of ‘higher learning’.

Contrary to what neoclassical economists claim should happen, economic growth seems to involve less ‘free market’ and more hierarchy.

As societies use more energy, business firms tend to get bigger. Here’s how it happens.

Real GDP is key to macroeconomics. But is it a valid measure of economic scale?

Power laws are everywhere, but hard to grasp intuitively. I discuss some tricks for visualizing them.

If you are an empirical researcher, I have a challenge for you.