Economics

AI efficiency, supply, and demand

AI efficiency, supply, and demand

Energy and processing power analysts are very taken with the Jevons paradox. The concept is that as energy or processing power become more efficient, demand expands to use up that increased efficiency and everyone wins. It has been applied in great haste by investors and firms in the AI space. Especially since much more efficient open source solutions have been made available commercially (such as DeepSeek).

Taxes and price

The discussion of prices, inflation, and taxes are informed by ideology. The ideologies driving our understanding of economics, how we talk about money, and who we expect to pay for certain things determines both our understanding of what is going on in the world and how we should respond to it.

Resilience?

Resilience?

The word 'resiliency' is one of the more overused words in the wake of the pandemic. Things that were disrupted because of lack of proper investment include our supply chains that move goods around the world. It is not just global pandemics that cause major crises along these supply chains.

Taxes and production

Taxes and production

An issue arises when we look at taxes inevitably raised to pay the debt or for the increased spending. There is some strange thing that happens where people expect not to have to pay for things that the government does. Many think every tax dollar they pay is extra spending, even if they suddenly do not have to pay the directly out of pocket higher price in the private market any more. Math is hard and net savings are not obvious to people. The left should start talking about state revenue generation as an alternative.

Unions and natural gas

Unions and natural gas

Carbon neutrality in the energy system is not the end of the use of natural gas, but it will result in the shift of focus on the use of natural gas from energy to production. If done correctly, this will not mean a /reduction/ in the work available. But, it will mean a shift in the focus of where that work happens. However, a redirection in the focus of work and investment is very problematic for current revenue programs of industry leading companies in Canada.

Economic impacts of climate change

Economic impacts of climate change

There is some new research about the drag on the economy of climate change. The new research questions the validity of previous studies which seemed to not attempt to model the direct effect of increased temperatures. This one looks at those in conjunction with temperature, extreme heat, extreme precipitation, and extreme wind effects on the economy.