Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Resources on Jul 28th, 2011
The reason to have clean, renewable, abundant energy is not, as many would like to believe, to save the planet. Heresy! The reason to have clean, renewable, abundant energy is to get really, really, really, really inexpensive energy. In my view it is totally astounding that this is not the focus of the “energy problem.” […]
Posted in Resources on Feb 25th, 2011
Have you ever stopped to appreciate the awesome size of a single mountain peak? What would it take for us to mine the entire volume of rock from the prominence of Mt. Whitney (the amount the peak rises from the base, which could be well above sea level), the tallest mountain in the lower 48? […]
Posted in Resources, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Nov 4th, 2010
I’ve blogged this idea before, but it is worth revisiting. When you have a chance to get into a discussion of economics or the environment with a progressive minded friend some day ask them if they think that under market capitalism workers get the short-end of the deal. I am sure they would say yes, […]
Posted in Resources on Sep 22nd, 2010
When I graduated from grad school in 2004 and started teaching, I would start classes by showing students just how much oil was “left” for the world to use up. When I started, there were thought to be 1.265 trillion barrels of oil left. At the world annual rate of consumption at that time (30.08 […]
Posted in Resources on Aug 13th, 2010
… here in the Adirondacks. And what has come to mind to me are two things. One is a quote that I cannot remember where I read it or who originally penned it. “The Stone Age did not come to an end for lack of stone.” Second, sitting here staring up at the mountains does […]
Posted in Resources on Jul 3rd, 2010
Scientists and economists now estimate that natural resources account for less than 2% of the value of computer chips, and now less than 40% of the value of a car. The share of value we produce coming from our brains is far greater than that coming from material goods and brawn – and this trend […]
Posted in Resources on Mar 8th, 2010
Look at what has happened to the scarcity of arsenic over the past 100 years. (aside: arsenic is normally thought of as a poison, but even poisons have use. Arsenic is commonly used in pesticides, insecticides, plumbing, and a host of other uses. If you view arsenic as pure evil, then should be hoping that […]
Posted in Resources on Feb 18th, 2010
Look at what has happened to the scarcity of phosphorous over the past 100 years. My student Andy Bowman writes As the global population exceeds 6.6 billion people, the need to feed the ever expanding population has placed an increased burden on the agricultural industry. Technological advances in farming and irrigation have streamlined food production, […]
Posted in Resources on Feb 1st, 2010
Look at what has happened to the scarcity of antimony over the past 100 years. (aside: antimony is a metal that when used as an alloy can substantially harden materials, it is commonly used in batteries and in semi-conductor production among myriad other uses) The top chart adjusts nominal antimony prices to account for the […]
Posted in Resources on Jan 5th, 2010
Look at what has happened to the scarcity of industrial diamonds over the past 100 years. The top chart adjusts nominal diamond prices to account for the general rise in prices since 1900 using a measure of the CPI’s broad inflation index. The bottom chart takes a different approach to adjust the diamond data. It […]
