This is the third part of a rewriting of the appendix to The World After Capital. In the first part, I provided evidence on the tremendous growth of physical capital over the past one hundred years. The second part dealt with looking at World War II production as an indication for how much excess capital we have above what we need to meet our needs. Now comes a more specific examination of our needs with regard to the sufficiency of capital. The overall physical capital statistics provided ea...

For quite a few years my only computer has been a 12″ Macbook. Apple, for reasons unknown, discontinued that model which had the perfect form factor in terms of weight to size tradeoff. While my machine still works (with different keys getting stuck on occasion), I had been on the hunt for a non-Apple replacement for some time. Apple’s hypocritical stance on why they need to completely control their phones has long annoyed me and I would rather not buy their products. I am writing this post o...

This is the third part of a rewriting of the appendix to The World After Capital. In the first part, I provided evidence on the tremendous growth of physical capital over the past one hundred years. The second part dealt with looking at World War II production as an indication for how much excess capital we have above what we need to meet our needs. Now comes a more specific examination of our needs with regard to the sufficiency of capital. The overall physical capital statistics provided ea...

For quite a few years my only computer has been a 12″ Macbook. Apple, for reasons unknown, discontinued that model which had the perfect form factor in terms of weight to size tradeoff. While my machine still works (with different keys getting stuck on occasion), I had been on the hunt for a non-Apple replacement for some time. Apple’s hypocritical stance on why they need to completely control their phones has long annoyed me and I would rather not buy their products. I am writing this post o...

In last week’s post, I provided some data on how much physical capital has grown in the last one hundred years. When measured by certain proxies, such as the production of steel, it looks like about a 30x growth in the last 100 years and nearly 100x if you go back just two decades further to 1900. We also saw that significant growth has occurred since World War II, which as a first approximation is at least a 10x growth. Now someone might suggest that this growth could all be due to the popul...

In last week’s post, I provided some data on how much physical capital has grown in the last one hundred years. When measured by certain proxies, such as the production of steel, it looks like about a 30x growth in the last 100 years and nearly 100x if you go back just two decades further to 1900. We also saw that significant growth has occurred since World War II, which as a first approximation is at least a 10x growth. Now someone might suggest that this growth could all be due to the popul...

Quantum mechanics and general relativity, the last two foundational breakthroughs in science, are a century old each. Since then we have made tons of progress in more applied science, such as learning to decode and manipulate DNA and RNA, but we have been in a rut when it comes to developing a deeper understanding of such fundamental phenomena as information and heat. I believe that this lack of a new fundamental breakthrough is contributor to an overall slowing down of scientific progress th...

Quantum mechanics and general relativity, the last two foundational breakthroughs in science, are a century old each. Since then we have made tons of progress in more applied science, such as learning to decode and manipulate DNA and RNA, but we have been in a rut when it comes to developing a deeper understanding of such fundamental phenomena as information and heat. I believe that this lack of a new fundamental breakthrough is contributor to an overall slowing down of scientific progress th...

This is the third installment in a three part series on the climate crisis originally presented for The Spark of Hudson. Following a first talk about causes and a second one about solutions, this one addresses what actions we can take. As with the prior ones, you can find the slides online as well.

This is the third installment in a three part series on the climate crisis originally presented for The Spark of Hudson. Following a first talk about causes and a second one about solutions, this one addresses what actions we can take. As with the prior ones, you can find the slides online as well.

In a push to wrap up my book The World After Capital to a point where I will make a print copy available, I am finally tackling the appendix one more time. The goal of the appendix is to provide more data to show that physical capital is no longer humanity’s binding constraint. Or in the language of the book, the goal is to show that physical capital is sufficient. The plan of attack is as follows. I will first be pulling together some general data on global physical capital (this is today’s ...

In a push to wrap up my book The World After Capital to a point where I will make a print copy available, I am finally tackling the appendix one more time. The goal of the appendix is to provide more data to show that physical capital is no longer humanity’s binding constraint. Or in the language of the book, the goal is to show that physical capital is sufficient. The plan of attack is as follows. I will first be pulling together some general data on global physical capital (this is today’s ...

Over the last two decades I have helped many companies raise venture capital rounds. Here are some of the lessons I have learned from this. If your company is growing like crazy you will have an easy time fundraising and you can ignore pretty much everything that follows. Put differently, what I am writing here is for companies where the ability to raise money is somewhat in question. Fundraising is selling. You are literally getting money in return for selling a part of your company. Because...

Over the last two decades I have helped many companies raise venture capital rounds. Here are some of the lessons I have learned from this. If your company is growing like crazy you will have an easy time fundraising and you can ignore pretty much everything that follows. Put differently, what I am writing here is for companies where the ability to raise money is somewhat in question. Fundraising is selling. You are literally getting money in return for selling a part of your company. Because...

This is the second of a series of talks I gave for The Spark of Hudson about the climate crisis (check out Part 1 Causes). While titled solutions it really digs deeper into the causes. The goal is for listeners to be able to decide for themselves which kinds of solutions are likely to be effective based on having a deeper understanding of why atmospheric greenhouse gases are piling up rapidly. Video is below and the deck is accessible online as well.

This is the second of a series of talks I gave for The Spark of Hudson about the climate crisis (check out Part 1 Causes). While titled solutions it really digs deeper into the causes. The goal is for listeners to be able to decide for themselves which kinds of solutions are likely to be effective based on having a deeper understanding of why atmospheric greenhouse gases are piling up rapidly. Video is below and the deck is accessible online as well.

Having enjoyed Michael Pollan’s “How to Change Your Mind” on psychedelics (in particular psilocybin), I was intrigued by a book that goes much broader on drug use: Dr. Carl Hart’s “Drug Use for Grown Ups.” Hart is a professor of psychology at Columbia and is basing this book on both his research and his extensive personal experience. While I have one criticism (more on that later), the book makes a very strong case that drugs should be decriminalized broadly: not just marijuana, but everythin...

Having enjoyed Michael Pollan’s “How to Change Your Mind” on psychedelics (in particular psilocybin), I was intrigued by a book that goes much broader on drug use: Dr. Carl Hart’s “Drug Use for Grown Ups.” Hart is a professor of psychology at Columbia and is basing this book on both his research and his extensive personal experience. While I have one criticism (more on that later), the book makes a very strong case that drugs should be decriminalized broadly: not just marijuana, but everythin...

Susan and I are developing a learning and community center called The Spark of Hudson. As the name suggests it is in the City of Hudson. While the physical building won’t be renovated until 2022, we have started to deliver a variety of online programming. I gave a three part presentation on the climate crisis. Part 1: Causes is below as video and the deck is available online as well. Parts 2 and 3 have already taken place as well and I will post them here over the coming days.

Susan and I are developing a learning and community center called The Spark of Hudson. As the name suggests it is in the City of Hudson. While the physical building won’t be renovated until 2022, we have started to deliver a variety of online programming. I gave a three part presentation on the climate crisis. Part 1: Causes is below as video and the deck is available online as well. Parts 2 and 3 have already taken place as well and I will post them here over the coming days.