Archives for Macro - Page 5
Economic growth was low or non-existent for millennia, until the start of the industrial revolution in the late eighteenth century. Technological advances and abundant, cheap energy soon changed that. Growth soared, as did energy consumption and population. This growth slowed around the turn of the century, and took a further…
It is usually accepted that the first Persian Empire has been the greatest of all time. But it was destroyed by Alexander the Great (a most remarkable Macedonian) in 330BC, after only 200 years as the dominant empire. Nonetheless, it introduced many new standards, and did return for part two.…
“Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people’s ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by…
After writing about how technology will ultimately defeat globalism a couple of weeks back, here is evidence that it is happening now. I argued that technology, such as advanced robots, would see manufacturing returning to the end market. Thus US companies would manufacture in the US, not in, for example,…
Global trade has been a hot subject of discussion during the current US presidential election cycle. The basic downside argument is that Americans have lost jobs to foreigners, while the upside is greater efficiency and lower costs. This is an emotional subject and facts are subject to much distortion. A…
In Australia, Mercedes is advertising the new C Class as: “100 million lines of code. One groundbreaking vehicle.” It’s possibly not a good thing that an average car has ’50 times more code than a Raptor fighter jet”. The American Automobile Association (“AAA”) has reported that 2015 was a record year for…