Blair Fix

Political economist. Blogger. Scientist. Editor: Review of Capital as Power.

Support my research here: https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/membership/

Blog: https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/
Support: https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/membership/

Last Notes

2026-06-20 13:03:20 GMT

A few months ago, Isabella K. Sabatino wrote a seminal critique of attempts to test the labor theory of value using the national accounts. Here is a response from Moraitis & Basu.
In my reading, it essentially concedes Sabatino's technical points of criticism.
https://capitalaspower.com/2026/06/moraitis-basu-deciphering-the-drivers-of-price-labor-value-vector-proximity-in-empirical-studies/

2026-06-06 14:05:48 GMT

As the Iran oil crisis unfolds, folks are again talking about 'stagflation' .... inflation combined with stagnation.
The truth, though, is that in modern capitalism, stagflation is the norm.
https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2023/01/17/is-stagflation-the-norm/

2026-05-26 20:33:40 GMT

- reply

You put you finger on it. Once you admit power into economics, nothing of neoclassical theory is left standing. Income in general says little to anything about 'productivity'.

2026-05-26 19:51:22 GMT

In hindsight, it looks like Bush's 'war on terror' signaled the end of the Pax Americana (the post-WWII imperial peace).
Here's the number of military conflicts involving the United States since 1946. The post-2001 jump is shocking.
https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2026/05/22/the-business-of-war-and-the-mismeasurement-of-military-might/
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/642/596/952/665/481/original/87e6eb572cb05ebf.png

2026-01-31 14:51:35 GMT

I read Robert Putnam's 'Bowling Alone' last night. I did not anticipate his evidence blaming *television* as a key cause for US civic breakdown.
Someone needs to update this research to include all forms of modern screen time. I suspect the results would be horrifying.

2025-11-12 17:26:03 GMT

YouTube doubles down on enshittification. The site will no longer load videos if it detects ublock origin on your browser.
@npub1fdr…lvhs
https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/internet/youtube-is-not-down-its-cracking-down-on-ad-blocker-users-3-ways-to-fix-it

2025-09-11 21:17:37 GMT

It's fascinating to watch Paul Krugman transform into a radical. If nothing else, Trump is running a very interesting social experiment in how to radicalize elites.
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/can-a-despised-autocrat-consolidate

2025-09-11 21:00:42 GMT

Here's an interesting new paper from Sandy Hager, in which he traces the shifting fortunes of corporate psychedelia.
https://capitalaspower.com/2025/09/hager-the-shifting-fortunes-of-corporate-psychedelia/

2025-09-07 21:46:24 GMT

2+2=5, says the White House. George Orwell rolls in his grave.
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/165/180/708/322/837/original/0089ffca2a7810a9.png

2025-05-26 17:22:01 GMT

In hindsight, the Cold War wasn't a competition between two superpowers. It was a battle between a dominant empire and an emerging competitor.
Here's the energy picture.
https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2025/05/13/the-soviet-experiment-with-empire/
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/575/272/029/815/817/original/bf4f80f3c1557b0c.png

2025-05-09 21:04:55 GMT

To what extent do politicians have a say over the rise and fall of empires?
The rhyme between US and British history suggests limits to political agency, at least via liberal democracy. (Revolutions, of course, are a different matter.)
https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2025/05/04/the-half-life-of-empire/
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/479/895/889/984/377/original/edb4e6a6c8d216a3.png

2025-03-14 20:22:03 GMT

It's worth stressing that modern Republican rule is in large part built on ignorance. Here's how the diversity of people's news sources declines as Republican state control increases.
https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2025/01/31/partisan-politics-and-the-road-to-plutocracy/
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/162/624/213/938/048/original/b55123dced4d108c.png

2025-02-25 17:05:55 GMT

When Republicans rule, more people are food insecure. Here's the data at the state level.
#plutocracy
https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2025/01/31/partisan-politics-and-the-road-to-plutocracy/
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/065/597/989/745/100/original/93c9b409da0ef076.png