My talk given to the University of Texas Energy Symposium.

This is the first of two essays written for (and supported by) the Seoul Platform for Initiating Discourses on an Equitable and Resilient Society. These essays investigate the role that hierarchy plays in driving inequality and unsustainability. This piece introduces the facts of hierarchy.

In 1957, Herbert Simon proposed that CEO pay had a simple explanation: it stemmed largely from rank in a hierarchy. His model was largely forgotton. Here’s a second look.

A talk about how and why institutions grow with energy use.

Politics determine government size, right? Yes and no. I show here that there’s more to government size than just politics.

Governments are different than firms, right? Maybe not. When it comes to size, governments behave like they’re just another firm.

I use the Ontario Sunshine List to shed light on how income grows with hierarchical rank.

Contrary to what neoclassical economists claim should happen, economic growth seems to involve less ‘free market’ and more hierarchy.

As societies use more energy, business firms tend to get bigger. Here’s how it happens.

Power laws are everywhere, but hard to grasp intuitively. I discuss some tricks for visualizing them.