Essays

Should US homebuilders emulate Sweden?

A common sentiment I see with folks interested in improving US homebuilding is that we should try and emulate Sweden.

8 hrs ago • Brian Potter

How Accurate Are Learning Curves?

We’ve talked several times on this substack (as well as in my book), about the learning curve, the observation that costs of a produced good tend to…

Dec 24, 2025 • Brian Potter

How Bell Labs Won Its First Nobel Prize

Bell Labs, as we’ve noted before, was for years America’s premier industrial research lab.

Dec 18, 2025 • Brian Potter

Stagnant Construction Productivity Is a Worldwide Problem

We’ve spent a lot of time examining the problem of construction productivity in the US — the fact that, across a variety of different metrics…

Dec 11, 2025 • Brian Potter

How a Government Think Tank Trained The First Generation of US Software Developers

The US government had a hand in creating much of the early computer industry.

Nov 26, 2025 • Brian Potter

How ASML Got EUV

I am pleased to cross-post this piece with Factory Settings, the new Substack from IFP.

Nov 20, 2025 • Brian Potter

What Is A Production Process?

Chapter 1 of my book “The Origins of Efficiency”

Nov 13, 2025 • Brian Potter

The early history of the United States runs along with the first years of the railroad.

Nov 6, 2025 • Brian Potter

How the UK Lost Its Shipbuilding Industry

From roughly the end of the US Civil War until the late 1950s, the United Kingdom was one of the biggest shipbuilders in the world.

Oct 28, 2025 • Brian Potter

More on US Pedestrian Deaths

Last week I wrote about the unexplained rise in pedestrians killed by motor vehicles in the US.

Oct 16, 2025 • Brian Potter

My Book, The Origins of Efficiency, is Out Today

My book, the Origins of Efficiency, is out today!

Oct 14, 2025 • Brian Potter

Why Are So Many Pedestrians Killed by Cars in the US?

It’s unfortunately not uncommon for pedestrians to be killed by cars in the US.

Oct 9, 2025 • Brian Potter

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