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Michael Roberts

@mikejrob.bsky.social

An economist who studies agriculture, climate change, energy, and sometimes other environmental and resource issues. Blog: https://grainsgigawatts.substack.com

381 Posts1722 Follower292 Folgt
Michael Roberts@mikejrob.bsky.social · last mo.

Here’s our new report looking at various pathways for lowering electricity costs and meeting clean energy goals. The best policy options involve lowering the soft costs of solar interconnection. uhero.hawaii.edu/hawai%CA%BBi...

Hawaiʻi's Electricity Future: Three Findings on Solar Reform, Enhanced Geothermal, and the JERA LNG Proposal - UHERO

This report asks what Hawaiian Electric and Hawaiʻi should build to keep Oʻahu's lights on through 2050.

uhero.hawaii.edu

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · last mo.

A University of Hawaiʻi report says that building more solar farms with battery storage is the most cost-effective way to power Oʻahu, rather than building new power plants. The electricity company doesn’t agree. Lol.

Michael Roberts@mikejrob.bsky.social · 6mo ago

What's the best ownership structure for network monopolies like utilities? (a🧵) The three most, prevalent: (1) investor owned utilities,regulated by state public utility commissions; (2) municipalities; and (3) cooperatives, customer owned and regulated with a lighter touch.

Michael Roberts@mikejrob.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Oof. The Fed doesn’t control the federal deficit. At all. Always striking how even very smart, influential people get basic things about science and economics wrong.

Mark Cuban@mcuban.bsky.social · last yr.

I don’t understand why no one in congress has proposed amending The Federal Reserve act to include the following addition among the mandates “Reducing the federal debt-to-GDP ratio to sustainable levels.” Keep inflation and employment the same , just add to the equation #econsky

Michael Roberts@mikejrob.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The Obscure Power Sector Dictionary Capacity market: a way to protect the fossil fuel industry from competition while transferring data center electricity costs to residential and smaller commercial customers. Energy only market: a fair, efficient, often vilified alternative to capacity markets

Anil Dash@anildash.com · 8mo ago

A *lot* of folks in our communities say they feel like the air is better. Some people reply saying that their feeling is psychosomatic, but I’m not sure that’s the case.

Neil Lewis, Jr.@neillewisjr.bsky.social · 8mo ago

In addition to all of the other benefits already reported about NYC congestion pricing, "In the first six months of the program, air pollution – in the form of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers and smaller – dropped by 22% in the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ)" news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...

Michael Roberts@mikejrob.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Anyone know why this Excess CAPE is so different from mine? For example, it says 1.65% today while mine is 0.59%. The CAPE is ~40 today and 10-year real rate is 1.91%. 1/40 - 0.0191 =0.0059 🤷 en.macromicro.me/charts/27100...

US - S&P 500 Shiller Excess CAPE Yield | MacroMicro

The Shiller Excess CAPE Yield (ECY) is calculated as follows: ECY = (1 / CAPE) - US 10-Year Treasury Bond Real Yield Calculated as the stock earning yield (inverse of CAPE) subtracted by the U.S. 10...

en.macromicro.me

Michael Roberts@mikejrob.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Here's my reconstruction of the "Excess CAPE yield". It looks low in historical context. Meanwhile, the Shiller CAPE P/E--a better predictor of future returns--is its highest ever except for the peak of the .com bubble. It doesn't help that POTUS is a corrupt communist extracting rents f/NVIDIA.

Michael Roberts@mikejrob.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The WSJ doth try too hard to explain why this isn't a bubble. Yes, AI may change society and economy a lot. But it also looks *very* competitive. And likely more competitive in the future. So, hard to see how profits could be that large. Moreover, experts gains will likely be modest going forward.

Justin Wolfers@justinwolfers.bsky.social · 8mo ago

"We're pro-affordability, but we're going to raise tariffs on you. We're pro-affordability, but we're going to undermine the Fed, which is going to potentially cause inflation. We're pro-affordability, but... we're going to rip the American health insurance system up."

Michael Roberts@mikejrob.bsky.social · 8mo ago

'DOGE’s biggest “achievement” was shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development. And the dismantling of USAID has left a legacy of death. According to one recent study, closing the agency “has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children.” '