998 and counting

Real economics has been a labor of love.  It has been a place to write about all the interesting things I have discovered in my 62 years of almost abnormal curiosity.  Writing Elegant Technology was the beginning of my greatest research effort but along the way, I discovered many fascinating things that, for one reason or another, got left on the cutting room floor (to use an old film-editing expression).  And of course, once you get interested in a subject, it is easy to add to what you have already learned.

Some men who reach my age have a pile of money to give away.  Unfortunately, I am not one of those folks.  But if knowledge is a treasure in and of itself, then I have reached my declining years a very rich man.  And if I believe that rich men should give away their wealth before they die, and I do, then I feel compelled to give away my riches too.

Hence my blog.  It's just me jumping up and down yelling, "Hey folks, look what I found.  If you understand it, it will make your life better.  Come and see!"


As of this post, there have been 998.  Tony has contributed 133—thanks so much, man.  My first post was on December 4, 2009—688 days ago.  This means I have written an average of 1.25 posts per day (including days off for a heart attack and an occasional vacation.)

I have set very high standards for this blog.  When you are a nobody from noplace, the only thing you have going for you is accuracy.  I don't like to be wrong, ever, about anything, and with the Internet backing me up, there is no reason to get it wrong.  People seem to appreciate the effort—according to the blogger stats, real economics has had 93,258 page-views by 31,793 absolutely unique visitors making 57,202 visits from 159 countries.  (top 25)

1. United States
2. Canada
3. United Kingdom
4. Australia
5. India
6. Germany
7. Philippines
8. Ireland
9. Netherlands
10. France
11. Spain
12. Brazil
13. Malaysia
14. Italy
15. Finland
16. New Zealand
17. Sweden
18. Singapore
19. Japan
20. Greece
21. South Africa
22. Pakistan
23. Russia
24. Denmark
25. Hong Kong

These are remarkable numbers considering how utterly unknown I am, the serious nature of the subject matter, and the level at which it is being discussed.  And because I have produced a blog that shows up high in search engines (thank you, Google) these numbers would continue for quite awhile even if I were to quit posting tomorrow.

And yes, I am tempted to quit tomorrow.

1. I am beginning to repeat myself.
2. This is a LOT of work and I grow weary of the effort.
3. I have made my point—there are many gems in the archives.

Quitting is not in my nature, however.  Anyone who posts 865 times in less than 23 months probably has been given an extra dose of Protestantism.  We even have a Bible verse that covers a situation like this:

Luke 9:62.  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Besides, things are just getting interesting!

But I am going to cut back to something more sane.  I will probably create an original post no more than four times a week and I will probably repeat some of those original posts from the early days when I was trying to build an audience.  I will try to write more original essays because the numbers show, that's what you like.

And I am going to ask my regular readers to help out a little.  If you have a favorite post from the first year, nominate it for a clean-up and repost.  Also, please let your friends know about this site and pass around links.

Finally, if there are young people out there who have been priced out of an education, please remember that the over-riding goal of this blog is to help inform the poor smart person.  Read what has been already posted on this blog and you will know WAY more than most Ph.Ds ever could.  So don't feel bad if you can't afford some $50,000 / year college.  They won't teach you most of this stuff anyway.  There are many ways to be smart and poor in this world.  I am one of you.  And I pass along this knowledge that I have discovered in a long life of searching, with all my heart.