Featured Article

U.S. Justice Department investigates beef pricing at Tyson Foods, Cargill, and JBS.

By Tim J. Smith, PhD May 12, 2026

An unorthodox inquiry with real damage. Beef prices are higher now than usual, and the price of beef rose faster than other grocery items. This is not the result of price-fixing or market collusion. It is the outcome of biology and market forces. Beef is harder to produce than chicken. To raise a pound of chicken meat, a farmer needs to feed the chicken about 2 pounds of feed. To raise an…

In This Issue

Power Risks California Power Problems Caused by Dumb Regulation, Not Deregulation

By Tim J. Smith, PhD February 5, 2001

Recent news concerning power outages have been of dour amusement for this Chicagoan. Once again, a subset of people (read: the state)…

The Next Disruptive Technology – Distributed Generation

By Tim J. Smith, PhD September 25, 2000

Is Enron coming for lunch? Introduction The past three decades have offered ample evidence of the ability of disruptive technologies to create…

Industrial Non-Equilibrium Dynamics

By Tim J. Smith, PhD May 30, 2000

Economic transactions and industrial reorganizations are akin to the evolution of a complex system punctuated with periods of equilibrium and non-equilibrium dynamics.…

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