Latest posts
- Reading List 08/29/26Aug 29, 2026Brian Potter
Sinking London homes, US magnesium manufacturing, the World Humanoid Robot games, catastrophic flooding in Nepal, and more.
- How the Strategic Petroleum Reserve WorksAug 27, 2026Brian Potter
The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is the largest crude oil storage facility in the world.
- Reading List 08/22/26Aug 22, 2026Brian Potter
Los Angeles’ ADUs, electrical transformer manufacturing, gas turbine power plants, how water in the Colorado River is used, and more.
- Reading List — 08/15/2026Aug 15, 2026Brian Potter
Home price declines, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, The Boring Company fundraising, and more.
- How Will the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Affect Housing Supply? Part IIAug 14, 2026Brian Potter
This is the second installment of my look under the hood of the recently passed 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, looking at what each provision actually does and trying to suss out its actual impact on housing supply.
- Reading List 08/08/2026Aug 08, 2026Brian Potter
The Endangered Species Act and housing production, why it’s hard for LEGO to use 3D printing, robotic welding and shipbuilding, modular data centers, and more.
- What Will the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Do for Housing Supply?Aug 06, 2026Brian Potter
A few weeks ago the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law. This is an enormous housing bill that’s been in the works for roughly a year — I first discussed it on Statecraft back in 2025 — and folks are optimistic that it will, per its description, “increase the supply of housing in America.”
- Reading List 08/01/26Aug 01, 2026Brian Potter
Pepper-spray drones, China’s chip Manhattan Project, Commonwealth Fusion’s fundraise, and a proposed Dulles Airport renovation.
- Why Is Everyone Trying to Build a Solid-State Battery?Jul 30, 2026Brian Potter
A battery technology that’s getting a lot of attention is solid-state batteries, lithium-ion batteries that replace the liquid electrolyte with a solid material.
- Reading List 07/25/26Jul 25, 2026Brian Potter
China’s EV subsidies, the future of aeroderivative gas turbines, a US-Saudi nuclear deal, defective roadway guardrails, and more.
- Can We Lower Construction Costs with Cheaper Labor or Materials?Jul 23, 2026Brian Potter
Last time in our series on the nature of the construction productivity problem, we looked at economies of scale, finding that capturing economies of scale in homebuilding is difficult.
- Reading List 07/18/26Jul 18, 2026Brian Potter
A setback for California Forever, a $500 million artillery shell plant not producing any shells, the difficulty of recycling EV batteries, manufacturing wire harnesses, and more.
- How Predictable Are Laws?Jul 16, 2026Brian Potter
An enormous amount of ink has been spilled (some of it by me) on the trials and tribulations of complying with the National Environmental Policy Act, better known as NEPA.
- Reading List 07/11/26Jul 11, 2026Brian Potter
Adults living with their parents, Samsung’s profits, Native American data centers, Puerto Rico’s electricity grid, and more.
- Reading List 07/04/26Jul 04, 2026Brian Potter
Households without homeowners insurance, crackdowns on AI chip smuggling, Japan’s two electrical frequencies, Meta’s AI compute business, and more.
- The Fall and Rise of ScrewwormJul 03, 2026Brian Potter
Every spring, as sure as the seasons, and for generations unknown, screwworms began their annual march northward from their overwintering sanctuaries in Mexico and South Texas.
- Reading List 06/27/26Jun 27, 2026Brian Potter
Trump refuses to sign a housing bill, the high cost of US-made doors, slow trucking, why we stopped making new land, and more.
- US Subways Build Too Many Cross PassagesJun 25, 2026Brian Potter
I wrote the following piece for IFP’s Transit Abundance Playbook, a collection of 15 ideas to improve transit delivery in the US.
- Reading List 06/20/26Jun 20, 2026Brian Potter
A new housing bill, General Motors joining the grid-scale battery game, skepticism about data center delays, solid-state air conditioning, and more.
- Converting Coal Plants to Natural GasJun 19, 2026Brian Potter
For the better part of the last several hundred years, coal was the fuel of choice for generating power.