Ben Landau-Taylor

Military Revolts No Longer Work

Across the Western world, appointed administrators have gained power at the expense of elected legislators. More and more of the most consequential…

Sep 9 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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No, The Black Death Was Not Good For The Economy

People love repeating counterintuitive factoids. People do not love conducting deep historical research to check whether clever-sounding factoids are…

Sep 3 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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15

July 2025

Why Do Victims of Massacres Go Quietly to Their Deaths?

I often hear that it’s a moral imperative to learn from the great 20th century atrocities, that these events are a window into what humans are capable…

Jul 23 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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Will Future Civilizations Bother to Excavate Our Remains?

Full article in Palladium magazine.

Jul 12 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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March 2025

Alignment Research and Intelligence Enhancement: Discussion on The Failed Strategy of Artificial Intelligence Doomers

The people I critiqued in my Palladium article The Failed Strategy of Artificial Intelligence Doomers have responded, and I’ll reply to some of that…

Mar 19 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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February 2025

Industrial Greatness Requires Economic Depressions

The state’s role in supporting economic growth is critical. Our wealth comes from industry, that is, from the ability to mass produce goods—more goods…

Feb 27 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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The Failed Strategy of Artificial Intelligence Doomers

In recent decades, a growing coalition has emerged to oppose the development of artificial intelligence technology, for fear that the imminent…

Feb 1 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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December 2024

The Christmas Truce

On Christmas Day, 1914, in the middle of World War I, the guns fell silent.

Dec 25, 2024 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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November 2024

Medieval Chinese Economic Progress: Acceleration and Stagnation

This is a transcript of a talk I gave at the Progress Conference in 2024, lightly edited for clarity and readability.

Nov 20, 2024 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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1

Against Extroversion

There’s a common idea in pop psychology that people are either “extroverts” or “introverts”. This isn’t totally wrong but I don’t think the usual…

Nov 13, 2024 • 

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3

October 2024

On Rational Economic Behavior

The biggest error holding back many economic thinkers is the idea that rational profit-maximization is the way that people make economic decisions…

Oct 2, 2024 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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4

August 2024

The Limits to Growth Are Interplanetary

For centuries, men have believed that rising wealth and population would soon deplete all available resources, causing mass death and social collapse…

Aug 16, 2024 • 

Ben Landau-Taylor

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