Some people consider me a bit of a grinch. I’m generally not a big fan of required gift giving, considering it an inefficient use of money. You may have seen my favorite article on the subject, “The economic argument for never giving another gift.” I quote it a lot. Another good one is “The economist’s […]

On Friday I shared with you some of Michael Blasnik’s advice on the best ways to save energy at home. But a lot of what I found most interesting about the lecture was how much oft-repeated advice is wrong. For instance: Blocking off registers to unused rooms may actually make your furnace work harder and waste […]

On Thursday I went to a lecture by energy consultant Michael Blasnik at MIT. Blasnik’s right up my alley, a very practical environmentalist who bases his recommendations on studies of the real efficiency of energy-saving activities. He’s currently conducting a study of the national weatherization assistance program. So his presentation was full of something I’ve […]