Brian Potter
@_brianpotter
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Writes Construction Physics. Senior infrastructure fellow at @IFP
Joined January 2022
The US isn't the only country with flat or declining construction productivity - in countries around the world, we see the same thing. This week on Construction Physics, I look at international trends in construction productivity. https://t.co/P6wMg98SZZ
construction-physics.com
We’ve spent a lot of time examining the problem of construction productivity in the US — the fact that, across a variety of different metrics, construction never seems to get any more efficient (in...
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There’s a lot of chatter about AI, but who is going to be brave enough to call out the increasing amount of “deep tech” slop we’re being subjected to daily…
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10 gallons a day. Zero infrastructure. Meet the WaterCube 10: the future of off-grid water.
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This week in HOW BRITAIN LOST ITS SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY we examine the rise and fall of a mighty industry with @_brianpotter of the Institute for Progress. An unmissable listen for nautical nerds. https://t.co/NcEO9uyI8U
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I can't stop thinking about this reddit post where a woman is asking about coming to terms with having just 1 kid instead of 2, because her husband decided that instead of another kid "he'd rather get more snakes".
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Today we announce a $300 million investment to expand our Louisiana shipyard. Working alongside state and local officials, including @LAGovJeffLandry and @LEDLouisiana this expansion will add more than 300,000 sq.ft. of production capacity and 1,500 new jobs, strengthening the
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This will get a lot faster - shortening the hold time, deleting the “return to home position”, speeding up the robots… but it’s an exciting early glimpse of what we’re building. This is a sub-scale but otherwise accurate piece of a ship hull made with 3/8” steel plate and
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The UK went from being the world's preeminent maritime power to... not producing any commercial ships at all.
In 1947, the UK was producing over 50% of the world's shipping tonnage. In 2023, it produced zero commercial ships. This week on Construction Physics, I look at how the UK lost its shipbuilding industry. https://t.co/m2TUkARKu8
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In 1947, the UK was producing over 50% of the world's shipping tonnage. In 2023, it produced zero commercial ships. This week on Construction Physics, I look at how the UK lost its shipbuilding industry. https://t.co/m2TUkARKu8
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NEW ODD LOTS: Why it keeps getting more expensive to build homes in America @tracyalloway and I talk to @_brianpotter, author of the new book The Origins of Efficiency, about why construction productivity is so poor, and modular housing never takes off
podcasts.apple.com
Podcast Episode · Odd Lots · 10/27/2025 · 46m
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Chasing goals that change lives. That's exactly what Notre Dame soccer player Daniel Boateng is doing. Through his nonprofit, he is using soccer as a bridge to affordable education for kids in Ghana.
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This book has turned out to be everything I hoped it would be and more. I expect it to be an incredibly powerful tool in every business I am part of from here on out. So, inspired by @danielgolliher, @__drewface and @Prigoose I'm running a book club for serious learners. If
If you run a production processes then The Origins of Efficiency by Brian Potter will be the most impactful book you read this year. It could be one of the most important books you will ever read. If you're serious about grappling with the ideas in the book and incorporating
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Can someone who works at Amazon (or knows someone who does) help me out? My book is only available from third-party Amazon sellers with weeks-long delivery times, due to some (apparently) intractable internal Amazon issue. Been like this for days.
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We can create technology to control a changing world. We can build incredible things in America at scale. We can take to the sky & win the frontiers of the 21st century. & we're just getting started.
Today, I'm excited to share the launch of @Seneca_Systems. Seneca's mission is end the wildfire threat across 500 million acres in the US and allied nations by 2035. 115 million Americans live with fire risk. Fire costs our nation ~$1 trillion annually. It destroys our most
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From "The Origins of Efficiency"
people used to get appliances repaired, clothes mended. its significantly cheaper & easier now to get a new microwave off a cargo ship from shanghai than to find a handyman who will repair one for you. the global logistics system is a star trek replicator with a 0-2 day lag
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Many prefab startups fail the same way: they start with multifamily. I’ve looked at buying the patents and assets of several as they wind down. Nothing worth salvaging. On paper, it looks rational: bigger ticket size, lower sales costs, better margin, faster scale. In
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The Senate just passed a big, bipartisan bill to fix housing policy. And it's pretty good! On Statecraft, Senate operator @willpoffwebster, think tank savant @aarmlovi, and construction genius @_brianpotter help me understand this narrative violation. https://t.co/3xykScO4rF
statecraft.pub
"You can’t solve the problem by subsidizing demand and constraining supply"
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This is a really cool project that I hope succeeds, though I do wonder how much being an expansion of an existing city makes it vulnerable to derailment by anti-development efforts. CA cities have a long and storied history of local residents working hard to shut down growth.
1/ 🇺🇸 Today, @CAForever submitted detailed plans for the next great American city, an hour north of Silicon Valley, including: Solano Foundry, America’s largest manufacturing park, Solano Shipyard, our largest shipyard, and walkable neighborhoods for 400,000 Californians.
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Cover evolution for The Origins of Efficiency: “We explored a wide range of options inspired by examples that @_brianpotter highlights in the book: light bulbs, nails, printing presses, and more,” says @pablodelcan. “Each built on the theme of transformation, showing how
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People had lots and lots of theories as to what's causing the uptick in pedestrian deaths: Maybe it's small increases in speeding? Maybe it's vehicle blind spots? Maybe it's an increase in homelessness? This week I look at these and other theories:
construction-physics.com
Last week I wrote about the unexplained rise in pedestrians killed by motor vehicles in the US.
Since 2009, the number of pedestrians killed by cars in the US has risen by almost 80%. This week on Construction Physics, I try to figure out why. https://t.co/gkTbzhVpV6
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