The Import Land Model

I’ve previously discussed the statistical gimmickry of Jeffrey Brown’s Export Land Model (ELM). The problem can be quickly summarized like this: Suppose you have a fuel tank which is running down at a rate of 1 liter per hour. Ordinary people with common sense would say that the tank is being drawn down at a constant rate. Similarly, mathematicians would call this a simple linear decline at a constant rate. Jeffrey Brown, however, claims that the draw down is occurring at an exponentially accelerating decline rate. I kid you not. If you’re curious about how this amazing feat of smoke and mirrors is achieved, here is a detailed explanation.

Today I’d like to talk about another gimmick of the ELM. Veterans who have read a lot of Brown’s writing will have noticed that he always focuses on a few carefully selected examples: Indonesia, the UK and of course “Export Land” (the fictional country he uses to illustrate the model). He never seems to bring it all together, and give a coherent picture of the net export situation for the entire world. There is a good reason for this. When you look at the big picture, the ELM “crisis” appears in a very different light.

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