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The Sails of Argo Navis

Vela

Everything I build, research, and ship. Under one roof.

Economics, data, design, and the things that don't fit a resume.

67essays
31projects
3tools
8domains
7marathons
173restaurants

counts derive from the site's own data, not typed in by hand

Field Notes

Quick-hit observations from reading. Not full essays. The latest three:

Feb 25, 2026 · Economist, Finance (Citrini)

Ghost GDP Is Bad Economics

Multinationals booking IP profits in Ireland and Luxembourg inflate GDP figures by 25–60% above actual domestic production. Ghost GDP distorts fiscal capacity estimates and makes small economies look richer than they are.

~60%Ireland GDP inflation

Jan 29, 2026 · Boss Class S3E1

The Fat Layer of Humans Gets Thinner

Andrew Palmer tested AI on his own Bartleby columns and got a nasty shock — the gap between his output and the machine's was smaller than he expected. The 'fat layer' of humans doing knowledge work that AI can replicate is thinner than anyone admits.

Jan 29, 2026 · Boss Class S3E2

Why Coding Leads the AI Frontier

Coding is the canary. It's the first knowledge domain where AI consistently matches median practitioners — because code has objective tests, tight feedback loops, and clear success criteria. Domains without those properties are harder to automate but also harder to evaluate.

CodeClosed problem
All 12 observations

The Name

Argo Navis, the ship of the Argonauts, was once the largest constellation in the sky. Too large: eighteenth-century astronomers broke it into three. Carina kept the keel, Puppis the stern, and Vela the sails.

The sail is the part that catches wind and turns it into motion. This page is where everything on the site rigs together.

by Jenn/Vela