BU — The Blood Standard

I Exchange Rate History real BU/$ rate across eras · derived from energy extraction accounting ▾

II The Blood-Dollar Rate µL blood per dollar (real, log) · BU price in dollars · era bands · deflation arc ▾

↑ Your dollar buys less blood every century. Congratulations on being devalued.

III Dollar Purchasing Power in Blood what $1 through $1T actually buys in blood at real rate · log scale ▾

IV The Numbers aggregate · cross-era · the bottom line ▾

Method. Blood Unit (BU) = 1 litre. Real BU price = shadow energy value per litre of blood = (shadow_$/GJ × GJ/death) ÷ 5L. Shadow $/GJ = $12.30 (Brent $75 ÷ 6.1 GJ/bbl). GJ/death = per-capita energy base ÷ war-attributable deaths per era.

Blood inflation. BU price rose from $103K (Bronze Age) to $2.24M (Modern) = 21.7× over ~6000 years. As extraction efficiency increases, each death purchases more energy, making blood more expensive in dollar terms. The dollar has deflated 21.7× in blood terms.

Your blood is worth more every year. You aren't.

Market vs real. Medical market: $880/L — the only price set by intrinsic biological value. Real rate: $2.24M/L — set by energy extraction value. Gap: 2,548×. The dollar is overvalued vs blood by exactly this factor. Or: the market systematically underprices blood by 2,548×.

[1] Medical blood price: Red Cross / hospital acquisition cost $440–880 USD/L [2] Shadow $/GJ: Brent crude $75/bbl ÷ 6.1 GJ/bbl = $12.30/GJ (EIA 2025) [3] Per-capita energy by era: IEA historical estimates; Smil, Energy in World History (1994) [4] War deaths by era: Brown Univ. Costs of War Project 2023 (Modern); ICRC, Weinberg (Industrial); slave transit mortality est. (Colonial) [5] Blood volume/person: 5L (clinical standard) [6] BU price formula: (shadow_$/GJ × GJ/death) ÷ 5L. Not cost paid — value extracted.