Show HN: The Cascade Graph – An interactive map of AI and energy constraints

A developer released the Cascade Graph, an interactive knowledge map of 393 nodes tracing how physical and economic constraints—from energy to materials—cascade through the real economy, identifying chokepoints, feedback loops, and investable tickers. The tool aims to help users visualize and navigate stress flows in AI and energy systems, with open data for one branch (copper) available under a non-commercial license.

The Cascade Graph Economics is downstream of physics. This is a knowledge graph of how stress flows through the real economy — the drivers that push, the chokepoints where stress concentrates, the jurisdictions and geographies that control them, and the investable tickers where value accrues. Things are getting worse; the graph is built to find where that pain cascades — and what you can own on both the problem and the solution side. 393 nodes 34 drivers · 88 chokepoints · 10 geographies · 5 jurisdictions · 4 substitutes · 252 tickers · 562 sourced mechanism edges · 17 feedback loops · every link in plain language, graded & cited. On a phone, using a keyboard or a screen reader, or just prefer plain text? Open the accessible Cascade Index → /tools/cascade-index/ — the same nodes and tickers as a structured, readable map, no JavaScript required. Unfamiliar term? See the glossary → /glossary/ How to use this 1. Pick a theme from the dropdown to cut the clutter — the graph fades everything outside that mega-theme. 2. Click any node to open its evidence file why it matters, sourced data, tickers, further reading, and what it drives / what drives it . 3. Focus mode isolates a node's direct causes and consequences. 4. A cascade is a one-way chain driver → chokepoint → ticker ; a feedback loop is a closed cycle that amplifies reinforcing or dampens balancing itself — toggle Loops to see only those. two fingers to pan / zoom · one finger scrolls the page · tap a node for its evidence What this is, and how to read it The Cascade Graph is a directed knowledge graph of the physical economy. Stress flows left-to-right: drivers push pressure into the system; jurisdictions and geographies gate it; it concentrates at chokepoints ; substitutes cap the upside; and value finally accrues to investable terminals tickers . Every arrow is a plain-language mechanism — "drives demand for", "is the bottleneck for", "controls production of" — not jargon. Cascade ≠ Feedback loop A cascade is a one-way chain: a problem flows downhill to the assets it hits. A feedback loop is a closed cycle that circles back to amplify reinforcing, + or dampen balancing, − its own cause. Loops are where the thesis compounds. Problem vs. Solution plays Each node is tagged a problem play own the scarcity , a solution play own what gets bought to fix it , or both . Switch the color mode to see the whole map through that lens. Every edge is graded Each link carries a basis : measured institutional data , established textbook/consensus mechanism , or reasoned our own defensible inference . Inferred links are never dressed up as cited data. No orphans Every one of the 393 nodes is wired to the rest through a real physical or economic mechanism. The graph is a single connected system — because the real economy is. Open data — one worked branch People have asked to see the data behind the graph. Rather than export the whole thing, here is one branch worked end-to-end — the copper chokepoint with its drivers, geographies, substitutes, feedback loops, and the vetted ticker terminals each with venue, liquidity tier, and median daily dollar-volume . It is enough to inspect the data model and judge the quality of a node, and it mirrors the Copper Chokepoint /posts/copper-chokepoint/ article. The companion schema documents every field. Download copper sample JSON /data/cascade-sample-copper.json Download schema JSON /data/cascade-schema.json One branch of a 393-node graph. The full populated dataset is not publicly exported. Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 attribution, non-commercial . If there is genuine interest, we will release more branches.