Deciding whether someone accused of a crime is guilty may be a more serious decision than choosing a new apartment or a new car, but the decisions share some essential features. It took a mid-career shift, a fascination with computational methods, and a coincidental choice of lunch spot for us to see the connection. By Pate Skene, John Pearson, and McKell Carter

Germany is commonly seen as a global role model in transforming its electricity system from fossil-based power generation to the “green” electricity production based on renewable energy technologies. As a result of this so-called energy transition (Energiewende in German), the share of green electricity rose from around 6% in 2000 to about 36% in 2017.