An information campaign on energy usage would have made a lot of economic sense
The prime minister’s apparent veto of a plan to persuade people to use less energy this winter has stirred up controversy. The usual rabble have been quick to decry Liz Truss for abdicating responsibility, following the old lines of those who wanted more or less restrictions during the pandemic. But economic theory can readily justify […]
How Truss pays for her plan for energy prices is just as important as what she does
Our new prime minister already has a long list of detractors. Yet something many are failing to take notice of is how well she grasps the fundamental importance of generating economic growth. This is the central issue facing the economy and it will determine how, ultimately, we pay for an intervention in the energy market. […]
Spiralling energy prices are a powerful lesson for our future plans for green power
For most politicians and commentators, green taxes are firmly established as an unequivocally Good Thing. True, Liz Truss has called for green levies to be temporarily halted to help drive down energy bills. But even if the next prime minister does intervene, once world energy prices start to fall substantially, she would be under enormous […]
Lending a hand: government loans to energy firms can’t be the final answer
Some of the media seem to have become addicted to gloom. Most outfits have become cautiously optimistic on Covid-19, but the prospective double squeeze on living standards has rushed in to fill the gap. Consumers are faced with tax increases and sharp rises in energy bills. The surge in the world price of energy means […]
Bail outs for businesses in strife only gloss over the truth, it’s time to face reality
The price of both oil and gas has doubled across the world in the last year. The price of crude oil is at $84 a barrel for the first time in three years. As a result, fuel of every kind, for every purpose has become more expensive. The public has reacted in the most extraordinary […]
What was behind Friday’s National Grid outage? Network theory, not conspiracy
National Grid is getting a kicking in the aftermath of last Friday’s electricity blackout. Potential explanations swirl around both social and mainstream media. The system cannot cope with too much wind-generated electricity. The Russians hacked into the computers. A puzzling aspect is that the initial shock to the National Grid was a very small one. […]
No decent economist will be surprised to see renewables push up electricity prices
British Gas is putting up the price of its dual fuel tariff by an average of 5.5 per cent at the end of this month. EDF, whose standard tariff is already one of the most expensive, will raise it by a further 1.4 per cent next month. In the longer run, the widespread hope is […]
Technological breakthroughs will make fossil fuels unburnable – not bureaucrats
The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, courted the wrath of the fossil fuel industry in a speech at the end of last month. He argued that investors in the sector face ‘potentially huge losses’. Actions by governments to try to head off climate change could make most reserves of coal, oil and […]
Obama allies lead the way on a positive approach to climate change
The fracking debate continues apace, with the announcement by the British Geological Survey that there are over 4 billion barrels of oil in the shale rocks of the South of England. The government has proposed new rules of access to land in order to speed up the exploitation of this oil, with payments of £20,000 […]
Energy and Emissions: Taxation or Technology?
Energy prices are in the news. The recent actions of some of the energy companies can plausibly be described as provocative, no matter how well founded their decisions might be. They run the risk of provoking the ire of both the Opposition and the Government. One interesting aspect of the debate is that it has […]
