“Government-orchestrated retail competition in electricity largely failed. With that failure came the return of regulatory-mandated, utility-administered wasteful energy efficiency programs. This time the programs carried the added justification of countering global warming.”
Prior to the oil shocks of the 1970s, energy was just another input in the management of capital, labor and other operating costs. Tradeoffs were made between energy costs and capital spent to increase efficiency. During the natural turnover of capital equipment, energy efficiency improved along with productivity, quality and waste reduction. Effective energy use was a technical matter where efficiency had to make economic sense.
Oil and gas shortages in the 1970s were caused by government price controls, but the news media hyped the concept of “running out” of resources. This brought politics into the use of energy, an example of how the problems from government intervention can breed more intervention.…
Continue Reading“It is no coincidence that a breakthrough in unconventional hydrocarbons (i.e., shale oil, shale gas, oil sands, and coalbed methane) should have taken place in some of the most economically free countries of the world, such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. The combination of secure property rights, transparent and efficient regulation, a favorable tax regime, and minimal red tape made it possible.”
“One of the main obstacles to economic growth and social development in many resource economies is rent-seeking. It is not a unique feature of resource economies, but it does appear to have a particularly strong effect on them and to produce institutional weaknesses.”
– Peter Kaznacheev, Curse or Blessing? How Institutions Determine Success in Resource-Rich Economies, Cato Policy Analysis No. 808 (January 11, 2017)
This new study by Peter Kaznacheev, who is Senior Research Fellow at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) in Moscow, valuably interprets mineral resource theory in light of institutions (read: market versus government control).…
Continue Reading“Efforts to cut CO2 emissions are not only harmful, but fruitless. The United States can reassert its leadership by withdrawing from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change treaty. It can then lead the world in economic development by encouraging the use of fossil fuels that provide cheap and reliable energy.”
Donn Dears is a charter member of the energy-realism school. A longtime industry participant (GE), he understands energy technology in light of market demand. A major theme in his writing is market reality versus political waste and political fantasy.
He blogs at his website, Power for USA, and posts at MasterResource. Dears also is a member of the distinguished profiled club of skeptics at DeSmogBlog.
Donn Dears has just published his fourth book, CLEXIT: For a Brighter Future.…
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