This post originally appeared at cobdencentre.org.
Via FT.com, Ofgem urges a shake-up of the energy market,
Sweeping reforms of the UK’s energy market must be brought in urgently to protect energy supplies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deliver the £200bn investment needed in the power sector, the energy regulator said on Wednesday.
Ofgem said options for reform would include placing more stringent legal obligations on energy suppliers, and “improved market signals”, which could include a higher price on carbon dioxide emissions. More drastic options could include a centralised renewables market and a central buyer of energy for the whole of the UK.
Which all seems very well, until you realise that this is the fruit of an ideological aversion to the free mutual cooperation of individuals and corporations. Ofgem apparently tell us, “It would mean taking away the market’s role in delivering that investment.”
We need to make our minds up about whether planned or free economies can provide us with the means of our survival and prosperity. History’s answer is clear: planned economies cause misery and then collapse.
Further reading
- Living with Leviathan, David B Smith
- Moral Markets and Honest Money
- Ofwat, Water UK, the Consumer Council for Water and The Managerial Revolution (via stevebaker.info)
- XXXVI. THE CRISIS OF INTERVENTIONISM: The Harvest of Interventionism (via mises.org)
