Economics & FinanceThe American economist Henry Kaufman recently touched on an interesting point when he noted that “What America needs, to benefit from financial regulation, is a new philosophy that integrates economics and finance. The absence of such a philosophy has been a great failing”. Indeed it has. The first lesson I took in O level economics back in 1982 asked the question – what is economics? The answer: the study of how societies reconcile unlimited wants with limited resources. The boom in finance allowed, temporarily, that fundamental question of economics to be discarded as societies believed that they could have it all, with little regard to resources. With the drying up of credit, those societies now face the basic economic question head on, and the answer (lower living standards) is far from appealing. Let us hope economists and financiers can help us through the current economic mess via a new philosophy, instead of facilitating and acquiescing another costly boom. Energy and Nuclear PowerMost research suggests the UK will need a marked boost in generating capacity in order to meet its growing energy requirements over the next ten years. The combination of rising energy demand, and the closure of nuclear and ageing conventional plant, mean that without new investment the UK faces a near 20,000MW energy shortage by 2016. The challenges of global warming, combined with concerns over energy security, have led many to believe that nuclear power offers the best means of overcoming this problem. Nuclear power is carbon free, does not involve the UK relying on other countries (such as Russia) for energy supplies, and at this stage has a keen backing from Government and investors. |
Main MenuLatest ForecastsRSS Feeds
|
