The State Is Taking Back Energy by Nick Butler published by Project Syndicate (10/2022)
“The recent increase in government intervention in the energy sector is partly a consequence of the huge price spikes resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But many of the policy measures introduced over the past year are piecemeal responses to the fundamental challenges of energy insecurity and climate change.
LONDON – Although uncertainty prevails in today’s global energy market, one thing has become clear: Governments are reasserting their central role. The motive is pragmatic rather than ideological, and the details vary from one country to another, but the trend is unmistakable. Governments of all political hues are taking back control of a market that had largely been left to private firms with only limited regulation. In many Western economies, this arguably represents the largest shift in the balance of public and private economic power since World War II…”
