Economist Says the Quiet Part Out Loud: High Energy Prices are ‘Good for the Climate’

When petrol prices rocket because of supply shocks — such as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the rerouting of oil tankers — one might have expected a discussion of geopolitics, market signals and the obvious supply-side remedies. Of which there has been plenty, some competent and even masterly, some not so competent analyses by ‘instant expert’ talking heads in social and mass media. But a recent article by an economist in the Conversation offered a solution so perversely tone-deaf it could have been lifted from a Babylon Bee satirical script.

Citing research that a 10% rise in UK petrol prices can cut demand by up to 5%, the piece solemnly declared that “high prices are a way of adjusting consumption to cope with the lower supply”. The subtext was unmistakable: with refined products suddenly scarcer, the proper response is not to produce more fuel (where the country is blessed with domestic fossil fuel resources, like the UK) or to import more from sources outside the Strait of Hormuz or both. Instead, the advice from Christoph Siemroth, Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Essex, is to make what little remains even costlier — so that the hoi polloi drive less, take the bus and hasten the glorious transition to Net Zero....<<<Read More>>>...