The UK has pioneered the introduction of competition into previously monopolistic utility industries. Competition has been introduced progressively, starting with British Telecom, and continuing with the gas and electricity industries, where it is to be completed during 1998. In water, competition has so far been restricted to new developments, and it is said that it will be phased in once the initial franchises expire. These radical policy innovations have been controversial, and raise significant generic problems concerned with market design, regulation, corporate strategy and income...

This volume addresses the practical issues that arise in applying economic instruments to environmental policy. It surveys the main concepts and tools--such as sustainability, biodiversity, and cost-benefit analysis--and analyzes the broad environmental policy agenda, including the global agreement on climate change and the narrow British context.

A broad and lively survey of British energy policy since 1979. The book blends economic analysis with political and historical narrative. The author traces the way in which political pressures from the proponents of both nationalization and privatization, as well as environmentalists, have affected the development of an industry which forms a significant part of the national economy. There is a particular focus on the role of government and the influence of technological advances.

A broad and lively survey of British energy policy since 1979. The book blends economic analysis with political and historical narrative. The author traces the way in which political pressures from the proponents of both nationalization and privatization, as well as environmentalists, have affected the development of an industry which forms a significant part of the national economy. There is a particular focus on the role of government and the influence of technological advances.
The revised edition includes a range of new material, including a new chapter on the White Paper on a...

The threat posed by climate change has not yet been matched by economic policies that can deliver sharp reductions in carbon emissions. The Kyoto Protocol has not received support from the USA, and ratification has been delayed by Russia's reluctance to sign up- both in part because of its costs. Few European countries are on course to meet their own national targets. In consequence, there is a search for a post-Kyoto framework, new institutions and new economic policies to spread the costs and meet them in an economically efficient way. This volume provides an overview of the economics of...

The threat posed by climate change has not yet been matched by international agreements and economic policies that can deliver sharp reductions in green-house gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol has not received support from the USA, and ratification has been delayed by Russia's reluctance to sign up- both in part because of its costs. Few European countries are on course to meet their own national targets. Nonetheless, even if fully implemented, the Kyoto Protocol would make little difference to the carbon concentrations in the atmosphere. In consequence, there is a search for a post-Kyoto...

In a new edition of his hard-hitting book on climate change, economist Dieter Helm looks at how and why we have failed to tackle the issue of global warming and argues for a new, pragmatic rethinking of energy policy.

"An optimistically levelheaded book about actually dealing with global warming."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

" Dieter Helm] has turned his agile mind to one of the great problems of our age: why the world's efforts to curb the carbon dioxide emissions behind global warming have gone so wrong, and how it can do better."--Pilita Clark,...