Energy Policy in America since 1945: A Study of Business-Government Relations (Studies in Economic History and Policy: USA in the Twentieth Century)
Cambridge University Press, 2/14/1985
EAN 9780521266581, ISBN10: 0521266580
Hardcover, 384 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
Language: English
In the political economy of energy, World War II was a significant watershed: it accelerated the transition from dependence on coal to petroleum and natural gas. At the same time, mobilization provided an unprecedented experience in the management of energy markets by a forced partnership of business and government. In this 1985 book, Vietor covers American policy from 1945 to 1980. For readers convinced that big business contrived the energy crisis of the 1970s, this story will be disappointing, but enlightening. For those committed to theories of regulatory capture or public interest reform it should be frustrating. More than a history of government policy making, this book provides us with an innovative and insightful approach to the study of business-government relations in modern America. For managers, bureaucrats, and anyone interested in seeing a more effective national industrial policy, this history should put the relationship of business and government in a critical new perspective.
List of charts and figures
List of tables
Editors' preface
Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations
1. Introduction
the political economy of energy
Part I. The Transition to Peace and Fluid Fuels, 1945–58
2. The foundations of postwar policy
3. 'Stepping right out' with synthetic fuels
4. Regulating natural gas in the absence of economics
5. Oil imports
the failure of voluntarism
Part II. Managing Surplus Through the Politics of Stasis, 1959–68
6. Oil import quotas
7. Formula for shortage
natural gas price controls
8. Sunfuels revisited
nostrum for the coal industry
Part III. The Second Energy Transition
Adjustment to Depletion, 1969–80
9. Energy crisis and structural change
10. Equity versus efficiency
oil price controls
11. Natural gas
the dilemma of regulatory transition
12. Natural gas
the consequences of scarcity
13. National energy management
14. Business, government, and public policy
Index.