Overview
In the aftermath of the stock market crash, Irving Fisher pointed to the electrification of U.S. industry as one of the underlying causes of the stock market boom. Earlier, in 1927, Brookings Institution economists had lamented the scant attention energy had received from economists. Today, some 60 years later, power remains the forgotten factor input. In this book, the author incorporates energy into the corpus of economic analysis. Unlike previous attempts, which were mostly theoretical, this work generates testable predictions. The result is a model of production based on the two universal factor inputs--broadly defined energy and broadly defined organization.Synopsis
The author incorporates energy into the corpus of economic analysis and develops a new empirical model of production.
Booknews
Argues that the productivity slowdown, the ensuing move toward free trade at the global level, and what economist Jeremy Rifkin calls the end of work are the result of the oil crisis in the 1970s and early 1980s. Integrates classical mechanics, thermodynamics, mechanical engineering, production theory, and economics in general. The first of three books in which Beaudreau (economics, U. Laval, Quebec City) highlights the role of energy in general economic phenomena. the first contends that the shift to electric drive and its effects were responsible for the Smoot- Hawley Tariff Bill of 1929, the stock market boom and crash, the Great Depression, and the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. The third will explore the role of energy in shaping the history of political economy. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.