Suchergebnisse

Translated from the English by Ute Kassnitz.

Among the books on the world energy crisis, on technological possibilities for self-sufficiency, and on various energy sources, this is one of a very few to address the practicalities of government regulatory responsibilities versus the pursuit of profit in the private sector and to look at the processes, logistics, and complex interactions among private energy companies, financial sectors, and national governments. The authors provide answers to such questions as: How do oil company operations influence government policies? What kinds of energy projects can be financed by existing financial institutions? How does the availability of insurance affect innovations in energy? They also examine how major investors and governments make decisions about the management of the volatile mix of political, economic, and technological risks that buffet the energy sector; critique the conventional wisdom concerning the major fuels; and project the likely evolution of the world energy market over the next decade.

Innovation in information and communication technology (ICT) fuels the growth of the global economy. How ICT markets evolve depends on politics and policy, and since the 1950s periodic overhauls of ICT policy have transformed competition and innovation. For example, in the 1980s and the 1990s a revolution in communication policy (the introduction of sweeping competition) also transformed the information market. Today, the diffusion of Internet, wireless, and broadband technology, growing modularity in the design of technologies, distributed computing infrastructures, and rapidly changing business models signal another shift. This pathbreaking examination of ICT from a political economy perspective argues that continued rapid innovation and economic growth require new approaches in global governance that will reconcile diverse interests and enable competition to flourish. The authors (two of whom were architects of international ICT policy reforms in the 1990s) discuss this crucial turning point in both theoretical and practical terms.