[lbo-talk] negawatts instead of megawatts

James Heartfield Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk
Mon Oct 12 23:59:45 PDT 2009


'Somebody' rightly asks why the left should insist on paying the 'true' cost of electricity (actually, the monpolistically hiked cost due to the government-imposed restriction of supply), to which Shane replies 'It's called the Law Of Value.'

Well, all bow down before the holy law of value! Wages low? It's the law of value. You can't buck the market, says Shane.

Except of course the high price of electricity is not an act of God (sorry, the law of value). It is not even the price that the market would dictate if there had not been externally imposed limitations upon electricity supply. The UK government, adopting the political goal of reducing CO2 emissions refused to license the building of new power stations in line with growing demand.

And while asking us to bow down in obeisance before 'the law of value' the same Shane Mage dismisses the unavoidable consequence of restricting supply - rising prices - as the cheapest platitude in vulgar economics. But name-calling will not generate more electricity, we need power stations to do that.

But why avoid the obvious conclusion. Shane *wants* prices higher. He thinks that people should use less electricity. Shame about the pensioners who will die of hypothermia this winter, but that's what he thinks has to happen. All the talk of higher benefits is just a smoke-screen.



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