Feeling the pinch

As the hot summer winds down and the shorter days draw in, I’m feeling excited for autumn. But sadly, the falling leaves and cosy nights will only provide a brief reprieve before consumers are once again dreading their energy bills in winter. With the news this morning that household energy prices will hit a three-year high—driven by higher wholesale gas prices due to the Iran war—it’s only apt to talk about the country’s ongoing transition to renewables.

Back in April, when the Iran war first brought “havoc on global gas markets”, energy expert Michael Grubb wrote about the great cost-saving possibilities that could be achieved if the UK fully invested in renewable energy infrastructure. Not only could this save households in the long-term, it could also make us less bound to unpredictable global markets, he argued. “The desperation to keep bills down in the face of yet another gas crisis, might—just might—open a brief Overton window for audacity”, Grubb concluded.

Rising energy costs are just one reason many people globally are feeling the pinch. Nobel prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu, who joins Ellen and Alona on today’s episode of the Prospect Podcast, believes that the economic insecurity that’s impacting households has been fuelled by the disappearance of traditional industry. Instead, he argues, digital advancements and automation dominate our labour markets, creating a billionaire elite, and further polarising the working-class.

On the podcast he makes the case for “working-class liberalism” as a philosophy that can overcome this crisis, and discusses the economic effect of developments in artificial intelligence. His ideas come together in his new book What Happened to Liberal Democracy? Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity.

Prospect columnist Andrew Adonis is also concerned about what has happened to liberal democracy. Today he writes on how Donald Trump’s constant war-starting threatens the stability of modern democracies. But with all these threats, nothing much ever follows—making them “half-wars” compared to Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam, Adonis argues. “It is classic Trump that the ‘D-Day’ he has just announced is nothing of the kind”, he adds.

Are you concerned about the rise in energy prices? Email me at kathryn.schoon@prospectmagazine.co.uk.