IEA Communications Officer Harrison Griffiths has written in City AM urging the UK government not to retaliate to American green energy subsidies with state intervention of their own.

Harrison wrote:

“Attempting to reshore industry to the UK would be naïve and economically illiterate. Naïve because the UK could never hope to match US subsidies: its population is one fifth of the population of the States, and its economy is one sixth the size of America’s.

“According to [Adam] Smith, ‘consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production’. He believed “the interest of the producer ought to be attended to only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer’.

“UK politicians would do well to pay more attention to Smith than electric car manufacturers begging for special favours and subsidies.

“Consumers’ interests would be served by making it as simple as possible to import US taxpayer-subsidised green technology, rather than embarking on another industrial strategy boondoggle.”

You can read Harrison’s full piece here.