Slutreplik om vätgasstålsatsningen i Norrland
PublikationArtikel (utan peer review)
Sammanfattning
Henrekson, M., Sandström, C., & Alm, C. (2022). Slutreplik om vätgasstål-satsningen i Norrland. Ekonomisk Debatt, 50, 75-77.
Henrekson, M., Sandström, C., & Alm, C. (2022). Slutreplik om vätgasstål-satsningen i Norrland. Ekonomisk Debatt, 50, 75-77.
2023
Ekonomisk Debatt, 51(1), ss. 1-4.
Sandström, C., & Björnemalm, R. (2023). Gröna bubblor skapas av politiska systemfel, slutreplik, Ekonomisk Debatt, 51(1), ss. 1-4.
2023
Future Europe Journal, 8.
This paper discusses the notion of an entrepreneurial state and questions the European Union’s (EUs) increasingly interventionist industrial policies. The EU’s green deal is a massive effort to steer the economy in new directions. Unfortunately, green deals have often resulted in green bubbles, i.e. overinvestments that fail to generate any sustainable businesses or industrial transformation in the long term. This paper presents a couple of illustrative examples of failed green deals and synthesises some of the main findings. A couple of factors jointly explain the persistent failure of green deals, including (1) if something sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true; (2) governments lack incentives and capabilities to act as entrepreneurs; and (3) allocation of large sums of ‘free’ money to innovation and entrepreneurship distort behaviour. Green transitions become more successful when policymakers impose laws and regulations to deal with negative externalities.
2023
Ratio Working Paper Series
Environmental policy is no longer about imposing regulations on industry but is increasingly regarded as industrial policy. Both the EU and national governments are taking more active roles in initiating “green deals” and various technologies aimed to result in sustainable development. In this chapter we describe and discuss some recent experiences of green innovation policies. Historical examples concerning efforts in both biogas and ethanol are combined with a more contemporary description of “fossil free” steel, i.e. steel made by using hydrogen instead of coal. We argue that the presence of large public funds from different funding bodies such as the EU, various government agencies and municipalities has distorted incentives, making it rational for firms to pursue technologies without long term potential. The result has been an absence of sustainable development, mounting debt and financial problems for those actors that have been involved. We explain these results and draw policy conclusions concerning the risks related to green deals. Relatedly, we argue that the EU’s current efforts into hydrogen gas face similar challenges.