Power to the People: Energy in Europe over the Last Five Centuries (The Princeton Economic History of the Western World, 46)

Power to the People: Energy, Economic Development, and the Modern Era is a groundbreaking book that challenges conventional wisdom on the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth.

Drawing on extensive quantitative evidence, the authors reveal how Europe's traditional energy economy was marked by stable or falling per capita energy consumption before the First Industrial Revolution, which redrew the map of Europe and the world.

The Second Industrial Revolution continued this expansion, but after 1970 Europe entered a new stage in which energy consumption has stabilized.

This book offers new perspectives on climate change and peak oil, demonstrating that modern economic development has vastly increased our energy use without leading to ever-rising consumption.

Power to the People sheds light on the complex changes needed for new energy systems to emerge, the role of energy resources in economic growth, and the importance of energy efficiency in promoting growth and reducing future energy demand.

Employing economic theory and growth accounting, the authors make a compelling case that modern economic growth would have been impossible without the availability of energy resources.

This thought-provoking book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the complex relationship between energy consumption and economic development in the modern era.