Dieter Helm is a fellow in economics at New College, Oxford. Among his recent publications are A New British Energy Policy (Social Market Foundation, November 2005), European Energy Policy (prepared for the UK presidency of the European Union, October 2005, pdf), and Carbon Contracts and Energy Policy: An Outline Proposal (October 2005).

Recent articles

The European commission's new energy plan falls far short of the integrated, long-term strategy that the continent needs, says Dieter Helm.

The "special relationship" between Russia and Germany over energy supplies is both a challenge to European Union integration and an invitation to get serious about it, says Dieter Helm.

Russia's combative "resource nationalism" is a reaction to the frontier capitalism of the 1990s. The west should look, learn and reform, says Dieter Helm.

The gas-price dispute that erupted in early 2006 has sobering lessons for all the parties involved, says Dieter Helm.

The argument over genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) needs to be seen in the context of wider agricultural policy. In itself, the technology is neutral and may even have possible benefits. But the use of GMOs by farmers tied to the distorting economics of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will only intensify the latter’s disastrous environmental impact. Rather than ban GMOs, it would be better to reform the CAP and tax agrochemicals.