Deregulation of energy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Deregulation of energy - Research Paper Example Energy is necessary for carrying on our daily activities. Both individuals and businesses consume energy. Individuals use it at home in the form of gas for heating and electricity for lighting, providing power for the operation of washing machines, computers, televisions, radios, small appliances such as irons and blenders. Businesses use energy in some form to keep their operations going. However, manufacturing firms use energy to produce the goods they depend on in order to generate revenues. Oil and natural gas has been deregulated since the late 1970’s (Horwitz 1990). While deregulating the industry may provide benefits it may have other less favorable consequences. This paper looks at the impact of deregulation of the energy industry on consumers, producers and United States economy. The null hypothesis is that deregulation of the energy industry has resulted in increased benefits for both consumers and producers but has resulted in increasing levels of imports and therefore a negative impact on the US trade balance. This study is significant since it will indicate how various levels of deregulation in the energy industry over the years have impacted the US and Canadian economies. This research will definitely help in directing policy changes in the future. Hammond and Knott (1986) while looking at deregulation in the financial industry indicated that although theories relating to regulation do not always focus on the same types of variables, researchers indicate that many of them reproduce the same effects – once they have been initiated they are difficult to eliminate and it is almost inevitably leads to more regulation. However, Hammond and Knott (1986) indicate that these arguments do not support the trends since 1975 as there have been significant deregulations in almost every year. Deregulation in various industries such as telecommunications has