| Popis: |
Publisher Summary This chapter presents a historical perspective on the relationship of electricity to gross national product (GNP). Research shows that was a linear relationship between electricity made available (EA) and GNP for almost eighty years. In this eighty-year period, the slope and intercept of the relationship changed only twice. Each time, the changes occurred during or at the end of one of the World Wars. The rather impressive stability of the relationship in the past does not mean that the relationship cannot change in the future, and there are those who think that it is now in the process of change. However, the past record of long-persistent stability and changes in slope only under wartime extremes indicates that strong evidence of a break with the past would be needed before one could conclude that changes have taken place. The functional form of the relationship has also been found to hold for major areas of the world and for all twelve countries that have been studied to date. |
