Australia toys with its own ‘Why Nations Fail’ moment on energy
It’s dangerous when institutions are captured by their own storyline. Faith in renewables has become an identity, and that’s a lot harder to tweak than policy.
When I first read Why Nations Fail, Australia certainly didn’t come to mind.
Yet as our energy debate drifts further from engineering and economic fact, the book has taken on uncomfortable relevance. If authors Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson ever released an updated edition, Australia would almost certainly be paired with Germany: two wealthy nations risking their future not through corruption or scarcity, but through institutional overconfidence and narratives that no longer match how energy systems actually work.
Loading...
Cristina Talacko is chief executive of GLOW Strategies and Founder of Coalition for Conservation.
