Between 1972 and 1990, US electric utility companies cancelled orders for 117 nuclear power plants (NEI, 1996, pp. 1-6). The regulatory accounting methods adopted by utility rate setting commissions determined whether utilities could recover the losses on cancelled plants through higher rates....

There is currently a popular view that the world is undergoing profound changes in the fundamental relationships upon which it is organised. In particular, there is widespread talk of a ‘globalised’ economy, facilitated by and associated with ‘new’ technologies and practices. There is a...