"Standard theories of the causes of climate breakdown will not survive this book. Readers will be all the wiser." —Andreas Malm, author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline Why the market will never solve the climate crisis What if our understanding of capitalism and climate is back to front? What if the problem is not that transitioning to renewables is too expensive, but that saving the planet is not sufficiently profitable? This is Brett Christophers' claim. The global economy is moving too slowly toward sustainability because the return on green investment is too low. Today's consensus is that the key to curbing climate change is to produce green electricity and electrify everything possible. The main economic barrier in that project has seemingly been removed. But while prices of solar and wind power have tumbled, the golden era of renewables has yet to materialize. The problem is that investment is driven by profit, not price, and operating solar and wind farms remains a marginal business, dependent everywhere on the state's financial support. We cannot expect markets and the private sector to solve the climate crisis while the profits that are their lifeblood remain unappetizing. But there is an alternative to providing surrogate green profits through subsidies: to take energy out of the private sector's hands. An essential intervention, The Price Is Wrong is as politically far-reaching as it is factually illuminating. "A fascinating book. The Price Is Wrong explains the self-contradictory logic of green energy development and investment." —Adam Tooze, author of Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy "[Christophers] turns his sceptical gaze on climate change, and the attempts of western governments to nudge consumers away from fossil fuels ... masterly" —Jonathan Ford, Financial Times " The Price Is Wrong rejects the orthodox reasoning that a mix of technological innovation and market wizardry will be enough to save the Earth." —Randeep Ramesh, Guardian "Christophers’s provocative yet persuasive thesis posits that the low profitability of renewables is a feature not a bug of our energy systems ... The problem is not that grubby capitalists are growing fat off the free fruits of the land and sea but that there is not enough profit guaranteed in renewables to satisfy investors and, most significantly, bankers." —Peter Geoghegan, Times Literary Supplement "All aboard this ride through the hidden abode of electricity production - it is not to be missed! With his signature knowledge of the financial and economic systems that dominate our lives, Brett Christophers here takes on a central paradox of the moment. How is it that investment in fossil fuels continues relentlessly, even though renewables have become cheaper? Standard theories of the causes of climate breakdown will not survive this book. Readers will be all the wiser." —Andreas Malm, author of Overshoot "Despite its simplicity, Christophers's account is a quietly radical one that contravenes the received wisdom of not only the technocrats, mainstream economists and free marketeers who tout the wonders of the market, but also many on the left, for whom the problem with profits is typically their being far too high." —Adrienne Buller, New Statesman "Powerful and intuitive ... The book is as much a plea for economists to show humility as much as it is a rallying cry for market reforms and an expanded role for the state." —Mehreen Khan, Times "Have we been looking at the energy transition all wrong? In this vital new perspective on the biggest challenge facing humanity, Brett Christophers turns the conventional wisdom on green energy on its head, with profound consequences for policymakers and the public." —Ed Conway, Economics Editor of Sky News "This impressive book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand possible drivers of a green transition. Christophers articulates a theoretically and empirically grounded critique of the dominant paradigm in climate economics that relies on the mantra of "getting the prices right." This standard view misses the driving force of capitalism: profits. Firms and financial market actors invest not because of relative prices but because of the anticipated profitability. Green investments are no different in that regard. Recentering from prices to profitability calls for a fundamental reconsideration of climate policy. Should public money be mobilized to create private profitability for green investments? Or should we instead rely on public investments to defy the profitability requirement?" —Isabella Weber, author of How China Escaped Shock Therapy "Brett Christophers' argument in The Price is Wrong that capitalism cannot deliver a decarbonised electricity sector based on solar and wind is as incisively made as it is crucially important. This book is indispensable for anyone who wants to understand the economic issues around electrification." —Helen Thomps