The Price Of Coal

This book, originally published in 1974, examines the changes that took place in the market position of the coal industry in the twentieth century. It examines in detail the position of the industry during the two World Wars, the problems of the inter-war years, the effects of nationalisation and the coal shortage after the Second World War, the decline of the markets in the 1960s and the consequences of the energy crisis of the early 1970s. The book analyses what problems the changes caused, and what measures were taken to try to overcome them. Looking in detail at the industrial disputes of 1971/2 and 1973/4 the book shows how the miners' actions fitted in closely with their past experiences and behaviour patterns.

'The Price of Coal' is a play originally written and produced in 1909 by the playwright Harold Brighouse. It follows the lives of a coal miner's family living in a cottage in Lanarkshire. Jock Brown bids his wife Mary goodbye and leaves for his shift at the coal mine. Meanwhile, Ellen Brown, Jock's mother comes to visit. But when they get news that the coal mine has collapsed, the two women wait anxiously for news of Jock...

This book analyzes the international seaborne steam coal trade and investigates resource economics and market structures of the global coal market. It develops a model to analyze pricing structures which are based on the cost minimization principle.