Modeling and Simulation of the U.S. Economy with Alternative Energy Availabilities

The acute energy shortages of 1973–74 accentuated the pervasiveness of energy utilization in the U.S. economy and underscored the complexity of the system interrelationships. It was also revealed that little is known about these interrelationships. This article reports on a systems analysis of the short‐run economic effects of alternative situations involving reduced energy availability. The impacts of several different energy availabilities are analyzed. Specifically, the situations considered are a 2% quantity reduction in domestic coal supply, a 1.0 and a 1.5 million barrel per day reduction in crude petroleum imports, and a 10% quantity reduction in natural gas supply.