Correspondence : Hugh Parker

From McKinsey & Company, Inc                                                      74 St. James’s St. SW1

December 9 1975

Dear Miss Pick,

Thank you for your further letter of 8th December reminding me that I have still not returned to you the “interim report on a structure for the energy economy” which you had sent me nearly two months ago. The reason for the delay, as I am sure you will appreciate, is that I have not really had time to read your “interim report”.

However, on a flight to the United States from which I have just returned, I did have time on the flight to look through your report - although I will not pretend that I read every word of it. In your letter to me of 30th October, you say that my comments “will be appreciated”.

My main comment is that you have produced an intriguing, intelligent and certainly provocative statement of the human situation on this planet. Your conception of our plant as a business enterprise, if one can use that analogy, is certainly an original one. It is hard to argue with the basic validity of most of your comparisons, or with some of the conclusions which seem to be implicit in your report.

The only question which it does not answer - and I hesitate to raise this let it bring on a further outburst from you is - what are we going to do about it? In your late letter you suggest that I should send my copy on to Lord Ryder, with my comments if I should wish to do so. You refer to a letter from Lord Ryder, but since no copy of that is enclosed with yours it is hard for me to judge what Lord Ryder’s interests are. At any rate, since I do not him myself, I think it is best if I return your report to you, for you to send on to him with any comments you think appropriate. Thank you again for letting me see this interesting document.

Yours Sincerely,

Hugh Parker

Ps. Since your “Interim Report” seems to conclude that the hard of the matter is the energy component of the equation, you may be interested to see the enclosed brochure describing the recently-established energy laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I happen to be visiting MIT last week where I picked up this brochure. Please feel free to retain it.

jmp/15 October 2016