Energy, politics and the rise of capitalism: Pulitzer Prize winner sizes up Colorado role in global economy.

• Author: Schwab, Robert
• Position: Attitude at altitude

IF YOU WANTED TO SEARCH THE GLOBE for someone who could put world economic history into words that were understandable to high-school freshmen, you probably couldn't find a better lecturer than Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Yergin.

Yergin brings his international renown as an expert on the political implications of global economic decisions to the University of Denver Oct. 1. His lecture is sponsored by the Colorado Council on Economic Education, a nonprofit organization that since 1974 has arranged to train hundreds of Colorado teachers to teach economics in high-school classrooms.

Yergin is co-author with Joseph Stanislaw of "The Commanding Heights, The Battle for the World Economy," a 2002 book that explains the worldwide shift of governments to market economies over the past 50 years.

The book, also made by Yergin into a six-hour public-television series, demonstrates how globalization of free markets, the elimination of communism, and the rise of democratic capitalism as the world's most popular economic system has shaped historic events.

That world view, encompassing everything from World War I to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is an extension of Yergin's 1992 Pulitzer-winning book, "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power," which also established him as one of the nation's leading authorities on energy issues.

Yergin talked with ColoradoBiz last month about energy and the forces that shape Colorado's economy. An edited interview follows:

COBIZ: In "Commanding Heights," you talk about both the economic benefits and stresses that arise from the new global economy. Which weighs more heavily, stress or benefit? And how does Colorado fit in?

Y: Despite the stresses, I think globalization continues. It really means a more connected world economy, which means higher standards of living. The real question is what kind of globalization--a fairly well-functioning system, or one subject to disruptions? We tend to think in terms of states of the United States. But Colorado is also a "state" in the world economy. It certainly has strengths in industries like information technology, communications and biotech that, whatever their near-term problems, will be important legs in the global economy 20 years out. Colorado will continue to be an important energy state, especially with the growing role of natural gas.

COBIZ: Colorado and the Rocky Mountains have been described as a Persian Gulf of natural gas, and the Bush administration last...