On the Value of Electricity to Finance Ministers

"Uses of electricity are among the applications of physics that have most clearly served mankind throughout modern history. When, in the early 19^th century, the British physicist Faraday made his first hesitant experiments involving electricity during his public demonstrations, one of those watching was Gladstone, at that time Chancellor of the Exchequer. When he asked if the experiment could lead to any practical benefits Faraday's immediate answer was "One day you will be able to tax it". Few findings can have pleased as many ministers of finance through the ages as those related to the movements of electrons."

-From the Presentation Speech for the 2007 Nobel Price in Physics by Professor Professor Börje Johansson, Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Member of the Nobel Committee in Physics, 10 December 2006.
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2007/presentation-speech.html