“Build it and they shall come” is the fundamental law of economics – if only according to Rick Perry, Donald Trump’s Energy Secretary.

While touring a coal-burning power plant in West Virginia, Mr Perry attempted to explain the basic economic concept of supply and demand to reporters – but he may not have been the best teacher.

“Here's a little economics lesson: supply and demand. You put the supply out there and the demand will follow,” Mr Perry said, responding to a question about a shale gas boom, according to comments captured by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“The market will decide which of these — they're going to pick and choose,” Mr Perry continued at Longview Power Plant. “I mean, that's really pretty simple. All too often, you have in the last eight years, you have an administration that was over here putting its thumb on the economic scale as well as the technology scale because they said this is where we want to go.”

Apparently, when a reporter tried to ask a follow-up question about the prevalence of shale gas, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia stepped in.

If Mr Perry was referencing the economic theory that describes the interaction between supply and demand, then his explanation was incorrect.

According to the long-held theory, if the supply for a product is low but its demand is high, the price of the product is likely to increase. But if a product's supply is high and the demand for a product is low, then the product's price is likely to decrease.

Energy saving options in pictures Show all 4 1 /4 Energy saving options in pictures Energy saving options in pictures Nest Thermostat merges cool tech with neat design Energy saving options in pictures Swan has launched a halogen oven which promises faster cooking as well as energy saving and health benefits Energy saving options in pictures Duette blinds have a climate control insulating action so rooms stay cool in the summer months and warm in the winter Energy saving options in pictures Rainshower has a button on the handle that can be pressed to reduce the water used by 40%

However, there is a chance that Mr Perry could have been referencing Say's law of markets, an economic theory that argues supply is the origin of demand.