The IEA is proud to host events and internships to help equip tomorrow’s leaders with an understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society. 

In just the first three months of this year, we visited five schools across the United Kingdom for Sixth Form Economic Conferences, reaching around 1,000 students. We have held semi-finals and finals for the Budget Challenge, as well as the Monetary Policy Essay Competition with the Institute of International Monetary Research and the Vinson Centre based at the University of Buckingham. 

In just the past two weeks, we have hosted 80 sixth form students at 2 Lord North Street for our Future Thought Leaders’ Programme. The students partook in lectures, debates, activities and networking. We provided fresh perspectives on politics, history and philosophy – in addition to our central focus on economics. Students were provided with the opportunity to have respectful conversations about controversial issues – helping instil the idea that differences should be settled with discussion, not cancellation.

As one Future Thought Leader said: "The IEA has changed my way of thinking, from a linear perspective to being able to see policies, debates, and problems from many different perspectives. The programme has helped me develop my understanding and prepare for university."

This is only just the beginning. Over the coming months, we will be hosting eight programmes for almost 200 people, ranging from sixth formers all the way through to young professionals. This includes a conference for parliamentary researchers and Camp Vinson, a residential undergraduate programme at Oxford University. These are highly competitive affairs, with the IEA receiving over 1,000 applicants this year alone.



If you, or someone you know, is interested in the IEA’s educational work please visit the students page on our website. We offer a range of internships and programmes. Applications are now open for Freedom Week 2023 (21-26 August), our annual one week seminar at Cambridge University with the Adam Smith Institute.

The IEA’s mission is to help shift the climate of opinion in the long term. Our work with students is absolutely essential to building a freer and more prosperous society. 
 

Brittany Davis
Head of Outreach, Institute of Economic Affairs

NHS ON LIFE SUPPORT

With industrial disputes and strike action dominating headlines once again, IEA researchers appeared across the media to discuss the state of Britain’s healthcare system.



In The Daily Telegraph, IEA Head of Political Economy Kristian Niemietz argued that a functioning labour market can determine how much healthcare workers should be paid far better than centrally planned pay scales:
 
“We would not debate the pay of other professions in this way. We do not have political arguments about whether plumbers, electricians, painters, decorators, or fitness trainers are paid ‘the right amount’, or whether they ‘deserve’ more. We do not have a Secretary of State negotiating with a ‘British Plumbing Association’ or a ‘British Electrical Association’.



IEA Director of Communications and Public Policy Matthew Lesh appeared on GB News to debate discuss the strikes by NHS workers over pay and working conditions:
 
“We have to be clear about the reason why doctors are paid so little in this country and that’s because the NHS is what economists would call a monopsony employer. The NHS is the one employer of doctors, they don’t have much of a choice to train anywhere else in the British healthcare system, and therefore, the NHS is able to keep wages low.”



IEA Communications Officer Harrison Griffiths appeared on TalkTV to discuss a variety of pressing matters. One of the issues discussed was the ongoing doctors' strike and why the NHS' makeup makes it difficult to efficiently allocate healthcare spending. Commenting on the scale of bureaucracy in the NHS, Harrison said:

“There is an optimal number of NHS managers, I don’t know what it is…and no one being honest with you would say they did either”

IEA DIGITAL

The IEA's YouTube channel is home to all of your digital free market needs. From lectures with leading thinkers to informative public policy explainers, we have it all. On this week's schedule, we had:



IEA Podcast... The NHS is in a bad way. Waiting times are long and doctors are striking over pay. But how underpaid are they and what reform would benefit the NHS? To discuss this, IEA Director of Communications and Public Policy Matthew Lesh sat down with IEA Head of Political Economy Kristian Niemietz.



Swift Half with Snowdon... As efforts to ban flavoured e-cigarettes pick up pace across the US and in the UK, is lifestyle regulation is going too far? In the latest Swift Half with Snowdon, IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon talks to author and journalist Jacob Grier about free choice and creeping prohibition.



Parallax Views... IEA Head of Cultural Affairs Marc Glendening sits down with James Esses to discuss being expelled from university for voicing gender critical views.

IN THE MEDIA



Serious fraud fiasco... IEA research criticising the Serious Fraud Office, authored by IEA Academic and Research Director James Forder, was referenced in the Financial Times:

"Last month, a report by the Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank found the SFO was “responsible for a series of expensive and high-profile failed prosecutions”, which demonstrated “the need for reform”."



Golden years... IEA Chairman Neil Record was quoted in a Daily Express article on the government's decision to increase public sector pensions: 

“Public sector pensioners have become the most economically privileged group in the UK. How can this be?” says Neil Record, chairman of the Institute of Economic Affairs."



Lurking from home... IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Professor Len Shackleton argued in The Daily Telegraph that the benefits of working from home are likely overstated and that companies should not be required to offer flexible working from their employees:
 
“Look closely at surveys proselytising the productivity benefits of home working. The majority are of employees, who are probably not the best judges of their own output and have an incentive to exaggerate. The evidence is largely anecdotal, as there are few properly controlled studies. Even when companies are consulted, it is typically HR departments, professionally gung-ho for homeworking, who respond – not those responsible for the productive side of the business."



Eyes on the road... IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon wrote for The Daily Telegraph on the encroachment of the nanny state into self-driving cars:

"But while it’s bad enough being hectored, it’s another thing when you’re paying for the pleasure. The catchily named “Mustang Mach-E” starts at a shade under £51,000. This buys you the car, but not the right to be sternly told to keep your eyes on the road. Once your free trial is over, that costs £17.99 a month."



Lacklustre legislation... IEA Head of Cultural Affairs Marc Glendening appeared on TalkTV to criticise the proposed Worker Protection Bill, which would expose employers to liability for harms done to their workers by third parties, including offensive comments:

“It’s mad in the sense that people who are completely innocent – that is to say, employers who might not even be on the premises at the time somebody overhears an offensive comment or when someone is assaulted by a drunken patron – could then be sued.

Marc also wrote about the proposed bill for Conservative Home.



Discouraging investment... In City AM, IEA Energy Analyst Andy Mayer was quoted arguing that hesitancy to invest in North Sea energy production shows the “deadweight cost of high taxes and excessive regulation”:
 
“A better approach that might bridge the political divide would be to offer a regime where rates moved predictably with prices, preferably at lower levels but with fewer allowances. The position would be transparent and likely to survive both a change of government and market shocks.”



Flatlining... IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop was quoted in The Herald responding to news that the UK economy grew by less than 0.1 per cent in February 2023:
 
“Simply beating the gloomy forecasts of organisations like the IMF is a pretty low bar. The UK economy risks being kept in the slow lane by a combination of high tax and spend policies, dysfunctional energy and housing markets, and a pervasive belief that the ‘government always knows best’.”

RISING TIDE FOUNDATION

The Rising Tide Foundation has published a feature about the Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity's (IATP) fantastic work to promote freedom in Africa.



The article highlights the IATP's major successes in putting on student conferences across Africa. With the Rising Tide Foundation's help, the IATP has, since May 2022, funded 27 events with 3,700 attendees across six countries.

The excellent IATP YouTube Channel is also discussed, which, since it was established last September, has published more than 30 videos and amassed over 8,300 views, the majority of which come from continental Africa.

STUDENTS AND TEACHERS



Join the IEA's internship programme!... We are now welcoming applicants. From editorial work to aiding our operations team, there are a variety of opportunities on offer for sixth form and university students. Want to work for the UK's original free-market think tank? Click here to find out more and submit your application.

Our current cohort of talented interns put together a video providing an insight into what you can expect, which you can watch here.