The government has announced a new crackdown on vaping, pledging to ban disposable e-cigarettes and implement advertising restrictions on e-liquid.

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The government’s decision to ban disposable vapes last week was welcomed by many people who wish this type of e-cigarette had never been put on the market in the first place.

Whether the ban will remove them from the market in practice is another question.

According to a study ([link removed]) published last month, disposable vapes are used by 2.6 million adults, most of whom are smokers or ex-smokers. What will they do after the ban? Some of them will switch to refillable vapes, some will buy disposables on the black market and some will switch to cigarettes. There is no way of knowing what the split will be but, as the authors of that study concluded, the ban “has the potential to slow progress in driving down smoking prevalence”.

A growing body of evidence from economists shows that when governments apply taxes ([link removed]) , advertising bans ([link removed]) and flavour bans ([link removed]) to e-cigarettes, it leads to an increase in cigarette sales. This is unsurprising since e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes are direct substitutes, but politicians haven’t learnt the lesson (or, more cynically, they don’t want to lose tobacco duty revenue).The evidence that flavour bans lead to more people smoking ([link removed]) is particularly relevant since Rishi Sunak says he intends to restrict flavours in refillable e-cigarettes.

If the government won’t look at the academic evidence, it should at least look at Australia where e-cigarette prohibition has been a fiasco ([link removed]) . As I said in the Spectator ([link removed]) last week and in an IEA briefing ([link removed]) last year, a more sensible approach would be to enforce the laws that already exist. It has been illegal to sell a vape to anyone under 18 since 2015 and yet many unscrupulous retailers are brazenly flouting the law.

If kids are buying disposable vapes from corner shops, there is nothing to stop them buying refillable vapes. Banning a product that many people have used to quit smoking is not the solution to underage vaping.

After the ban was announced, the BBC ([link removed]) interviewed a father of three who “fears it will drive the sale of illegal or black-market vapes” and a 17 year-old vaper who “would consider cigarettes as an alternative if a ban came in”. And yet they both supported the ban!

As James Buchanan warned us in 2005, we have become so addicted to paternalism ([link removed]) that we welcome every new prohibition even though we know that it’s not good for us.

Christopher Snowdon

IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics
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Banning disposable e-cigarettes won’t stop kids vaping ([link removed])

Christopher Snowdon, The Spectator ([link removed])

Read the evidence… Vaping restrictions result in a rise in cigarette sales and smoking, according to empirical research.

Enforce laws that already exist ([link removed])

Christopher Snowdon, LBC ([link removed]) , BBC World, talkTV ([link removed]) & Times Radio & Communications Officer Reem Ibrahim, talkTV ([link removed])

Blunt instrument… Restrictions on vapes for adults are both overzealous and unnecessary, given that it is already illegal to sell them to under-18s.
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Don’t take the vapes! ([link removed])

Communications Officer Harrison Griffiths, The Critic ([link removed])

Slippery slope… Since the 2007 indoor smoking ban, Britain has been rapidly marching down the road to lifestyle serfdom.

Disposable vapes will be BANNED and e-cigarettes restricted to just 4 flavours to protect kids ([link removed])

The Sun ([link removed]) , City AM (p.1), The Times, The Daily Express ([link removed]) & Guido Fawkes ([link removed])

Pro-smoking policy… As Christopher’s response to the crackdown ([link removed]) highlighted, a policy which drives people to tobacco cannot be described as anything but pro-smoking.
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** Apocalypse Next: The Economics of Global Catastrophic Risks ([link removed])
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Policymakers should respond to catastrophic risk by embracing decentralised decision making, entrepreneurship and innovation – not political control or ‘global government’.
* Global Catastrophic Risks (GCRs) are world-changing events that could usher in a new dark age or destroy civilisation.
* Covid-19 was a warning shot — catastrophic risks are increasing in number and probability, and should be taken seriously.
* Addressing these risks requires difficult decisions, considering trade-offs and costs. Economics has an important role to play here.
* Top-down government planning and global megaprojects are largely ineffective and inflexible in response to catastrophic risks.

Press release ([link removed])
Purchase ([link removed])
Introduction ([link removed])


** How to stop the apocalypse ([link removed])
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Book author and IEA Senior Education Fellow Stephen Davies, CapX ([link removed])

Existential crisis… Even if the risk of catastrophic events is low, their potential impact means that we must take the threat seriously.
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** Future Pandemics: Apocalypse Next ([link removed])
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IEA YouTube ([link removed])

A fresh approach… As the NHS showed during Covid-19, centrally planned institutions are inflexible in the face of rapidly changing circumstances.


** Covid pandemic was a 'warning shot' as experts label next catastrophe 'inevitable' ([link removed])
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The Daily Star ([link removed])

A warning shot… The world is still recovering from the enormous damage caused by Covid. But the next global catastrophe could be far worse.
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** IEA Book Club Event with Stephen Davies
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Date: Monday 12th February

Time: 17:30 – 19:30

Location: IEA (2 Lord North Street, Westminster, London, SW1P 3LB)
RSVP (mailto:[email protected]?subject=IEA%20Book%20Club%20with%20Stephen%20Davies&body=Please%20may%20I%20RSVP%20for%20the%20'Apocalypse%20Next'%20Book%20Club%20event%20on%2012th%20February%3F)

IEA Latest.
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Why Britain needs more empty homes ([link removed])

Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz, The Critic ([link removed])

Scarcity mindset… Rates of empty houses and second home ownership in Britain are among the lowest in Europe; they are certainly not the cause of the housing crisis. If anything, we should want to see more of them.
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It's time for the Bank of England to cut interest rates to boost Britain ([link removed])

IEA’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee referenced in The Daily Express ([link removed]) , Guido Fawkes ([link removed]) & The Daily Telegraph ([link removed]) & Julian Jessop in The Daily Telegraph ([link removed])

Repeating past mistakes… The SMPC were among the first voices to criticise the Bank of England for underestimating the threat of inflation in 2021. But this week, they emphasised ([link removed]) that inflation had been beaten and that the Bank risks repeating its mistake by keeping rates too high for too long.
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Does Britain need more oil and gas licences? | IEA Podcast ([link removed])

Matthew Lesh interviews Watt-Logic founder Kathryn Porter, IEA YouTube ([link removed])

Energy abundance… The government can balance its carbon reduction ambitions with the need for cheap energy. But it requires making difficult choices and implementing the right policies.
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** Why Brexit was a mistake, from a libertarian perspective ([link removed])
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Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy Senior Research Fellow Emmanuel Comte, IEA Blog ([link removed])

Wedge issue… Free market liberals were split on Brexit. Critics say the EU moderated some of the domestic government’s worst instincts, and tout the benefits of free trade and free movement within the bloc.
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** Estonia has prospered under market reforms | Realities of Socialism ([link removed])
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Harrison Griffiths interviews George Mason University Economics Professor Peter Boettke, IEA YouTube ([link removed])

A damning verdict… As the latest Realities of Socialism study ([link removed]) shows, Estonia’s liberalising economic reforms have allowed it to recover from the catastrophic impact of Soviet socialism.
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** The 2010s: A decade in review (Part 3) ([link removed])
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Kristian Niemietz, IEA Blog ([link removed])

A lost decade… Poor economic growth, culture wars, and political polarisation defined the 2010s.
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Remembering Leslie Hore-Belisha: the man behind the “Belisha Beacons” ([link removed])

Editorial and Research Fellow Len Shackleton, IEA Blog ([link removed])

Principles and public service… Leslie Hore-Belisha served as an effective minister across an eclectic range of departments. But he had a clear radical streak, as evidenced by his outspoken opposition to establishing a state broadcaster.

IEA Insider.


** Book Club with Jennifer Burns
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On Monday, Executive Director Tom Clougherty hosted our latest Book Club event with Stanford University historian Jennifer Burns to discuss her new book Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative ([link removed]) .


** The Future of UK Trade Policy After Brexit
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On Tuesday, Tom was in the hot seat again. This time moderating a debate on the impact of Brexit on trade so far, and how it might develop moving forward. Catherine McBride restated the case made in her recent IEA paper ([link removed]) that Brexit has not significantly impacted UK trade.

Centre for European Reform Associate Fellow John Springford argued that analysis of trade between European Union countries since Brexit suggests that UK exports to the EU would be stronger if we hadn’t left. Julian Jessop’s presentation focused more on imports, suggesting that Brexit likely had some impact on UK trade, but that the government’s future policy choices will matter more.
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