This week with a distinct focus on the NHS

• Capital Idea? 
• The Right Prescription?
• Universal Approach?
• We're Hiring!
• You're Invited!

Capital Idea?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week announced a £1.8 billion boost for NHS spending on IT, building maintenance, construction and other capital projects.
 

But the PM’s prescription was questioned by IEA Associate Director Kate Andrews. 

Kate queried the decision to provide the one-off injection, saying “the system itself is broken and decades overdue for reform”. 

“As taxpayers watch more and more of their money being diverted to the NHS, they will increasingly ask why waiting times, access to treatment and front-line care have not dramatically improved.”

In The Daily Telegraph, IEA Head of Political Economy Dr Kristian Niemietz wrote that the move was an attempt by the Prime Minister to start his term by doing “something popular”. 

He observed that there are no “competing visions [among political parties] for how healthcare should be delivered.''

Read the full piece here.

Moreover, an opinion piece in The Telegraph View this week further analyses the move to put more money into the NHS. The piece references an article written by Kate for the Telegraph, which argues that we can't keep throwing money at an unreformed healthcare system. 



Kristian took to the airwaves this week as well to rebut the policy announcement, speaking to LBC and Sky News about the mediocre quality of outcome on the NHS, and how more money is no answer to the NHS's problems if it isn't matched by reform. 

Download the IEA book Universal Healthcare without the NHS for free here. 

The Right Prescription?

Meanwhile, this week's IEA podcast also focuses on the NHS debate. Instead of cash injections, should policymakers be considering wholesale reforms to improve patient care?



This and other questions are discussed by IEA Digital Manager Darren Grimes, IEA's Head of Political Economy Dr Kristian Niemietz and IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop.

You can listen to the full podcast here.

And to subscribe to our podcast, IEA Conversations, click here.

Universal Approach?

On our blog this week, IEA Head of Political Economy, Dr Kristian Niemietz, discusses the premise behind an interesting critique he received from someone who had read his book Universal Healthcare Without the NHS. 

The blog titled ‘How, and how not, to disagree on healthcare’, challenges the “absurd” responses he often gets regarding proposed reforms to healthcare systems. 

Kristian writes that “they demonstrate that it is perfectly possible to disagree with the book’s main conclusion, without misrepresenting the argument, without accusing me of being bribed by American healthcare corporations, and without claiming that my “true” motive was hatred of the poor and the sick”.

Read the full piece here.  

We're Hiring!

Interested in working for the UK’s original free-market think tank? This is your chance! 

The IEA is looking to hire an Operations Officer. 



The role will involve manning the reception desk at the IEA and managing all aspects of our front-of-house service, ensuring the IEA’s office environment and operational systems meet a high level of professionalism. 

It will also entail managing various operational tasks and assisting all aspects of the IEA when necessary.

This is a full-time entry level position to start in October 2019. The deadline to apply for this position is 12:00 Friday 16th August. A CV and a short covering letter must be sent to [email protected].

Other positions at the IEA will soon be publicised - be sure to check our website for updates.

You're Invited!

Canvassing ideas...



On Saturday August 31st the Big Tent Ideas Festival is taking place. 

Big Tent is “united by a desire to see this political crisis resolved through the broad engagement of multiple actors of all political persuasions and none.”

Shanker Singham, Director of the IEA's International Trade and Competition Unit, and Christopher Snowdon, our Head of Lifestyle Economics, are both scheduled to speak on panels in two of the eight tents.

The IEA is also co-hosting the Economy Tent, with more details to be provided next week.

Get further information about the festival, and your ticket, here. 

Illuminating discussion...



IEA Director General Mark Littlewood will take part in the HowTheLightGetsIn Festival - billed as “the world’s largest philosophy and music festival”. Mark will sit on two panel discussions, as well as giving a solo talk.

The festival, featuring over 70 debates and talks, takes place on September 21 and 22. In and around Kenwood House and Gardens, London - “hidden away on the top of Hampstead Heath”. 

Tickets are currently on sale’ with discounted tickets for students and under 25s!

More information and access to tickets here.


Enlightening choice...

EPICENTER – our network of European think tanks – would like to welcome you to the 2019 edition of the Nanny State Index Conference, taking place in Brussels on the 11^th September.

Our Index, measuring lifestyle regulations in all 28 EU member states, gives the opportunity for policy makers to reflect on paternalistic regulations that curb consumer’s freedom of choice.

The annual conference features leading policy experts and politicians who discuss how the nanny state can be curbed all across Europe.

View the programme of the conference here or get your complimentary tickets here.