TALKING POINT, BY DR STEPHEN DAVIES

Last week Syed Kamall and I published a joint paper on the approach that the UK and other Western countries should take towards the Chinese state, in the aftermath of Covid-19. There is clearly a significant cooling of relations going on, in response to the increasingly aggressive behaviour of Beijing and the way it handled the initial onset of the virus, and many fear, or hope, that this will lead to a second Cold War with the CPR. 

We argued that this would be mistaken and costly and rested upon a mistaken idea of the goals and motives of the Chinese leadership, but also that a business-as-usual approach was not sustainable. We proposed a third path – of some economic engagement, but combined with action by civil society and private bodies to develop contacts with people within China who opposed the regime and to support them. 



On Thursday the IEA published my paper on the way forward for the UK’s university system given the funding crisis brought about by the pandemic. 

'To a radical degree' argues that financially distressed institutions should not be bailed out. Things like rescues and mergers should not be used to produce a slimmed down system that is more focused on STEM. Instead we should take the opportunity to rethink HE policy pursued by governments of both parties since the mid-1980s, and move to a much more pluralistic and varied system. Above all, there is a need to break the link between having a degree and access to high paid or high-status jobs. 

The paper was released to time with A-level results which, it would be fair to say, have been a monumental shambles. The despair and angst on display emphasises the point of the paper: why do so many people think that their entire life prospects or those of their children depend on getting into university at 18 (or, even worse, a particular university)? As a society, we need to rethink this. I discussed the findings of the paper in a video, and wrote articles for City AM and the IEA blog.

Dr Stephen Davies
Head of Education, Institute of Economic Affairs

ON THE UP?

This week, GDP figures published by the ONS confirmed what we already knew: the UK fell into recession in the second quarter of this year.



The data made for sombre reading, but the real "news" is that the recovery that began in May accelerated in June. Quoted in The Sun, IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop commented that while there is still a long way to go before these green shoots return the economy to where it was before the pandemic struck, "mighty oaks grow from little acorns".

Julian added that "people now need to be encouraged to come off furlough and get back to work as soon as possible — whether this is for their existing employer or for another business that is better able to cope with the ‘new normal’, whatever that may prove to be". You can read his response in full here.

Julian’s comments also appeared in The Telegraph. He argued that data revealing the biggest quarterly fall in productivity on record "was to be expected," given that during a recession firms tend to focus on preserving jobs so they can avoid the cost of firing and then rehiring workers.

Also in The Telegraph, IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Professor Len Shackleton responded to the ONS labour market statistics on Tuesday, which showed that Covid-19 job losses have hit the oldest and youngest workers the hardest. Len argued that these workers "represent an important potential resource and should not be forgotten by policymakers". Read his comment in full here.

NOSE TO NOSE

If you’ve heard of the long running trade dispute between Airbus and Boeing, you might be forgiven for thinking it is only of interest to the companies involved. However, the rivalry between the world’s two largest manufacturers of commercial aircraft has the potential to damage business in other industries, as IEA Academic and Research Director Professor Syed Kamall wrote on the IEA blog.



After a recent World Trade Organisation ruling against Airbus, the US government decided to levy import taxes on imports from the EU, including from the UK.

How did we arrive at this situation? Why is the US not showing more goodwill towards the UK, given the "special relationship"? Can "early harvest measures" be agreed before the US Presidential Election?

Shanker Singham, CEO of Competere and author of 'How the UK can deal with Tariff Retaliation: The Boeing-Airbus Fallout' joined the Cato Institute’s Dan Ikenson and Professor Syed Kamall to discuss this in a new video. Watch here. 

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!

On 25^th August at 6pm, the IEA Book Club will be hosting author and businessman Richard Koch, who will be discussing his forthcoming book, "Unreasonable Success and How to Achieve It: Unlocking the Nine Secrets of People Who Changed the World".

In conversation with IEA Director General Mark Littlewood, Richard will outline the nine key attitudes and strategies which, as outlined in his book, can propel anyone to new heights of accomplishment.

Those who ask the five questions with the most Zoom upvotes will receive a signed copy of the book.

Watch our trailer featuring the author here.



If you would like attend this webinar, please sign up here.

YOU'RE INVITED

*In Conversation... with The Rt Hon Sir John Redwood MP

At 6pm on Tuesday 18^th August, the IEA will be hosting a live stream event with The Rt Hon Sir John Redwood MP, Member of Parliament for Wokingham, titled: "How Karl Marx made me a believe in freedom and free enterprise". 

How much of a threat are Marxist ideas again today? Why do advocates of Marxism accept almost no responsibility for real-world approximations of their ideas, claiming states that followed their ideas were not true Marxist states?

Join the live stream by clicking here. 


 
*IEA Academic Webinar with Fredrik Erixon: ‘Towards an ideas-based globalisation’

On Wednesday 19^th August at 1pm, the IEA will be hosting Fredrik Erixon, Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE).

Fredrik will make the case that while global economic governance is in poor health, real globalisation is thriving. New tariffs and trade wars are hurting global economic exchange, but for some time now cross-border commerce has been growing on the back of an ideas-based economy, based on R&D, innovation, technological change and new opportunities to collaborate across borders through digital means.

Global economic ties are getting thicker – not weaker – and countries that protect themselves against new globalisation will inflict huge damage on their own economies.

If you would like to attend, please register here.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS...

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But if you do have a little extra cash available to help the IEA during these uncertain times, your contribution – no matter how small – would be deeply appreciated. 

As an educational charity, the work we do work is entirely funded by donations. If you are able to help please click here or contact [email protected]. Thank you.

And why not get Amazon to donate too? All you have to do is to start shopping on https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ and pick the IEA as your chosen charity. The IEA will then receive 0.5% of your spending on most items. Everything else remains the same (and at no additional cost to you).

"I just want to say that the online stuff you guys are doing is absolutely astonishing! I’ve watched every Live with Littlewood in entirety and just finished watching the latest. It’s been superb entertainment."

"Thanks for making this crisis more of an age of enlightenment."