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IN THIS ASI E-BULLETIN:
KRUGER ON SMITH. Danny Kruger, Reform’s Head of Preparation for Government, will tackle caricatures of Smith as an unrepentant individualist
THE WEALTH OF NATIONS—IN CARTOONS! Our graphic novel version is out soon!
FREEDOM WEEK. Our annual student ideas-fest is now open for applications!
But first...
I suppose that if you are on a cruise ship you’re never very distant from a rat. But I’m surprised that hantavirus didn’t first strike the House of Commons, where they are even nearer and more numerous. Indeed, the list of the assorted rodents now fearing for their seats and secretly plotting to ditch Keir Starmer is now longer than the average Nigel Farage bar bill. The trouble for them is that Sir Keir u-turns on a sixpence, and so often that I doubt his pursuers will ever catch up with him.
More later...
The 250th Anniversary of The Wealth of Nations is an important anniversary for the Adam Smith Institute! If you’d like to help us celebrate, please consider donating by clicking the link below.
250TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT
The Smithian Economy: Family, Community and Country
Adam Smith is often caricatured as the prophet of unfettered individualism. Yet, Smith believed the Invisible Hand could only function within a society bound by sympathy, family, and local institutions. The Adam Smith Institute invites you to a keynote lecture where Danny Kruger MP, Head of Preparation for Government for Reform UK, sets out his party’s principles for social policy.
​Moving beyond the myth of atomised selfishness, this lecture explores the profound intellectual kinship between Adam Smith and Edmund Burke. We will trace the roots of free enterprise from early Christianity to Burke’s little platoons, arguing that the real enemies of community are not markets, but the top-down Men of System in distant bureaucracies.
​Join us on Smith’s birthday and the 250th year since the publication of The Wealth of Nations to discuss a social policy that trusts families and communities over central planners, reclaiming Smith’s legacy as the foundation for a resilient, organic social order.
BOOK LAUNCHES
The Wealth of Nations Comic Book Ahead of the 250th anniversary of The Wealth of Nations, I have collaborated with a team of artists to create a graphic novel that brings Adam Smith’s insights to life for a modern audience. The novel is perfect for economics students and policy wonks looking for some light reading (And it’s clever and funny—Ed.)
For the 250th anniversary, a preview of the graphic novel was released on our website. Details on the launch of the full in-print novel will be shared in due course.
The remaining pages will be online soon—watch this space—and we’re raising money to finance the print edition and to get copies into school.
GETTING THE WORD OUT
The ASI’s pensions and fiscal research generated strong coverage. Maxwell Marlow was quoted in The Telegraph [ [link removed] ] and GB News [ [link removed] ] on civil service pension windfalls, and appeared on Times Radio across three consecutive days. The State Pension Tracker was picked up by Birmingham Live [ [link removed] ] and Interactive Investor [ [link removed] ], while Maxwell debated student loans live on GMB [ [link removed] ].
Housing and planning remained a consistent thread. Joanna Marchong was quoted in The Telegraph [ [link removed] ] on the second homes crisis, Maxwell commented on stamp duty in The Telegraph [ [link removed] ], Viggo Terling wrote for Cap X [ [link removed] ] on S106 planning obligations, and Maxwell penned an op-ed in The Critic [ [link removed] ] making the case against rent controls.
The generational smoking ban drew broadcast and print attention, with Maxwell appearing on LBC and being quoted in the Mirror [ [link removed] ]. On the economy, Maxwell appeared twice on TalkTV [ [link removed] ] discussing economic growth, and commented in The Telegraph [ [link removed] ] on Wales’s economic decline. Joanna took aim at the Green Party’s spending proposals in the Daily Express [ [link removed] ] and with an op-ed in City AM [ [link removed] ], while James Price wrote for City AM [ [link removed] ] on Labour’s trade union reforms and David Collins commented on the ECHR for LBC [ [link removed] ].
MORE EVENTS
Join us for our next Next Generation drinks on Tuesday, 2nd June!
This June, we are thrilled to welcome Harriet Cross MP, the Member of Parliament for Gordon and Buchan. Since her election in July 2024, Harriet has hit the ground running in Westminster, recently being appointed as an Opposition Assistant Whip.
She’ll be discussing “Beyond ideology: The ongoing and important role of UK North Sea Oil and Gas.” Harriet will argue that a thriving domestic energy sector is the backbone of a resilient, high-growth economy. If we want to power the future and adapt to an increasingly unstable world, we need to stop ignoring the resources right under our feet.
As I was saying…
Interesting to see the White House reaching peak idiocy by posting a picture of the President with King Charles and the caption ’Two Kings’. (Much as the Brits may laugh about it though, only one of them actually has any power.)
But moving on...
Enlightenment Evening: Benjamin Franklin - Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand?
Join us for an Enlightenment Evening exploring the “Invisible Hand” behind the American Revolution with US prof Dr. Mark Skousen on Wednesday, 17th June.
We’ll be hearing how Smith’s positive view of America was forged through his London meetings with Benjamin Franklin. Discover how this cross-pollination of ideas led Smith to champion American independence, while Franklin was converted to the gospel of laissez-faire and free trade.
EDUCATION
The Second Global Enlightenment Forum
On Saturday, we hosted The Global Enlightenment Forum - an annual series of whole-day academic conferences centred around the origins, growth, proliferation and application of Enlightenment thought and philosophy to the non-Western world.
​As modern academia continues to discover the global roots that found some of history’s most important philosophical movements, we teased apart the intellectual heritage and impact of the Enlightenment vis-à-vis its other regions.
We heard from Dr Richard Johnson (Senior Lecturer in US Politics & Policy at Queen Mary - and host of the brilliant podcast Since Attlee and Churchill), Dr Eamonn Butler (our co-founder), Professor Fitzroy Morrissey (Abdullah Saleh Fellow and Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Law at University of Oxford), ​Dr Elisabeth Drayson (Lorna Close Fellow, University of Cambridge), Professor Eric Chaney (Associate Professor of Economic History, University of Oxford) and our essay competition winners!
Missed the live event? We’ll be posting the full recordings on our YouTube channel shortly.
Real History of Communism
Yesterday, we hosted a semi-private screening of Part 1: The Real History of Communism at the Curzon Soho. The event began with a drinks reception, followed by the documentary premiere and an insightful Q&A. The discussion was moderated by The Rt Hon Sir David Davis MP alongside Kristian Niemietz, the IEA’s Editorial Director and Head of Political Economy.
Missed the screening? No problem. You can watch the documentary online.
And another thing…
I’ve given up voting in elections. It just encourages them. And all that elections ever decide is who’s next in line to disappoint the public. Still, it’s been amusing to see government ministers so desperate for votes in Thursday’s election that they’ve been stressing Labour as the ‘party of change’. Rather like a beige sofa promising to become a rollercoaster. I sympathise; most of the MPs trotted out to explain why their party did so badly looked as if they’d rather be at home doing the ironing.
Back to the plot...
Living Freedom
Applications are open for Living Freedom 2026 - a three-day residential summer school for anyone aged 18 to 30, taking place in Westminster, London.
From what is a citizen to how to cultivate intellectual virtue, narrative control to women’s freedom, banning social media for under 16s to how far we tolerate intolerance, explore the ideas and ideals of freedom through debates, lectures and workshops.
Living Freedom welcomes insightful speakers and a range of participants to discuss the key concepts of freedom over debates, drinks, dinner and socials. Join us this summer, from the 9-11 of July.
Or email [email protected] [ mailto:[email protected] ] to find out more.
ASI ONLINE
Read our super-blogs
ASI VIDEOS
AND I QUOTE
Why settle for one quotation when you can have three? How about these?
Dominic Cummings: ‘The British political system is broken…’
Rishi Sunak: ‘Westminster is broken.’
Andrew Marr: ‘British politics is broken…’
Pattern building up here…
Bye,
e
Dr Eamonn Butler
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