Welcome to the IEA Weekend Newsletter!

• Pause for thought
• In other words
• Is well-being best?
• i on the media
• Best of the Blog
• You’re Invited!

Pause for thought

This week sees the release of the IEA’s latest book: SCHOOL OF THOUGHT – 101 Great Liberal Thinkers.

           

Written by award-winning author Eamonn Butler, SCHOOL OF THOUGHT profiles the lives and ideas of some of the leading thinkers on individual liberty – from ancient times to the present day.

It outlines key elements of liberal thought and takes a chronological look at those who shaped it across the centuries.

Eamonn identifies their common goals – but also highlights their differing views on, for example, the extent of government involvement in our daily lives.

For anyone interested in politics, government, social institutions, capitalism, rights, liberty and morality, SCHOOL OF THOUGHT – 101 Great Liberal Thinkers provides a clear and concise introduction to a set of radical ideas and the thinkers behind them.

You can order the book here, or download it a digital copy here.

In other words

Eamonn’s 2018 book, Ayn Rand: An Introduction, is the latest IEA work to go into translation.

The publication has been translated into Korean by Sooyoun Hwang, a retired public choice professor at Kyunsung University, Busan, South Korea, and former president of the Korean Hayek Society.

The original version in English is available for download here.

IEA works have been translated over 250 times - into 46 languages, across 50 countries. Perhaps surprisingly, China leads the way, with 24 works translated.
 

Is well-being best?

In our podcast this week, IEA Digital Manager Darren Grimes discusses well-being as a variable for government decision-making.

Darren says that despite its popularity, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is “a strange statistic in modern political debate.” 

“Economists point out that it fails to capture the value of an increasingly digital economy but it remains the measure most politicians and journalists pay attention to.”

Darren is joined by IEA Senior Academic Fellow Professor Philip Booth and together they discuss the best ways to measure a country’s economic performance. 

You can find the podcast on a number of platforms: Twitter, Apple Music, Podbean and YouTube. And you can subscribe to our podcast series, IEA Conversations, here.

i on the media

Railing against the planners… IEA spokespeople continued to comment on the recent announcement of a government review into HS2. 

IEA Director-General Mark Littlewood made the review the focus of his fortnightly column in The Times, urging the reviewers to “take a good look at the real market in transport infrastructure, rather than focusing only on the predictions of bureaucratic state planner”.

And Dr Richard Wellings, IEA Head of Transport, said in the Yorkshire Post that “the economic case for [HS2] never made much sense” - comments which were also picked up in other local newspapers.

Climate of opinion… Meanwhile, the nanny state turned its attention to a new enemy this week – the weather. 

Christopher Snowdon, the IEA’s Head of Lifestyle Economics, was quoted in the Daily Telegraph labelling Public Health England’s “do’s and don’ts” for the hot weather as “well-meaning but exceptionally patronising”. 

Whilst Kate Andrews, IEA Associate Director, spoke to the Daily Express about the bank holiday heat wave, saying “whether you’re enjoying a staycation in the beautiful English countryside, or jetting off on a discount flight to Europe, affordable travel has enabled people in all income brackets to more easily venture outside their hometowns”.

Several papers also continue to cover our recent report on food reformulation, Cooking for Bureaucrats.

Chris wrote for Spiked about “activist groups…working hand in glove with Public Health England to soften the public up” for restrictive food reformulation, whilst the report was referenced in the Daily Mail, Spiked, The Times, and Sunday Telegraph.

Chris was also quoted in the Daily Express, discussing the potential tax revenue that could come from cannabis legalisation.

Boris, Brexit...and more

As Prime Minister Boris Johnson stepped onto the world stage at his first G7 conference, all eyes were on Biarritz. 

Catherine McBride, Head of the IEA’s Financial Services Unit, and Communications Manager Emma Revell spoke on the policies likely to be discussed to BBC World Service and BBC Radio Wales respectively.

On Brexit, Dr Kristian Niemietz, IEA Head of Political Economy, was quoted in the Daily Mail about the future relationship between the UK and EU, Mark Littlewood and Kate Andrews spoke to the Daily Express and BBC Radio 5 Live respectively about the likely impact of a no-deal, whilst Richard Wellings spoke to NTV about the economics of Brexit.

Philip Booth spoke to the The Times on the recent flurry of business takeovers, arguing a weak pound was less responsible than the “avalanche of regulation” from the UK and EU which was driving companies to make these decisions.

Mark Littlewood spoke out against a CIPD-High Pay Centre report which he said “stokes public hostility” against well paid CEOs. Quoted in The Telegraph and with comments picked up in The Guardian, the Financial Times, and the Daily Express, Mark said the report “flirt[s] with the radical policy of maximum wages, it also misleads workers to believe that cuts at the top end will directly translate to top-ups at the bottom”.

To read more on the high pay debate, download our recent book ‘Top Dogs and Fat Cats’.

           

Kate Andrews cast an eye over the day’s headlines for Good Morning Britain, while Emma Revell, reviewed the newspapers with TalkRadio’s Mark Dolan and James Max. 

Kate wrote her weekly City A.M. on NHS rationing. She cited the case of single women being denied IVF treatment by NHS South East London as an example of a health service which – despite claims to the contrary – does not provide universal access. Kate argued that we should assess the NHS more honestly, rather than pretend it does provide universal services.

IEA research into retirement and old age was referenced in The Times. In the newspaper's leading article ‘Ageing Well’ discussed a recent report suggesting the retirement age be increased to 75 – and quoted the IEA report Work Longer, Live Healthier, which found that retirement decreases the likelihood of being in good or excellent health by as much as 40 per cent.

Best of the Blog

Shock to the system

Dr Ali Kabiri, Head of the Department of Economics and International Studies at the University of Buckingham, wrote for the IEA blog this week on ‘How bank shocks affect the innovation activity of UK firms’.

He and his colleagues looked at what happened to UK firms’ innovation during and after the 2008 Great Recession. Their aim was to help understand the ways in which the health of the financial system can affect UK companies.

They found large companies were relatively unaffected by the distress levels of their banks, whilst SMEs were more profoundly affected.

In his blog, Dr. Kabiri outlines the implications for policymakers, and the need to avoid a “one size fits all” approach to regulating the financial sector.

Read the full post here.

Dead and Bury-d?

Also on our blog, IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Professor Len Shackleton looked at football, and the demise of Bury FC.

Len discusses the calls for government intervention but he points out that “businesses go bust all the time, and quite rightly too”.

Len (a staunch supporter of non-league Southport) says this “creative destruction allows new businesses and new goods and services to break through and widen consumer choice”.  For every Bury, he says, there’s a Salford City or Forest Green.

Do you agree? Read the full piece here and add your thoughts.

You're Invited!

Real intelligence on AI...

This Wednesday (September 4) we’re holding an event to mark the launch of a new book by renowned economist Roger Bootle. 

In The AI Economy: Work, Wealth and Welfare in the Robot Age Roger cuts through much of the hype about AI and gives his perspective on jobs, leisure, equality and the role of the state in the ‘Artificial Age’.

The author will outline the major points of his book before taking questions from the audience. The book will be on sale at the event (which runs from 6pm-8pm), and Roger will be happy to sign copies. 

We only have a few places left so if you would like to apply for a ticket, please email [email protected].

Brussels calling...

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 September 11.

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.