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July 2019

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Welcome to the IEA Weekend Newsletter


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* THOUGHT about it!
* Smart talk
* i on the Media
* Hyper-criticism
* Would you credit it?
* You're invited!

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** THOUGHT about it!
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On Saturday 6th July the Institute of Economic Affairs welcomed hundreds of students from across the UK (and further afield) to our annual THINK conference at the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, London.

They heard a selection of talks and panel debates on a wide range of topics, including why millennials should reject socialism, why choice benefits them, the importance of free speech, and how markets and ideas have made us all rich.

Speakers at the conference included renowned economists Deirdre McCloskey and Thomas Hazlett, commentators Toby Young and Joanna Williams, authors Dominic Frisby and Rainer Zitelmann, historians Helen Berry and Dr Frank Prochaska, and professors from universities including Oxford, Newcastle, Birkbeck, and Manchester Metropolitan.

Some feedback from THINK attendees:

“It was a great place to exchange ideas and to be challenged.”

“Very thought-provoking and professional. I learnt a lot and met a lot of interesting people.”

"I liked the variety of issues and topics being discussed."

“It is great for people who have varying knowledge of the concepts.”

Look out for videos from the conference, which will be released over the coming months!


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Smart talk...
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On our podcast this week, we were joined by Clemson University's Hugh H. Macaulay Endowed Professor of Economics Thomas Hazlett, author of 2017 book ‘The Political Spectrum: The Tumultuous Liberation of Wireless Technology, from Herbert Hoover to the Smartphone ([link removed]) '.

Interviewed by our Digital Manager Darren Grimes, Thomas discusses the origins and implications of government regulation in the communications sector, and how political control over telecommunications has inhibited innovation rather than encouraged it.

Professor Hazlett's research is relevant to current policy discussions on 5G and Net Neutrality, which are both debated by present-day communications and regulators.

Listen to the podcast here ([link removed]) .

If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe to our podcast channel, IEA Conversations ([link removed]) .




** i on the Media
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Sugar high...Last week, Conservative leadership candidate Boris Johnson MP announced that he would launch a review of sugar taxes if he became Prime Minister. The news was welcomed by Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics, in a piece for The Telegraph ([link removed]) and an interview with TalkRadio, with comments picked up by multiple regional publications. Chris urged Boris to go further, extending the review to other sin taxes including those on alcohol and tobacco.

Meanwhile, Kate Andrews, Associate Director, wrote her weekly City AM ([link removed]) column applauding Johson’s opposition to a milkshake tax, while IEA reports into various sin taxes were quoted in City AM, ConservativeHome, the Daily Express, the Daily Telegraph, and CapX.

Triggered...Chris Snowdon appeared on the TRIGGERnometry ([link removed]) online show, discussing a wide range of nanny state issues from tobacco regulation to drug legalisation and alcohol taxes.

Smoke and mirrors...Chris also spoke to TalkRadio on leaked plans that reveal the government plan to eliminate smoking by 2030 and was quoted in the Daily Mail ([link removed]) speaking out against new ads from Cancer Research UK which use tobacco branding to warn against the dangers of obesity.

They’re grreeattt….Mark Littlewood, Director-General, wrote his fortnightly Times ([link removed]) column on advertising, arguing that state intervention into lifestyle issues – like banning Tony the Tiger from advertising children’s cereals – posed a question for the next Conservative leader about whether they would fight back and defend liberal free markets.

Top job...
As the EU unveiled new holders of some of their top jobs, Richard Wellings, the IEA’s Acting Research Director and Head of Transport, was quoted in the Daily Express ([link removed]) and on RT about what the new appointments signalled for the future direction of the European Union.

Express-ing concern...Victoria Hewson, our Head of Regulatory Affairs, spoke to Bloomberg ([link removed]) about President Trump’s attitude to trade with China and Europe, and was quoted by the Sunday Express ([link removed]) , voicing concern about heightened tensions between the EU and Switzerland.

High time...IEA research was quoted in the Evening Standard ([link removed]) as part of their campaign on cannabis legalisation. The research found that up to £1bn could be raised in tax revenue from a legal cannabis market.

On the ball...Emma Revell, Communications Manager, defended the disparity in World Cup prize pots in a piece for The Spectator ([link removed]) . Emma points out prize money came from revenue raised via ticket sales and corporate partnerships and that while the public doesn’t engage with women’s football on the same scale as men’s, the prize money will never be the same.

Made of steel...As the deadline approached for bids to take over British Steel, Emma Revell spoke to BBC Radio Humberside and ITV Yorkshire about the potential bidders, whether breaking up the company was the right choice, and the long-term future of the steel industry in the UK.

Headline-grabbing...Kate Andrews joined both BBC News and Sky News to discuss the next day’s papers, and both Kate and Nerissa Chesterfield, Head of Communications, joined Julia Hartley-Brewer’s TalkRadio breakfast show as guest of the day.

Adds up to zero...Darren Grimes, Digital Manager, criticised MPs for committing the UK net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 without even voting on the amendment. Writing for Spiked! ([link removed]) , Darren argues the measures required to achieve net-zero would have a detrimental impact on Britons’ living standards and could cost one to two per cent of GDP per annum.

Darren also spoke to Mike Graham’s TalkRadio show, responding to David Attenborough’s call for flights to become more expensive, in order to reflect their environmental damage.

That failed idea...Kristian Niemietz, Head of Political Economy, spoke to USA Business Radio about his book ‘Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies ([link removed]) ’


** Hyper-criticism
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Kristian also reviewed Aaron Bastani’s new book ‘Fully Automated Luxury Communism’ for Quillette ([link removed]) . Kristian argues that Bastani’s desire for hyper-politicised banking and hyper-politicised local government contracting to boost worker co-operatives is a “recipe for patronage, nepotism, subsidy fraud, and waste” that sounds suspiciously like every previous socialist regime that has failed – without exception. Read his review in full here ([link removed]) .

Head of Stakeholder Relations Amy Horscroft reviewed Victoria Bateman’s ‘The Sex Factor: How Women Made the West Rich’ for the IEA blog ([link removed]) . Amy commends Bateman’s book as “a fascinating perspective on history, which emphasises the vital and expansive role women played in the development of nations and economies.” and praises the “streak of liberalism and individualism that shines through the book” but laments Bateman’s failure to substantively address the failures of modern feminism and the book’s reinforcement of a “victimhood narrative, which can often result in taking steps back rather than forward.”. Read the full piece here ([link removed]) .


** Would you credit it?
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The Universal Credit welfare policy was implemented to simplify working-age benefits and incentivise paid work. However, its implementation, now six years behind schedule, has been widely criticised and many have called for its removal.

On our blog ([link removed]) this week, link research intern Carolin Bollig examines the failures plaguing Universal Credit. She explains the problems it faces, both concerning its roll-out as well as its underlying design. Bollig argues that immediate investment in the system’s administrative capacities, which may create additional costs in the short run, is crucial to save Universal Credit and ensure its future success.

Read the full blog here ([link removed]) .

Cover


** You're Invited!
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On the money... ([link removed])

IEA Fellow Professor Pedro Schwartz will be delivering a series of lectures on monetary theory at the University of Buckingham in July and August, in partnership with the Institute of International Monetary Research.

The lectures will cover the institution and ‘Quantity Theory’ of money on the 16th and 17th of July, and money in an open economy and central banking on the 31st of July and 1st of August.

These lectures will be free to attend and promise to be highly interesting for specialists and non-specialists alike, and will place monetary theory and developments in the context of historical thought and events.

For more information, and to confirm your attendance, click here ([link removed]) .
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