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IN THIS BULLETIN:
- Spreading the word — Webinars, podcasts and more
- Yoof — We’re opening up with real events to get young people thinking
- Online argument — The latest from our superblog
And much more!
BUT FIRST...
In this week’s news: People are deleting the NHS Covid tracking app because it keeps on spraying out annoying alerts. (For much the same reason, Boris Johnson is looking for ways to delete Dominic Cummings.) The latest is Cummings’ revelation that his former boss thought it ‘ludicrous’ to be Prime Minister (which didn’t create the intended stir because everyone thinks that current politics is pretty ludicrous anyway.)
Meanwhile, Richard Branson launched himself to the edge of space (which was a fairly extreme way of avoiding the football, I’d say; I only launched myself behind the sofa). Though England’s defeat in the final brought on a mood of national despair (outside Scotland, that is), the EU came to the rescue by claiming that the UK still owes it Brexit divorce money, so that rekindled the “We shall fight on the beaches” spirit.
The Batley and Spen by-election assured millionaire Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer that there was still one red brick in the Red Wall (but if it turns out to be the only brick, that wouldn’t be much of a Wall, would it?) For some reason my spellchecker keeps changing the name of the constituency to Batty and Spend, which must say something about its opinion of politicians. And despite a new strain of Project Fear, it looks like Boris will bring us all out of lockdown on 19th July (though given what some of his ministers have been up to, he might be wise to make a few exceptions).
But I digress...
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Webinars
You can find all our past webinars here, featuring experts such as White House economist Tyler Goodspeed, David Davis MP, Austin U prof Tara Smith, free speech campaigner Liam Fox MP, London-cured salmon producer Lance Forman, Reebok founder Joe Foster, Kate Andrews of The Spectator and many more.
Our most recent include:
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Podcasts
Dynamic Duo Matthew Lesh and Daniel Pryor provide the banter on our regular podcast, The Pin Factory. Among recent highlights: Sir Iain Duncan Smith on regulations and lockdowns; e-scooters, asylum seekers and ministerial resignations; vaccination priorities and Nimbyism; and much more.
Find The Pin Factory on all your favourite podcast providers: iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Podbean.
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DONATE
We don’t just come up with sound policy ideas and inject them effectively into public debate. We educate the public and the future generation about the principles of freedom, limited government, democracy and markets. Right now, when governments are intervening more in our lives than ever before, and threatening enterprise-destroying taxes to pay for their enormous spending and debt, that education is more vital than ever. Help us to preserve freedom and promote prosperity by donating now. You won’t regret it.
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FUTURE FREEDOM FIGHTERS
ISOS
This week the ASI team restarted our long-running programme of economics conference at schools: the Independent Seminars on the Open Society. We once again visited Wilson’s School in Sutton and delivered talks to a great group of A Level students on drug policy, free trade, immigration, intergenerational inequality and human progress.
Keep an eye on the ASI blog for the winner of the essay competition we launched for the students, and if you’d like us to hold a day of talks at your school then get in touch with our education supremo Daniel Pryor at [email protected].
Freedom Week
We’re planning Freedom Week, our one-week seminar in Cambridge, run in partnership with the Institute of Economic Affairs, which teaches promising students about classical liberalism and free market economics. And of course there is plenty of time for socialising and meeting key activists and think-tankers –– especially now that it’s in person again.
The Next Generation
Post-reopening, we’ll also be preparing for the return of The Next Generation drinks receptions in our revamped office: where young people from the worlds of politics, business, academia and economics meet to hear from a well-known speaker and network in the heart of Westminster. Keep an eye out on our events page for further announcements.
Gap Year Internship
If you’re really into our work and want to fully immerse yourself in the fight for freedom, our gap year internship applications are open! We pride ourselves on giving young people a lot of responsibility in our office, so you’ll be writing, speaking on radio, organising events, carrying out policy research and much more during your time with us. Apply here!
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KEEPING COMMUNISM AT BAY
We work hard to educate the public on the merits of a free and open society and economy. Unfortunately, at the same time, the left is extolling the virtues of communism. Yes, the same communism that killed 100 million people in just 100 years. But to the youth of today, it’s a trendy utopian ideal.
That’s why we’re creating a documentary about the true reality of communism. One that brings together academics, journalists, and survivors of communist regimes to tell their stories, to tell of the horrors they experienced and the inevitable result of the communist experiment.
If you’d like to know more, don’t hesitate to reach out by replying to this email. You can also back the project by donating here.
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The ASI was splashed across newspapers up and down the UK this past week.
Just today, our comments on the Government’s brand new sugar and salt taxes splashed across the front pages. This Government’s continuous nannying will restrict choice and quality and make food more expensive, and all for the sake of half a digestive biscuit worth of calories. At the time of writing, we’ve featured on the front page of The Telegraph and in The Sun and with more to come. You can read our joint statement with the TaxPayers’ Alliance and the Institute of Economic Affairs here.
In addition, our calculations pointing out that between 3.5 and 4.6 million people could be isolating each week if cases reach 100,000 per day featured on the front page of The Telegraph and the Daily Mail. The calcs also featured in The Sun, the Evening Standard, The Guardian, MailOnline, the Yorkshire Post, ITV, on GB News, and even featured as Keir Starmer's core question to Boris Johnson in last weeks’ Prime Minister’s Questions. In fact, they appeared in all these outlets multiple times a day for the entire week, but I’ll save you the endless hyperlinks...
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On trade, Matt Kilcoyne commented on the arbitrary agricultural checks between GB and NI in The Guardian. Matthew Lesh wrote for The Telegraph and CapX on the Aus-UK trade deal while ASI Fellow and polling extraordinaire Michael Turner did a write up of the polling behind the deal in Spiked and Research Associate Hannah Ord emphasised the benefits of the arrangement for young people in 1828.
Ryan Bourne of Cato Institute also included our data in his own analysis of the deal in The Telegraph. Meanwhile Research Associate Joe Bradshaw wrote in Capx on how a Trans-Pacific trade deal will bring benefits to everyone involved. On top of all that, Matt Kilcoyne has his eyes on bigger prizes, and calls for UK accession to the CPTPP and for a CANZUK deal in the Express.
Our comments on the Mad Ad Ban Plan featured in The Telegraph, The Sun, and The Telegraph again, while Morgan Schondelmeier wrote about it for ConservativeHome and Daniel Pryor did the same for CapX.
In miscellaneous news, Matthew Lesh wrote for GB News on how censoring speech online will not lead to a decline in racism; the ASI’s representations to the MHCLG housing select committee were reported in PA; our fellow, Tim Worstall wrote for CapX urging the government to remove tariffs on the steel industry; Hannah Ord was also in CapX criticising the calls for a “gadget tax” on all devices to fund the arts; and in yet another CapX appearance, our summer intern Emily Fielder critiqued Vince Cable’s comments on China.
Hannah Ord slammed the WHOs ludicrous suggestion that all women of child-bearing age should not drink alcohol in the Daily Mail. She also argued for the future of the Union in the face of calls for Boris to call Sturgeon’s bluff and divorce Scotland. You can find a write up (and video!) of the TalkRADIO appearance in the Express. And to round it all off, I wrote for CapX on the drift from the classical definition of liberalism to its modern, American context.
Phew!
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KNOW SOMEONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN OUR E-BULLETIN?
SEND THEM THE LINK BELOW!
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On our hyper-blog
Inequality guff again: The Resolution Foundation claim that rising inequality means that Universal Credit should be raised is just guff, says Tim Worstall. Because, like other inequality campaigners, they ignore all the stuff we do to reduce inequality. Like spending 20% of the national income on social spending — which Worstall reckons is about half the total household wealth of the nation. Come back after you’ve factored in the welfare state, and we can have a talk about how much inequality there is after that.
Bubble trouble: With his decades-long experience of life around Westminster, the ASI’s Dr Madsen Pirie reveals how the political class of parliamentarians, staffers, activists and broadcasters actually think. They are in jobs that don’t make or produce things; they are mostly funded by taxpayers, so have little appreciation of the nature and importance of business. They acquiesce in anti-capitalist ideas and think humanity’s main problems are diversity, decolonisation and any environmental cause that doesn’t cost them directly. But there is a world beyond the bubble, in which ordinary people are doing their best to get by, for themselves and their children. They are tolerant and patriotic: if they have one complaint about their country, it’s that the bubble simply ignores them.
Why Remainers are so cheesed off: Five years on from the referendum, award-winning City analyst and ASI Fellow Miles Saltiel looks at what the Remain side got right — and wrong. They accurately predicted the stickiness of the negotiations, and the problems caused by less free movement of people. And they were wisely reluctant to big up the EU Project, realising it was one the UK public never bought into. But, despite you-know-what, the lights are still on, trade is still flowing, the City still dominates European financial services, the pound is up and the FTSE’s edging up to the pre-Covid record.
Elsewhere
Cuba is cracking down on protests as it suffers its worst economic crisis in decades. How long before people start saying it was never real socialism?
A new paper makes the shocking discovery that building market-rate housing reduces rents in the surrounding area. Supply and demand, baby!
With ever more frequent discussion of culture wars, one might think that this is a new phenomenon. But it is most certainly not; culture wars are long wars.
We’re reminded that instead of focusing on sugary treats, perhaps ‘food tsar’ Henry Dimbleby should look at how to make food more sustainable and less expensive. Lab grown meat might be the answer.
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AND I QUOTE...
My friend Lawrence Reed of the Foundation for Economic Education just posted a collection of quotations from former US President Ronald Reagan. So, being flush, this time I’m going to give you not just one quote but two. They seemed appropriate given all the talk of new spending programmes to prove how compassionate the UK government is.
“The size of the [government] budget is not an appropriate barometer of social conscience or charitable concern.” (Ronald Reagan, 1981)
“If the big spenders get their way, they’ll charge everything on your Taxpayers Express Card. And believe me, they never leave home without it.” (Ronald Reagan, 1984)
Bye,
e
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