**
------------------------------------------------------------
* TALKING POINT, WITH JAMIE WHYTE
* FROSTY RELATIONS
* iN THE MEDIA
* ON THE BLOG
* YOU'RE INVITED
* IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The IEA launched my mini-book, Why Free Speech Matters ([link removed]) , on Monday with an event at 2 Lord North Street. Head of Political Economy Kristian Niemietz interviewed me in front of an audience of liberty lovers. It was a rare occasion on which Kristian and I disagreed. Or maybe we didn’t. Let me explain.

Everyone is in favour of free speech within limits. Even the most ardent supporters of free speech don’t believe you should be allowed to say whatever you want whenever you want. For example, inciting murder should be illegal and so should lying when entering a contract (fraud).

[link removed]

Why are these restrictions on speech justified when a prohibition on denying the existence of Allah or criticising the Dear Leader are not? What are the proper limits on freedom of speech? That’s the question my book aims to answer. And in doing so it passes judgement on hate speech laws and the Online Safety Bill, now before Parliament. (If you want to know the answer, read the book! It’s available for free on the IEA website here ([link removed]) .)

Kristian thought I was dodging the real issue, which isn’t legal constraints on free speech but social constraints. What stifles speech is not fear of being arrested but fear of being “cancelled” – losing your job, suffering a Twitter pile on, becoming an untouchable on Tinder. We have a culture war to fight, not a legislative battle.

I agree that there is a culture war to fight. But that doesn’t mean I have to fight it. Plenty of other people are keen to get stuck in – GB News, Spiked Online, the Free Speech Union, and many more. I will leave it to the pros. So no serious disagreement with Kristian there.

Nor does the reality of cancel culture mean there is no legislative threat to free speech. The Online Safety Bill will put the content moderation policies of social media platforms under the control of politicians and bureaucrats at Ofcom. The harms they aim to protects us from include being exposed to ideas that “threaten the British way of life”. The Chinese Communist Party must be delighted to see their ideas being adopted in Britain!

I suspect that Kristian agrees with me about this, too. We would still be friends if we did disagree, but it’s nice to recognise that we don’t really (as I hope he will agree!).

Dr Jamie Whyte
Author and Former Research Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs
FROSTY RELATIONS

Fraught negotiations with the EU began to bear fruit this week, with the EU agreeing to fewer customs checks on British goods crossing into Northern Ireland.

Ahead of European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic's speech on Wednesday, IEA Head of Regulatory Affairs Victoria Hewson spoke to the Daily Express ([link removed]) about the ongoing negotiations. She said that if the EU did not budge on the agreement, Article 16 (a clause which would allow the UK to suspend parts of the agreement unilaterally) could be triggered "sooner rather than later".

[link removed]

The Northern Ireland Protocol was top of the agenda on this week's Live with Littlewood ([link removed]) . Victoria appeared alongside Arlene Foster, Former First Minister of Northern Ireland; Henry Hill, News Editor at Conservative Home; and Dr Jamie Whyte.

The panel also discussed the current disruption to supply chains, the energy crisis and the Commons Covid report published earlier this week. You can catch up on the show – which was our 50th episode here ([link removed]) .
iN THE MEDIA

Gas-tastrophe... Quoted in The Sun ([link removed]) , IEA Chief Operating Officer Andy Mayer said that the steel, base chemicals, glass and paper sectors had "previously been viewed as a serious long-term investment. Now they resemble twitching corpses, destined for one of two fates: another bailout, or nationalisation".

In a column for CapX ([link removed]) , Andy argued that years of ill-judged government intervention has left our energy system in a state of fragile disarray, noting that “our endless energy schemes are like trying to fix a sinking ship by removing panels to cover the holes”.

Andy also appeared on GB News ([link removed]) earlier in the week to discuss the government's energy policy, noting that the government's haphazard carbon targets will lead to energy shortages and higher prices. His interview was featured on the Mail Online ([link removed]) .

IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop appeared on BBC Radio 4 ([link removed]) to discuss the crisis and the economics of government bailouts. He noted that a "patchwork of government interventions" had done more harm than good for the supply of energy and argued that the state should resist further interventions in the market. You can listen to a clip here ([link removed]) .

Leading Britain's Conversation... IEA Director of Communications Annabel Denham appeared on LBC's Cross Question ([link removed]) alongside Dean Russell MP, political commentator Jonathan Lis, and Middle East and conflict journalist Oz Katerji. The panel discussed the Northern Ireland Protocol, energy woes, and whether London Mayor Sadiq Khan was "being a spoilsport" in cancelling this year's New Year's Eve firework display.

Bounce back... The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released their monthly labour market and GDP statistics this week. Unemployment down and vacancies are at a record high.

Julian welcomed the figures, suggesting "strong employment data should help to calm fears that the UK is sliding back into recession". Meanwhile, "the rebound in economic activity will help to repair the public finances without the need for any more tax increases, but also makes it increasingly hard to justify keeping interest rates at the emergency low of 0.1 per cent”.

Julian's comments ([link removed]) were featured in the Daily Express ([link removed]) , Politics.co.uk ([link removed]) , and the regional press, including the Lancashire Times ([link removed]) .

[link removed]-

Woke gone mad? In her column for The Spectator ([link removed]-) , Annabel Denham wrote about British Airways' decision to scrap ‘ladies and gentlemen’ from its on-board announcements.

Annabel suggested that BA has bigger problems than gender neutral salutations to deal with after 18 months of travel restrictions. She challenged the concept of 'woke capitalism,' and questioned whether it is socially and economically beneficial that conservatives are often too apathetic to change their actions in response to developments like this.

[link removed]

Missing denominators... In his latest column for City AM ([link removed]) , IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon discussed vaccine efficacy and the current preoccupation with the number of Covid deaths.

Christopher argued that it made sense to focus on the number of Covid deaths when the pandemic was in full swing, but unless they rise alarmingly in the coming weeks we need to start weaning ourselves off daily death counts. Too often, they fail to take into account important denominators, such as the number of non-Covid deaths.

On the blog... Erik W. Matson, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center and the Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Program ([link removed]) at George Mason University, discusses 'new paternalism', the goal of which is "to influence choices in a way that will make choosers better off, as judged by themselves."

For example, if desserts are placed below eye-level we will be less likely to indulge at lunch, and that refraining is what we really want to do. Erik analyses what Adam Smith might have made of this theory.
IEA PATREON

Thank you to all of you who have already signed up to become an IEA Online Patron. Becoming a Patron grants you VIP access to our latest videos, priority invites to our virtual events, and the opportunity to engage directly with IEA Director General Mark Littlewood and the IEA team. For just a small donation you can get all these benefits and more.

[link removed]

To visit the page and find out more about the IEA’s Patreon, follow the link here ([link removed]) or watch our trailer here ([link removed]) .
YOU'RE INVITED

[link removed]

On 25th October, 5.45-7.45pm, the IEA Book Club will host an event with Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School and Academic Director at the Centre for Corporate Governance, to make the release of the paperback and revised and updated version of his book “Grow The Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit”.

IEA Senior Academic Fellow Professor Philip Booth will chair the event. This event is exclusive to IEA Book Club members. To find our more about the IEA Book Club, please contact [email protected],uk (mailto:[email protected],uk) or follow the link here ([link removed]) .

============================================================

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Combating protectionism... On Thursday, EPICENTER Director Adam Bartha chaired a fascinating live webinar on trade scepticism on the continent, hosted in conjunction with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

Adam was joined by
Piotr Rydzkowski, Deputy Head of Unit in DG Trade, European Commission; Carlo Stagnaro, Research Director, Instituto Bruno Leoni; Constantinos Saravakos, Senior Researcher, KEFiM; and Antonio O`Mullony, Senior Researcher, Civismo.

You can watch the discussion ** here ([link removed])
, or read the recent EPICENTER publication on this issue ** here ([link removed])
.

** ([link removed])

Digital future... And on the subject of lowering barriers to trade, the IEA's Victoria Hewson chaired a discussion with
Ted Claypoole, partner and head of IP Transactions and FinTech at Womble Bond Dickinson, and Camilla de Coverly Veale, Head of Regulation at the Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec).

The government is consulting on reforms to UK data protection law and new trade Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan kicked off her new role pledging to tackle digital trade barriers. We discuss the prospects and pitfalls of the proposals. Watch ** here ([link removed])
.

** ([link removed])

Conference catch-up... All of our panel discussions at this year's Think Tent at Conservative Party Conference will be ready to watch on the IEA YouTube channel over the next few days. You can browse those already available ** here ([link removed])
, including the above on the UK's trade policy with the Indo-Pacific ** here ([link removed])
.

With a little help from our friends....
** ([link removed])

As an educational charity, the work we do is entirely funded by donations. If you are able to help please click ** here ([link removed])
or contact ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?body=Dear%20Angela%2C)
. Thank you.

And why not get Amazon to donate too?

All you have to do is to start shopping on ** [link removed] ([link removed])
and pick the Institute of Economic Affairs Limited 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).
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** LinkedIn ([link removed])

You are receiving this email from the Institute of Economic Affairs
** Unsubscribe ([link removed])
from this list.

© 2021 Institute of Economic Affairs
Institute of Economic Affairs 2 Lord North Street London, London SW1P 3LB United Kingdom

Registered in England 755502, Charity No. CC/235 351, Limited by Guarantee

** Forward ([link removed])
this email to a friend

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
Institute of Economic Affairs . 2 Lord North Street . London, London SW1P 3LB . United Kingdom