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iN THE MEDIA
Gas-tastrophe... Quoted in The Sun, 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, 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 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.
IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop appeared on BBC Radio 4 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.
Leading Britain's Conversation... IEA Director of Communications Annabel Denham appeared on LBC's Cross Question 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 were featured in the Daily Express, Politics.co.uk, and the regional press, including the Lancashire Times.
Woke gone mad? In her column for The Spectator, 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.
Missing denominators... In his latest column for City AM, 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 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.
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