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IN THIS ADAM SMITH INSTITUTE E-BULLETIN:

• REPORTS: Cutting the cost of living; Ukrainian refugees; and vaping
• EVENTS: What did medieval Iceland ever do for us?
• STUFF: Meeja, skools, pod-thingies, blogs, quotes and more.
   

BUT FIRST...

The cost of living is rising. For example, the government is ending free Covid tests (which is a shame, as they’re perfect for anyone who likes to panic in the comfort of their own homes). And the (mini) Budget will cast 1.3m people into absolute poverty, according to the dismal Resolution Foundation (odd, because until now they’ve insisted that poverty is relative, a convenient way to ensure it’s always around to get steamed up about). I suppose Rishi can’t do much about rising oil prices, but with the cost of filling up a family car now £92, it can’t be long before we’re looking at the Le Mans 2.4-hour race, the Indy 50 and the Formula 0.1 Petty Prix.

More recently, twenty people face fines for attending Downing Street parties during Lockdown. (Absurd. They should get medals for partying rather than doing their day job of thinking up all sorts of expensive new projects for the government to do.) And everyone agrees that P&O has been very naughty (despite the fact that Britain’s RMT Union-dominated ferry services are the most overstaffed and costly to run in Europe — but who’s counting?).

The Oscars were unusually entertaining this year. Will Smith provided a valuable service in drawing media attention away from endless successions of woke luvvies weeping into the microphone about the planet (before getting their luxury limo home). All the awards went to ‘worthy' films that nobody has ever seen (nor intends to), rather than the blockbuster likes of Spiderman, but Hollywood wouldn’t be Hollywood if it was in touch with reality, would it? (Nor would Westminster be Westminster, when it comes to that — Ed.).

Though I digress…

THINK TANKING

Vape Nation: Our latest paper, 2 Million Years of Life, looks at how vaping, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches can save our lives and our wallets, especially up t’North where the cost of living crisis is even more acute. Resident ASI boffin Daniel Pryor has crunched the numbers and found that the average smoker in the North East, North West and Yorkshire could boost their annual disposable income by upwards of 10% if they switched to a safer alternative. How do we make this happen? Scrap outdated EU red tape and let your local vape shop actually tell smokers what the Government already knows—that e-cigs are far safer than cigarettes.

Let them come: At least some of our ideas on how to help Ukrainian refugees got things moving. We suggested that the UK should temporarily waive visa requirements, allowing refugees to work while their status is being checked, for example. We also suggested bumping them up the points-based immigration system. And we’d actually like to pay the most talented Ukrainians to come here rather than settle the other side of the Channel. Let’s have Russians and Belarusian exiles while we’re at it, says author Ben Ramanauskas — our stuttering economy could use an influx of highly skilled workers.

SUPPORTING THE ASI

We know that times are tough, so it’s strange to come to you and ask for support. But we also know that we have more than ever to do –– whether that’s fighting to reduce the cost of living, encouraging a stable post-covid recovery, or enabling the next generation to take up this mantle. That’s why we’re asking that –– if you’re able –– you contribute to our work to help us. Truly, every little bit counts.

Plus, it’s even easier than submitting your meter reading, all you have to do is click the button below (unless you’re all spurred to action at once and our website can’t handle the influx, that is…—Ed.).

EVENTS

What has the law in medieval Iceland ever done for us? Quite a bit, according to Dr Gabriel Stein and John Nugeé in their new book Sailing Free which we are launching on the evening of Tuesday 12 April (6pm, our house). From about the year 930 onwards, Iceland had no king, no government, no army and no police — a happy state that lasted around 300 years. As libertarian experiments go, pretty effective. Email [email protected] for invites to the live event or catch it on Zoom here.

Cuba: This week we welcomed Rosa Mariá Payá Acevedo, the Cuban activist for freedom and human rights, who accused the Castros of staging a ‘fake transition to democracy’ that in reality merely legitimised their control. She has consistently pressed for a referendum in Cuba on the establishment of basic human rights and regaled our audience with stories of her experience fighting communism at the source. It was an inspiration to hear from someone who works so hands-on to fight for freedom.

Skool visits: Our educational outreach continues at full swing, with the ASI team holding seminars and talks in Putney, King’s College London, Battle, Marlow and more. We’ve got plenty more planned for the coming months, but if you want a talk or a half-day seminar from our bright and brainy team then shoot us an email at [email protected]

We marked the thirtieth anniversary of the passing of the great Anglo-Austrian liberal thinker F A Hayek last week, with a reception kindly laid on by the Austrian Ambassador Michael Zimmermann at his palatial Belgravia residence. Among those attending was Catherine Hayek, grand-daughter of the great man, who recounted the family story that there are two busts of him, one in the UK Treasury, and the other in the Kremlin. (Very odd, given how left-wing both of those are—Ed.).

THE PIN FACTORY PODCAST

We like Podbean, I’m told. Quite why you would call a podcast-broadcasting thingy Podbean I really don’t know, but most interweb stuff is a mystery to me. Anyway, each week you can listen to ASI staff and guests discussing matters of the day, and sometimes even being funny. 

This week we teamed up with the TaxPayers’ Alliance to tell the Chancellor what he should have done in the spring statement and discuss the slap in the face we got instead. Last week we introduced our new Head of Communications Emily Fielder and discussed Sunak’s Mais lecture, the Policing Bill (boo) and the invasion of Ukraine (groan). Before that we discussed windfall taxes (boo), NHS reform (yay!) and Cold War 2.0.

ON THE BLOG

Madsen Pirie explains how the Russian people are being let down by a government that has none of the elements of a genuine liberal democracy: no free press, no independent judiciary, no open elections and all the rest. At least we can oust our leaders at the ballot box, but regimes like Russia’s move on only slowly — one funeral at a time.

Don’t nick their superyachts, says Tim Worstall. It’s entirely possible to freeze assets in order to put pressure on an unjust government. But actually taking the assets, he says ‘requires a more than passing reference to that rule of law thing’. And confiscating boats and houses on the basis of the owner’s passport doesn’t come up to that standard.
 
Food and fuel prices may be going up because of the Ukraine war (Don’t mention the ‘war’—Ed.) but it’s governments that create inflation, I argue, because of too much spending, borrowing, loose money and easy credit policies. And if they remembered the huge damage inflation caused in the 1970s, and how hard it is to control, they wouldn’t start it in the first place. (Inflation is where you pay £15 for a haircut that used to cost £5, even though you’ve got less hair!—Ed.).

Our response to the Spring Statement gained attention on GB News, the BBC, the Daily Mirror, and in Conservative Home’s think tank round-up, while Daniel Pryor outlined his thoughts in a piece for Reaction, as did Charles Bromley-Davenport in 1828. 

On the subject of Treasury policy, Daniel Pryor was on GB News to talk about spiralling childcare costs and the cost of living crisis, whilst John Macdonald appeared on Times Radio and GB News to do the same, highlighting our paper on Going for Growth in the process. 

Our paper on Ukrainian refugees and skilled migrants from Russia and Belarus was picked up by The Sun, while Emily Fielder was in Conservative Home and on GB News to discuss some of its recommendations. She also wrote for Reaction, outlining the economic case for lifting the employment ban on asylum seekers. 

Our Research Associates have been busy too: Fiona Townsley was in CapX to discuss how we can make nuclear energy more affordable, and in 1828 on why we are so afraid of innovation, whilst Charles Bromley-Davenport criticised Sadiq Khan’s rent controls in 1828. 

Our team have also been prolifically providing expert commentary on public policy this month: Daniel Pryor was featured in the Financial Times on the Online Safety Bill, and the Telegraph on rail reform plans; Morgan Schondelmeier was in City AM on the Government’s plans to increase renewables; John Macdonald was in the same on onshore gas supplies; and Emily Fielder was in the Mail Online commenting on the sub-standard performance of NHS hospitals in international league tables.

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AND I QUOTE...

As I look at my household bills, I am reminded of this from F A Hayek’s The Denationalisation of Money:

 “I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments.”