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* TALKING POINT, WITH ANDY MAYER
* A WASTE OF ENERGY?
* FOUR SALE
* GOING GLOBAL
* iN THE MEDIA
* IEA DIGITAL
* THINK 2022!

After weeks of Cabinet infighting, the government’s Energy Security Strategy has achieved the rare feat of displeasing everyone. Global shocks to oil and gas prices have exposed the UK’s ideological climate policies to an unflattering stress test, resulting in record high energy prices, the collapse of 27 retail energy companies, and the nationalisation of another. The Strategy will do little to address this. It will likely push prices higher still, leading to more fuel poverty, while ensuring the offshoring of energy intensive industries continues.

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An opportunity to restore markets, introduce a consistent carbon price, and radically open up domestic gas supplies to development has been wasted ([link removed]) . Measures to speed up development in the North Sea and onshore fracking are feeble.

Instead, the government has nationalised part of national grid, creating a Future Supply Operator, thereby institutionalising technocratic central planning. It has maintained and extended climate and production targets and picked technology winners, including nuclear and green hydrogen. These are unlikely to make any useful difference until the 2040s, by which point they may be displaced by better cheaper alternatives. This is not, then, a security of supply strategy. It’s an industrial plan.

Disgracefully, there was no retreat from the planned "boiler tax," despite record prices, which will force some elderly and vulnerable Brits to choose between heating and eating this winter. At almost every turn where there has been a choice between cost, security or Net Zero, the government has prioritised its distant climate goal over today’s public interest. You can watch me give a full assessment of the energy strategy here ([link removed]) .

Andy Mayer
Chief Operating Officer and Energy Analyst, Institute of Economic Affairs
A WASTE OF ENERGY?

Andy's response to the British Energy Security Strategy was featured across the media on Thursday.

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Among the proposals was an ambitious target to build eight new nuclear reactors. In an interview for GB News ([link removed]) , Andy warned we could be waiting until the 2040s before any of the reactors are functional, adding that the government has withdrawn from the successful policy of liberalisation in the energy market, and "gone back to an old model of central state planning". Watch here ([link removed]) .

Andy also wrote for 1828 on the nuclear energy quandary here ([link removed]) .

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Andy was quoted in City AM ([link removed]) , where he criticised Net Zero dogma for disincentivising investment in the North Sea, which is an important source of the UK's energy supply.

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IEA Director of Communications Annabel Denham debunked common energy myths in her column for The Spectator ([link removed]) . Claims that the energy sector is unregulated, and calls for a windfall tax on energy companies, fail to grasp that state intervention has played a key role in the current crisis. Read here ([link removed]) .
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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 get in touch with our Development Director Angela Harbutt at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?body=Dear%20Angela%2C) . We thank you for your continued support.
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FOUR SALE

On Tuesday, the government announced that it is going ahead with plans to privatise Channel 4.

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IEA spokespeople welcomed the news, including IEA Director General Mark Littlewood, who called the move a "welcome step in the modernisation of British broadcasting". Quoted in theDaily Express ([link removed]) , Mark suggested that privatisation of Channel 4 could pave the way for the BBC Licence Fee to be abolished. He argued it is "preposterous" that the state still owns broadcasters in an age of Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Mark also discussed Channel 4 privatisation on BBC Radio Ulster ([link removed]) (from 1h9m), talkRadio and GB News ([link removed]) .

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And IEA Head of Public Policy Matthew Lesh discussed the vast benefits privatisation could bring to Channel 4 in an article for CapX. Not only would being free from state ownership allow the broadcaster to expand its digital output and compete with online streaming services, it could also boost their commercial revenue and improve programming for viewers. Read here ([link removed]) .
GOING GLOBAL

The IEA continues to work with like-minded organisations around the world, making our publications and ideas accessible in countries and languages where they are currently unavailable.

One of our current collaborations with the Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity ([link removed]) and Network For a Free Society ([link removed]) has been providing much-needed funds for translation, dissemination and promotion of Dr Eamonn Butler’s excellent book An Introduction to Trade and Globalisation ([link removed]) . Here is a photo of Evans Exaud from Tanzania’s Liberty Sparks ([link removed]) presenting one of the IEA team with his very own copy of the book in Swahili.

If you want to find out more about which texts and regions we are focusing on currently, or support this area of IEA activity, please drop a note to IEA Development Director Angela Harbutt at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

iN THE MEDIA

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Taxing times... Following the Chancellor's Spring Statement, some commentators claimed the UK tax system is not progressive enough.

In his fortnightly Times column, IEA Director General Mark Littlewood argued that although there are strong moral arguments in favour of the wealthy paying more tax than lower earners, increasing the tax burden on the rich too much may deter people from striving for better pay. Read here ([link removed]) .

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Workers of the world unite... Professor Len Shackleton took part in a BBC World Service podcast on whether recent economic upheavals have given workers more leverage. Len discussed the recent founding of a union for Amazon warehouse workers in New York and workers' rights in the gig economy. Listen here ([link removed]) .

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Up for Debate... IEA Head of Public Policy Matthew Lesh took part in The Great Debate on Sky News on Monday. On the topic of social care, Matthew argued against raising national insurance, taxing the working poor to subsidise the homeownership of the older and wealthier, and in favour of more a contributory insurance-based system. Watch the full programme here ([link removed]) .

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Regulatory State... Despite a promise of a 'bonfire of regulations' years ago, IEA Director of Communications Annabel Denham noted in an article for The Telegraph ([link removed]) that "Britain is becoming a paternalist's paradise". Annabel lamented the current government's intervention in education, sport, social media and food.

Annabel argued: "Johnson is allowing himself to be convinced that the only solution for one intervention is another, with each eroding people’s ability to make decisions for themselves".

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Own goal... On Monday, it was reported that English football will have an independent regulator (IREF) in place by the next general election.

IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Professor Len Shackleton and IEA Head of Regulatory Affairs Victoria Hewson – who last month co-authored a report on the IREF – responded in Conservative Home ([link removed]) . They emphasised concerns that the recommendations will impose unjust costs on clubs and reduce competition. Read their paper here ([link removed]) .

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BBC Papers... Annabel Denham appeared on BBC News to discuss Thursday's front pages. With broadcaster John Stapleton and host Shaun Ley, she unpicked the government's Energy Security Strategy, and discussed the ongoing conflict in Ukraine – and the West's response. Watch here ([link removed]) .

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Gender pay gap... According to The Times ([link removed]) , figures revealed a second consecutive year of narrowing pay differences between men and women, with gender pay gap (GPG) reporting revealing that, on average, women earned 90.2p for every £1 men earned. But these figures don't break down any like-for-like comparisons such as job, age or background.

Quoted in the paper, Annabel Denham pointed out: "A company with a small number of highly-paid skilled workers (mainly men) and a lot of lower-paid workers (mainly women) will show a large gender pay gap. But this has nothing to do with how equivalent men and women doing the same job are treated."
IEA DIGITAL

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Disapproval rating... IEA Director General Mark Littlewood spoke to Patrick Basham, Director of the Washington-based Democracy Institute, about his recent polling – which shows 62 per cent of Americans believe Joe Biden will not be re-elected in 2024. So, what's next for US politics? Will Biden defy the odds? Watch here ([link removed]) .

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Under attack... In the latest episode of Parallax Views, IEA Head of Cultural Affairs Marc Glendening sat down with Ruth Smeeth, CEO of Index on Censorship and former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, to discuss cancel culture and threats to free speech. Watch here ([link removed]) .

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Markets & Morality... In this episode, guests Professor Glen Whitman, author of ‘Escaping Paternalism,’ and the IEA's Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon argue that the nudge theory has failed based on its own criteria for success. The guests discuss ideas around rational irrationality, new public policy measures like calorie counts on English restaurant menus, and much more. You can watch from 9.30am this morning here ([link removed]) .

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The Double Take.... In this episode, host and IEA Head of Media Emily Carver asks Andy Mayer whether the government's new energy strategy will have any impact on bills, and speaks to political broadcaster and commentator Emma Webb about the introduction of no-fault divorce in England and Wales. You can watch here ([link removed]) .

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IEA Podcast... IEA Communications and Public Affairs Officer Kieran Neild-Ali sat down with Professor Daniel B Klein to discuss his article in the latest volume of the IEA’s academic journal, Economic Affairs, on a Hayekian theory of collectivist policies. Listen here ([link removed]) .
THINK 2022!

We are delighted to announce that our flagship THINK conference will return for its 8th year on Saturday, 25 June at the Royal Geographical Society.

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This year’s theme is ‘They Meant Well’ and is centred on unintended consequences. Speakers will be announced weekly. Our second speaker is Dr Dambisa Moyo, who will be speaking on ‘A snapshot of the global economy: the global economy and unintended consequences'.

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To mark the launch of THINK, we’re selling 50 early-bird tickets at a super-discounted price! You can find out more about the conference and how to buy tickets here ([link removed]) .

CALLING ALL STUDENTS!

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We are excited to launch the Economic Thought Leaders’ Symposium at the University of Buckingham from 7-9 September 2022.

The theme for this year’s programme is The Economics of War and Peace. We will discuss topics like trade not war, international institutions, diplomacy and game theory. To apply, please send a CV and cover letter explaining why you’d like to attend, as well as 500 words on promoting the reconstruction of an economy after a war to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) by 17 June 2022. You can find out more here ([link removed]) .

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We have launched the 2022 Dorian Fisher Essay Competition. Named after the beloved wife of our founder Sir Antony Fisher, this is our biggest essay competition of the year, exclusively for A-Level and IB students.

First prize will receive £500, with a separate prize of £500 for the school with the highest number of entrants. The deadline for this year’s competition is Friday 29 July 2022. You can find out more here ([link removed]) .

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