* TALKING POINT, DR STEVE DAVIES
* LIVE WITH(OUT) LITTLEWOOD
* REMEMBERING LINDA WHETSTONE
* iN THE MEDIA
* IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
* THiNK 2022
* IEA BOOK CLUB EVENTS

When the Queen came to the throne seventy years ago the British economy and society were very different from the way they are now. The Attlee government, voted out the previous year, had significantly expanded the size and role of the state, taking large parts of economic life into state ownership and reforming and expanding the welfare state, not least through the creation of the National Health Service.

Many of the controls that had been introduced during the War were still in place, such as rationing of sugar, butter, cheese, margarine, cooking fat, bacon, meat and tea. Rationing did not actually finish until 1954, with sugar rationing ending in 1953 and meat rationing in 1954. Identity cards were abolished in 1952, three months after she came to the throne. Since then there have been many changes, political, economic and cultural. The NHS is still with us but much of the legacy of the Attlee government has been undone and the economy is far less collectivist than the one of 1952.

The IEA did not exist in 1952. Although Sir Anthony Fisher had his famous lunch meeting with Friedrich Hayek in 1948, he did not found the IEA until 1955. It has existed for almost as long as the Queen has reigned but not quite. Over that time it has played a distinguished part in the intellectual, cultural, and political life of the United Kingdom, moving from an early position of being on the margins to the centre of the public conversation. Even if sometimes its arguments fall on stony ground it has never stopped making them and looking to spread sound economic thinking and understanding, among journalists, politicians and policy makers and, most importantly, the general public.

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This educational activity, along with publishing, is at the heart of what the IEA does and has done since the 1950s. This year we have already held several ‘Food for Thought’ lunches and academic webinars, as well as a programme for sixth formers in April. We are currently putting the final touches to arrangements for the Think Conference on 25 June and for the residential programme for undergraduates that runs the following two weeks at the Vinson Centre in Buckingham University, as well as a full programme of events for sixth formers and undergraduates over the Summer. The educational mission of the IEA remains as important and as vigorously delivered as it was when the Queen had only just started her reign.

Dr Steve Davies
Head of Education, Institute of Economic Affairs

LIVE WITH(OUT) LITTLEWOOD

Ahead of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, the IEA hosted Live with Littlewood with a difference. Producer and director Martin Durkin stepped into IEA Director General Mark Littlewood's "giant classical liberal boots" to guest present this week's episode of the show.

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Martin welcomed to the panel Andrew Lilico, Executive Director and Principal at Europe Economics; Emma Webb, broadcaster and commentator; Matthew Lesh, IEA Head of Public Policy; and Andy Mayer, IEA Chief Operating Officer and Energy Analyst.

The panel discussed whether the cost of living crisis has been exacerbated by government interventions; whether a windfall tax is already harming investment in the North Sea; and they reflected on Her Majesty The Queen's 70-year reign.

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Andrew argued that the amount of money that has been pumped into the economy was always "pretty likely" to lead to a level of inflation, and that the Chancellor is to blame for failing to set the Bank of England realistic inflation targets.

Matthew pointed out that the government is doing very little to address long-term structural cost of living pressures, including housing costs, while Andy noted the government's role in inflating prices, not least when it comes to filling up at the pump. And, in a discussion on the future of the monarchy, Emma argued that there is a level of snobbery in the failure to understand why the royal family is so important to so many people.

You can catch up on the show on the IEA YouTube channel here ([link removed]) . Martin will be back to host on Wednesday 15 June.

REMEMBERING LINDA WHETSTONE

A memorial service will be held in October for former IEA trustee Linda Whetstone, who sadly passed away in December 2021.

Linda, the daughter of IEA founder Sir Antony Fisher, was a tireless campaigner, organiser and advocate for free markets and a free society and her influence was felt and admired around the globe.

Anyone wishing to celebrate Linda’s life, and her amazing work, is welcome to join the service.

It will take place at noon on Tuesday 18 October at St Marylebone Parish Church, 17 Marylebone Rd, London, NW1 5LT and will continue at the Royal Institute of British Architects.

If you plan to attend please email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

For those who cannot attend in person, the event will be live-streamed.

iN THE MEDIA
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Populist policy making... IEA Director General Mark Littlewood wrote his fortnightly column for The Times ([link removed]) on the Chancellor's decision to impose an energy 'windfall' tax on profits gained by North Sea oil and gas firms.

Mark argued that populist policies such as this carry dangerous implications, and set a precedent for policy-making on the basis of political expediency, rather than rigorous economic analysis.

He wrote: “The new windfall tax is unlikely to raise the revenues the chancellor is hoping for. Even if it does, it will have second and third-round effects on other parts of the economy that will hit government revenues, lower productivity and squeeze investment. Like previous similar efforts, it will cause damage that, after a few years, will require the policy to be abandoned.” Read the full column here ([link removed]) .

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The Treasury's poodle... IEA Chairman Neil Record wrote for The Sunday Telegraph ([link removed]) on the Bank of England's diminishing independence. He noted:

"The intimate balance-sheet relationships that QE and the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund Ltd (APF) have now created between the Bank of England and the Treasury, along with subtle pressure to upgrade “jobs and economic activity” in the aims of the Bank, have undermined the Bank’s independence to the point where economic historians will point clearly to 2010, and the advent of QE, to the date when the seeds of the 2020s inflation were sown."

You can read the full article here ([link removed]) .

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A catalyst for growth...? Andy Mayer was quoted in by Daily Mail ([link removed]) columnist Dominic Lawson on the "political vanity" of the HS2 project. Dominic noted:

"As the Institute of Economic Affairs recently pointed out: 'It is troubling that ministers continue to justify HS2 in respect of jobs created, while ignoring the jobs which will be destroyed by the increased borrowings and taxes required to pay for it.'"

You can read Andy Mayer's full comment on HS2 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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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

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In Conversation... Earlier this week, IEA Head of Public Policy Matthew Lesh spoke to economist Deirdre McCloskey about the role of literature in economics, Chinese totalitarianism, levelling-up and transgender rights. You can watch here ([link removed]) .

Deirdre N. McCloskey is Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Trained at Harvard as an economist, she has written twenty books and edited seven more, and has published some four hundred articles on economic theory, economic history, philosophy, rhetoric, feminism, ethics, and law. She describes herself now as a “postmodern free-market quantitative Episcopalian feminist Aristotelian.”

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Accelerate Europe... Last month, Adam Bartha, IEA Head of International Outreach, attended Atlas Network's European Liberty Forum in Warsaw. Adam was accompanied by a number of IEA colleagues and, during the event, interviewed them and a selection of representatives from the IEA's partner think thanks from across Europe on a variety of pressing issues. You can watch highlights here ([link removed]) .
THiNK 2022

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We are delighted to announce that the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, Dr Jay Bhattacharya, Dr Sunetra Gupta and Dr Martin Kulldorff will speak at THINK 2022!

They will discuss the Declaration, which expressed concern about how Covid-19 strategies forced children, the working class and the poor to carry the heaviest burden during the pandemic. They argued that lockdowns, contact tracing and isolation imposed enormous unnecessary health costs on people. The Great Barrington Declaration was written in October 2020.

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You can find out more about this topic and THINK at thinkiea.com ([link removed]) . If you have queries about group discounts or any other questions, please email IEA Head of Outreach Brittany Davis at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
IEA BOOK CLUB EVENTS

The IEA Book club has a series of exciting events coming-up! See details below. All these events are exclusively for IEA Book Club members. For more information on the Book Club please get in touch at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or click the link here. ([link removed])

The Chancellors... On Monday 6 June, the IEA Book Club will welcome Sir Howard Davies, British economist, author, and Chairman of NatWest Group, to discuss his upcoming book, The Chancellors: Steering the British Economy in Crisis Time. This event will take place from 6pm at the IEA and will be chaired by IEA Head of Regulatory Affairs Victoria Hewson.

Turning the World Upside Down Again... The IEA will host Lord Nigel Crisp to discuss his latest book, Turning the World Upside Down Again: Global health in a time of pandemics, climate change and political turmoil. This event will be taking place on Thursday 16 June.

How the Woke Won... On Monday 4 July, IEA Head of Cultural Affairs Marc Glendening will chair an event with Joanna Williams on her latest book, How the Woke Won: The Elitist Movement That Threatens Democracy, Tolerance, and Reason. Joanna provides a powerful critique of the intellectual roots of wokeness and how this movement, which poses as radical and left-wing, came to be embraced by some of the most privileged people imaginable.

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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