Welcome to the IEA Weekend Newsletter!

• 2019 - and all that
• New Government, new BBC?
• Heard it on the grape vine
• And the nominees are...
• Poor thinking
• You’re Invited!

2019 - and all that

Last week’s general election has, quite naturally, posed questions about the future of the Labour Party and socialism in the UK.

But it would seem inevitable that a new-look Labour will emerge in the months and years ahead - along with a re-energised emphasis on socialist ideas.

As a doctrine, socialism has been particularly adept at reinvention over the years. Despite repeated failures – from the Soviet Union to Maoist China to Venezuela – many proponents of socialism claim ‘real socialism’ has never been tried.  



This was the central thrust of our book Socialism – The failed idea that never dies, published at the beginning of this year.

Written by the IEA’s Head of Political Economy, Dr. Kristian Niemietz, it’s gone on to become our most downloaded book of the decade - with 40,000 people downloading it from our website.

At the same time, it’s ridden high in political economy sections of Amazon’s Kindle charts in the UK, US and Europe.

Download a copy here.

But it’s not the only topical issue we’ve published on this year - we’ve also examined the debate on executive pay in Top Dogs & Fat Cats (edited by Editorial and Research Fellow Prof Len Shackleton), and put forward solutions to the UK housing crisis in Raising the Roof (co-edited by Jacob Rees-Mogg MP).

Elsewhere, we’ve examined School Choice Around The World and profiled 101 great liberal thinkers in Eamonn Butler’s School of Thought. 

And, in the last few weeks, we’ve featured acclaimed author Matt Ridley’s fascinating insights on innovation in How Many Light Bulbs Does It Take to Change the World? 
 

2020 Vision

In the coming year, we plan to release books on key contemporary issues such as universal basic income, the sharing economy and more – and we plan to stage exclusive launches and events with award-winning and internationally-acclaimed authors.

If you’d like priority copies of our books and exclusive access to these events, then consider joining the IEA BOOK CLUB. 

In recent weeks, the Book Club has staged a series of exclusive events with acclaimed authors such as: 

• Roger Bootle, who launched his latest book on the AI Economy
   
• Douglas Carswell, who showcased his recent book, which mounts a robust defence of classical liberalism
   
• Dominic Frisby, on his book Daylight Robbery - on the history of taxation
   
• Charles Moore, who discussed his third and final volume of Margaret Thatcher’s Authorized Biography
   
• And Sir Anthony Seldon, who was interviewed by Adam Boulton, on his biography of former Prime Minister, Theresa May

The IEA BOOK CLUB has already set up a stellar line-up of speakers for 2020 (with an upcoming In Conversation in January – see ‘You’re Invited’ below). 

If you’d like to attend these exclusive events, receive priority copies of our books, and get the chance to meet and engage with IEA and external authors, please sign up here.

New Government, new BBC?

Now we have a new government, the future of the BBC must surely come into focus. Why not consider something radical and turn the BBC into a subscription-funded channel?



If you don't pay the subscription, instead of getting sent to prison, the BBC will be encrypted and turned off. 

As far as its ownership is concerned, there are strong arguments for denationalising it and turning it into a mutual owned by its subscribers, as IEA Senior Academic Fellow Professor Philip Booth discussed on Radio 5 Live this week.

You can read Philip’s full report on the topic here. 

Philip also wrote on the same theme in The Sunday Telegraph. If the government mutualised the BBC, he said, we’d no longer need to worry about BBC bias - if people didn’t like it, they wouldn’t have to subscribe to it.

Heard it on the grape vine...

This week, the IEA responded to the news that the Prime Minister will rule out any extension to the transition period beyond the end of next year. 

Director General Mark Littlewood appeared on BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine Show to discuss the decision and what it means for trade negotiations.

Meanwhile, IEA Head of Regulatory Affairs and Research Associate Victoria Hewson went live on Sky News to debate the likelihood of achieving an EU trade deal by the end of 2020.

Victoria argued that the Prime Minister's strong message about not accepting an extension would focus efforts - and could even be useful for the EU side.

Philip Booth wrote for the Daily Telegraph about the Prime Minister’s decision to ban government ministers from attending Davos.

In his article, Philip argues that while Davos has the veneer of being pro-business, in reality, it has created a culture which is hostile to a free economy. 

Read the full article here. 

Head of Communications Emma Revell wrote a column for City AM, looking back at a year of ‘nanny state’ interventions from the Government.

While in the run up to Christmas, the public health warnings go into overdrive, early indications from the Conservative leadership show we may - if we’re lucky - be heading for some respite from nanny.

Read her full article here.

However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock refused to rule out an extension to the hated sugar tax. Reacting to the news in The Sun, Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon said:

“It is only a few months since Boris Johnson said that a tax on milkshakes would ‘clobber those who can least afford it’. He was quite right.

“Any extension of the hated sugar tax would be a kick in the teeth for people on low incomes and a breach of trust with those who have lent him their vote.”

In other news, Media Manager Emily Carver wrote for 1828, arguing that young people have not only bought into the left’s “post-capitalist” agenda but have become increasingly intolerant of alternative viewpoints. 

Read her article here. 

And Emily also joined Julia Hartley-Brewer on talkRadio to discuss the news of the day.

And the nominees are...

The IEA’s Year in Review has been a feature of the IEA podcast channel since its launch.



In our round-up of 2019, IEA Director General Mark Littlewood, former Associate Director Kate Andrews and Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon nominate their Person of the Year. 

The trio also pick their Film of the Year, their Political Moment of the Year and their Top Prediction for 2020.



You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Podbean.

Poor thinking...

On our blog this week, Dr Rainer Zitelmann asks whether tax rates in excess of 100% are making a comeback.

Across the Atlantic, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren wants to raise income tax, impose a new 14.8% tax for Social Security, add an annual tax of up to 6% on accumulated wealth, and tax the capital gains of wealthy investors at the same rate as income - even if they don’t sell their assets.

A tax rate of more than 100% might sound absurd but, in reality, it is nothing new. In fact, Sweden experimented, and failed, with such radical policies in the 1970s, alienating even those who were sympathetic to the Social Democrats’ project.

With her tax plans, Elizabeth Warren wants to turn America into a country where the wealthy pay marginal tax rates of more than 100%. 

What she fails to recognise, says Zitelmann, is that the people she is targeting will leave the country – just as many successful Swedes did when faced by similarly punitive taxes. It would be a strange turn of events if the US, of all places, tried to out-Sweden Sweden.

Read the full blog here.

You're invited!

Plan A+: Debate and discussion

The IEA is delighted to host a panel discussion on ‘Plan A+: Creating a prosperous post-Brexit UK’ on 21st January, 6pm-8pm.



The opportunity before the UK as a result of Brexit is a great one: but if the UK squanders it, what has been described as the ‘new normal’ of limited economic growth could prevail, with an EU system that does not appear to be responding on a competitive level to the challenges of the modern economy.

‘Plan A+’ proposes the adoption of a four-pillared trade policy strategy, taking unilateral, bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral action to deliver a more competitive and thriving UK economy.

Register here for what is sure to be a lively discussion about the possible options for Britain’s post-Brexit future, including those proposed in ‘Plan A+’. Alternatively, email [email protected].

Drinks will be provided.



Panelists:

Andy Mayer: Chief Operations Officer, IEA (Chair)

Shanker Singham: Director of the International Trade and Competition Unit (IEA) and co-author of ‘Plan A+’

Dr Holger P. Hestermeyer: Shell Reader in International Dispute Resolution at King’s College London and author of ‘How Brexit will Happen’

Professor Jeremy Clegg: Professor of European Integration and International Business Management at Leeds University Business School


In Conversation with Neil Monnery

On Wednesday 22nd January from 6pm - 8pm, the IEA Book Club is delighted to host Neil Monnery, to discuss his latest book ‘A Tale of Two Economies: Hong Kong, Cuba and the Two Men who Shaped Them’.

As the world entered the turbulent 1960s, two men, half a world apart, both foreigners far from home, were charged with shaping the economic strategy of their adopted countries. 

One, Che Guevara, is well known as a revolutionary. The other, John Cowperthwaite, is largely unknown today. These two men are arguably the originators of the most significant natural economic experiment of the last century, pitting the free-market model of Hong Kong against the state interventionism in Cuba. 

This book looks at the very different paths chosen by Hong Kong and Cuba, and the central role of Ernesto, ‘Che’ Guevara and Sir John James Cowperthwaite.

If you would like to know more about the IEA Book Club, and attend the event, please email [email protected].