Farewell then Nicola Sturgeon, who will soon be off to pastures new after announcing her resignation last Wednesday. As Health Secretary and then First Minister, she portrayed herself as the guardian of the health of the Scottish people but what did her paternalistic policies actually achieve?

Her approach to COVID-19 was to see how long Boris Johnson would maintain lockdowns and mask mandates and then keep them for a bit longer. This had no measurable impact on the number of infections and served only to make the Scottish wish they lived in England.

It was recently revealed that 22 per cent of Scots who live within an hour of the border have travelled to England solely to buy cheap alcohol. As I explained in the Scottish Daily Express last Thursday, this is just one of the unintended consequences of minimum alcohol pricing. Unintended but hardly unpredictable. Under Sturgeon’s watch, Scotland introduced several anti-alcohol policies, all of which comprehensively failed.  

When researchers from Cambridge University evaluated Scotland’s ban on booze BOGOFs, they concluded that ‘the ban on multi-buys in Scotland has failed to impact upon the volume of alcohol purchased’. The Scottish government’s decision to lower the drink-driving limit in 2014 has been evaluated by two sets of researchers, both of whom found that it did not reduce the number of road traffic accidents. And since minimum pricing was introduced, there has been a small reduction in alcohol consumption among women, but the men who were drinking the most before it was introduced are drinking even more. Not an impressive result for a policy that cost Scottish consumers £270 million in its first four years.

There are lessons to be learned from Scotland’s experiment with nanny state policies, albeit in the form of cautionary tales. The Scottish government shows no sign of learning them (it is currently proposing a raft of alcohol advertising bans), but the rest of the world should take note.

Christopher Snowdon
Head of Lifestyle Economics, Institute of Economic Affairs

ESSENTIAL SCHOLARS
 

We at the IEA are steadfast in championing great classical liberal scholars such as John Stuart Mill, Adam Smith, F.A. Hayek, Elinor Ostrom, Milton Friedman and many more.

So we are delighted to announce our newest partnership with The Fraser Institute (Canada) on the Essential Scholars project.

We’ll be working alongside the Foundation for Economic Education (USA) and the Institute of Public Affairs (Australia) to spread the intellectual foundations of the freedom movement.

What is the Essential Scholars project?

Essential Scholars is a multimedia experience that presents the key ideas of some of the most influential thinkers of our movement, whose insights helped to shape the free and prosperous societies that many of us enjoy today.

Essential Scholars provides books that you can read and download for free! You can also listen to new podcasts, download free audiobooks, order physical copies of the books, and watch more than 50 short animated videos that bring to life the ideas of liberal scholars, including Adam Smith, John Locke, F. A. Hayek, Milton Friedman.

John Stuart Mill

This month, we’re focusing on the life and work of John Stuart Mill.

Sandra Peart, author of ‘The Essential John Stuart Mill’ spoke to Rosemarie Fike, Instructor of Economics at Texas Christian University, to discuss John Stuart Mill’s life and influence in the fields of moral philosophy and economics.

Click here to listen to the podcast, read the book, watch the videos or listen to the podcast.



Be sure to stay tuned for more fascinating content discussing liberalism's greatest thinkers!

THINK OF THE CHILDREN

In a drive to get more Brits back into the labour market, it has been reported that The Treasury is considering a vast expansion of childcare provision. 

In the wake of this news, IEA Labour Market Expert Professor Len Shackleton and former IEA Director of Communications Annabel Denham gave their thoughts on the issue.



In a joint article for CapX, Annabel and Len dispelled the idea the further 'free' childcare will get more mothers back into work. Commenting on this common myth, they wrote:

"Already, the proportion of mothers of dependent children who are in work in the UK is at historically high levels, at over 75% compared with 67% 20 years ago. The numbers in employment with their youngest child aged 0-2 are relatively high by international standards. Although lower than countries such a Sweden, the percentage in employment in the UK is well above the EU and OECD averages."

Read the full article here.



In an interview on the IEA YouTube Channel, Annabel and Len discussed the systemic issues with government intervention in any economic sector, let alone one as important as childcare and questioned the success of current childcare allowances. 

Watch here.

IEA DIGITAL

The IEA's YouTube channel is home to all of your digital free market needs. From lectures with leading thinkers to informative public policy explainers, we have it all. On this week's schedule, we had:



The price of freedom... In our latest release from last year's THiNK conference, GB News presenter and former First Minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster sat down with IEA Head of Education Steve Davies to discuss lockdowns and whether the economic price was worth paying.

Watch here.



Swift Half with Snowdon... In this episode of the Swift Half with Snowdon, IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon talks to Founder of Emergency Reactor and ex-Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Zion Lights. They discuss her days in Extinction Rebellion, how the environmentalist movement has changed and why, according to her, nuclear power is the way forward.

Watch the full instalment here.



IEA Podcast... The Northern Ireland Protocol is back in the news as EU and UK negotiators seem on the verge of a breakthrough deal. In last week's podcast, IEA Head of Public Policy Matthew Lesh discussed this with Hugh Bennett, former member of the Brexit negotiating team and former Special Advisor to both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

Watch here.

IN THE MEDIA



Junk policy... Just a day before Nicola Sturgeon resigned as Scotland's First Minister, Christopher Snowdon was quoted in The Scottish Daily Express on his concerns that MSPs may be tempted to support a petition calling for the prohibition of fast food reward schemes. Christopher wrote:
 

"Loyalty cards are a good way for takeaways and bakeries to keep their customers coming back and help people save money. The Scottish Government has enough nanny state policies on its list without misguided do-gooders giving them even more suggestions. Despite this petition only having 18 signatures, I’m sure there are plenty of MSPs who will interpret it as being the will of the people."

Nicola Stur(gone)... The day after her resignation, IEA Press and Digital Officer Joseph Dinnage authored a piece for The Daily Express comparing Nicola Sturgeon's premiership to former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern's. Commenting on the similarities between the two leaders and the potential consequences of their resignations. Joseph wrote:

"Although separated by some 11,000 miles, outward displays of humanity are not all the two leaders have in common. They were brought down by a meddling approach that only served to demonstrate the risks of gross state overreach."

"Sturgeon’s political hara-kiri should spell trouble for Canadian PM Justin Trudeau."



It's the market, stupid... In other news last week, Centrica, the owner of British Gas, reported profits of £3.3 billion despite ongoing high energy prices. IEA Energy Analyst Andy Mayer appeared on TalkTV to discuss this. Commenting on what governments should do to tackle soaring costs, Andy highlighted:

"The bit that's tripled in profit is the one exploring and drilling oil and gas. That's the bit in which we really need to create security of supply and ensure, in the long term, that bills come back down."

Watch here (from 1:08:11).

Andy also wrote for CapX on the issue, arguing that policymakers should resist imposing taxes on 'excess' profits.



Know your enemy... Do you know your Hoxhaists from your Maoists? Your 'Tankies' from your 'Trots'? If not, head to 1828 to read parts 1 and 2 of 'The Ultimate Guide to The Tribes of The Far-Left', authored by IEA Head of Political Economy Kristian Niemietz. Outlining what he seeks to achieve with these pieces, Kristian wrote:

"If you ever wondered what the differences between these various factions are, and how they relate to each other, you have come to the right place. I have become a bit of a commie-connoisseur over the years, and in this article, I will try to offer a simplified taxonomy of online Marxists. It does not aim to be comprehensive or in-depth, but it should be as good a starting point as any."

STUDENTS AND TEACHERS



Join the IEA's internship programme!... We are now welcoming applicants. From editorial work to aiding our operations team, there are a variety of opportunities on offer for sixth form and university students. Want to work for the UK's original free-market think tank? Click here to find out more and submit your application.

Our current cohort of talented interns put together a video providing an insight into what you can expect, which you can watch here.



And a reminder that applications for our Future Thought Leader Programmes for sixth-formers and undergraduates are now open. There will be two weeks for sixth formers in April, and one in July. The undergraduate programmes will take place in July and August.

You can find out more information on the programmes and how to apply here.