Recently I spoke at a fascinating student-organised conference at Kings College London. It was an all-day event with a number of panels, and I was there for the business and economics discussion. Needless to say, there was much talk about inflation and what to do about it. Someone said that the great thing about the Bank of England having a 2 per cent target is that it allows us to hold it to account. So I suggested we go ahead and do that!
 
Equally there was also much discussion of all the new things people thought the government should do to make everything better for people. That was my chance to raise the question of deregulation. Planning reform had an easy ride, but I also drew attention to Matthew Lesh's recent paper on lab-grown meat. The paper has had considerable attention from industry press, having been featured in Alt-Meat, Poultry World and Food Navigator.



It is a great issue for the range of benefits the technology offers, and the breadth of appeal it has. It is wonderful for animal welfare; excellent for land and water usage; methane-reducing; and as technology develops, probably good for energy conservation as well. A further point that should certainly not be neglected is that those who would like to eat meat but do not do so for ethical reasons benefit enormously. And of course, since the UK has, for the time being, inherited EU rules, deregulation here is a clear-cut Brexit opportunity.
 
Really though all that is only a fraction of the story. This is not one of those cases where regulation is mainly just a nanny-state inconvenience to citizens, with a little collection of unintended harms brought along. Rather, it is one that offers us the opportunity to induce investment in high-value, technologically-advanced science. If it is investment, employment, growth and productivity that we are seeking, this kind of opportunity is truly golden. I can only wonder how many more specific cases of tech-deregulation there are. Do send suggestions in an email to [email protected], and we can produce more research like Matt’s paper.

James Forder
Academic and Research Director, Institute of Economic Affairs

BREAKING THE NEWS

This week the IEA released 'Breaking the News: Should digital platforms be required to fund news publishers?', authored by IEA Head of Public Policy Matthew Lesh.



Matthew's paper explores the relationship between digital platforms and traditional news publishers, and argues that the latter is unreasonable in seeking revenue transfers from platforms such as Google and Meta's Facebook.

As Matthew highlights, the loser in an economic transaction is not intrinsically entitled to compensation and digital platforms are not responsible the woes faced by news publishers. Despite this, the UK government has proposed a system of mandatory negotiation between publishers and platforms, modelled on the Australian government’s news media bargaining code. Such a system would be mis-targeted, is built on a false premise, and could have many adverse unintended consequences.

Commenting on the paper, IEA Director General Mark Littlewood said:

“Every major technological change has disrupted established business patterns and undermined existing business models. The internal combustion engine disrupted the horse and carriage, while the electric light displaced the tallow candle sector.

"The internet and the new business models it has created are no different. Instead of attempting to undermine innovation through heavy-handed state action, smart publishers should be building new models that better reflect the world we live in today.”

Mark also discussed the paper with Esther McVey and Phillip Davies on GB News. Watch the full piece here (from 6:57).

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!

BEWARE THE DOOM LOOP

Following the release of the ONS public sector finances stats, IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop was quick to give his reaction.

Julian commented:

“The UK is in a doom loop of a rising tax burden, a weaker economy and deteriorating public finances. These latest stats will only encourage the OBR and the government to double down on this doom loop by drawing the wrong conclusions from dubious data.

“If the Treasury takes the OBR’s grim forecast for economic growth as gospel and refuses to cut taxes, the doom loop will continue.”

The comment picked up considerable media attention and was featured as Guido Fawkes' quote of the day and quoted in The Daily Express and Mail Online.

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:



Workplace woes... The Coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we work. In 2022, around 4.3 million employees in the United Kingdom had employment contracts that allowed for flexible working hours.

But is this change for the better?

To discuss this, former IEA Communications Director Annabel Denham sat down with IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Professor Len Shackleton.

Watch here.

IN THE MEDIA



Proper devolution has never been tried... In his fortnightly column for The Times, IEA Director General Mark Littlewood argued that Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation could put a federal UK back on the agenda. Mark wrote:

“To date, though, the UK’s approach to devolution has been piecemeal and asymmetric and has therefore exacerbated constitutional conflict."

“If independence is now off the agenda, a new and fuller constitutional settlement needs to be constructed in its place.”



Own goal... IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Professor Len Shackleton wrote in CapX criticising plans to establish an independent regulator for English football. Commenting on the impact the measure would have on competition within football, Len wrote:

"If effective, the regulators’ requirement to balance the books sustainably within a limited period would actually act to reduce competition rather than increase it, as some seem to expect. It would be a recipe for mediocrity, entrenching the current top dogs at each level of the pyramid. It would be near-impossible for a new Manchester City to rise from the current also-rans in the Premier League or Championship, but also for a Forest Green or Salford City to rise from non-league obscurity."

Len was also quoted on the issue in BBC Sport. He said:

“The Government’s plans for a football regulator will limit investment, restrict competition and hold back development across the leagues”

Last year, Len also co-authored a paper on the topic with Victoria Hewson, which can be read here.



Things can only get better... Reem Ibrahim, who recently joined the IEA as Communications Officer, appeared on BBC Radio 2 to discuss Labour's five pledges for economic growth. Reem was uncertain about the plans and commented:

“We have no indication how the growth is actually going to be achieved. Will he cut taxes from the highest tax burden in 70 years? Will he increase spending? Will he deregulate certain industries?”



When the chips are down... IEA Head of Public Policy Matthew Lesh wrote for CapX urging people to ignore apocalyptic predictions of a Covid chip shortage. Matthew wrote:

“The narrative about chip shortages is built on an entirely false narrative. The Government’s forthcoming chips strategy, and subsidies from the EU and US, largely comes from the idea that Covid demonstrated the vulnerability of global supply chains. The accepted wisdom is that global Covid chip shortages were responsible for manufacturing delays, particularly in the car industry. But this claim obscures more than it reveals.



The green-eyed monster... IEA Communications Officer Harrison Griffiths has written in City AM urging the UK government not to retaliate to American green energy subsidies with state intervention of their own. Harrison wrote:

“Attempting to reshore industry to the UK would be naïve and economically illiterate. Naïve because the UK could never hope to match US subsidies: its population is one fifth of the population of the States, and its economy is one sixth the size of America’s."

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.

Applications are still open for Camp Vinson, which will now run from 26-30 June at St Antony’s College, Oxford! You can submit applications until Friday 31 March for this exclusive residential programme run in conjunction with the IEA, Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity, Vinson Centre for the Public Understanding of Economics and Entrepreneurship and the Institute of International Monetary Research.

Find out more and apply 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.