With the fuel scare over the last week, we saw how a few people in power can shift peoples’ expectations radically and drive them in large numbers to take the same actions. In technical if graceless terms, we have seen how big players shift economic expectations to produce herding. Of […]
Read MorePost Tagged with: "IEA"
Today’s strike action is unjustified
The strike taking place today is not just a walkout, but a walking away from the negotiating table, where a good deal was rejected irresponsibly. The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, has said: “Tomorrow’s strike is inappropriate, untimely and irresponsible, especially while talks are ongoing. “We have listened […]
Read MoreFreedom in Education: the profit motive
NB: this post is by Tim Hewish, my Parliamentary Researcher, and the views expressed are his own. I recently attended the E. G. West Memorial Lecture delivered by Professor James Tooley and sponsored by the IEA on the topic of for-profit schooling. He noted that the word profit is highly […]
Read MoreSix days left to respond to the HS2 consultation
THERE are just six days for residents to say ‘no’ to High Speed 2. But an action group have assured Buckinghamshire householders help is at hand to answer the Government’s public consultation. July 29 is the cut off point to respond to the questions. via Just six days to say […]
Read MorePanel discussion held in Parliament on Martin Durkin’s film Britain’s Trillion Pound Horror Story
In November 2008, the Institute of Economic Affairs published Nick Silver’s A Bankruptcy Foretold: The UK’s Implicit Pension Debt (PDF), which argued that if the UK’s debt is calculated in line with generally-accepted accounting principles, it is something over £4 trillion. In June this year, an update was published, putting […]
Read MoreInterventions in rail
I have just finished reading two superb briefings from the House of Commons Library: Price Controls and State Intervention in the Rail Market and Railways: EU Policy. Three points emerge: That the Library produces first-class work: readable, clear, appropriately detailed, targeted. That the rail market in the UK is far from […]
Read MoreGovernment urged to reveal ‘true’ national debt of £4.8 trillion – Telegraph
Via Government urged to reveal ‘true’ national debt of £4.8 trillion – Telegraph: The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has calculated that the national debt is £4.8 trillion once state and public sector pension liabilities are included, or £78,000 for every person in the UK. The IEA raised its concerns after […]
Read More“The Austrian School” by Jesús Huerta de Soto
I have discovered that the IEA have relaunched “The Austrian School” by Jesús Huerta de Soto: It has become increasingly clear that interventionism played a significant role in precipitating the 2008 financial crisis. The Austrian School is more than capable of providing the free market theoretical framework needed to understand why […]
Read MoreIEA Blog: A cheer for Iain Duncan Smith – but he will make enemies
The IEA blogger Kristian Niemitz reports Iain Duncan Smith’s speech: “The purpose of my life here is to improve the quality of life of the worst off in society.” Such ambitious rhetoric is not unusual for new incumbents at the Department for Work and Pensions. The difference with Iain Duncan […]
Read MoreEngineering, politics, Labour and reality
As I sit here on the train, reading a book on ethics, I am mindful of being an engineer in politics. Engineers are quintessentially pragmatic. We get things done, in the circumstances we face, with the resources we have. We may accept falling short of perfection, but we deliver things which […]
Read More
