Institute of economic affairs

Derniers articles

• An economist’s take on ‘Wonder Woman’

  21 juin 2017, par Kristian Niemietz
  Economists don’t normally think of ourselves as having superpowers, but if we did, it would probably be the power to “see the unseen” as Bastiat observed over 150 years ago. The great thing about this superpower is that it allows us to break through conventional ways of thinking to gain new (...)

• Socialism : Doomed before it begins

  20 juin 2017, par Kristian Niemietz
  A few days ago, a YouGov survey asked people whether they thought that “a genuinely socialist government” would make Britain a better place, or a worse place to live. A solid relative majority, 43%, picked the former option. Only 36% believe that a Socialist People’s Republic of Great Britain (...)

• Venezuela, and the real reason why ‘real’ socialism has never been tried

  19 juin 2017, par Kristian Niemietz
  “[Venezuela] is deep in crisis. It has the world’s highest inflation rate—720 percent and rising. Its currency has plummeted to less than 1 percent of its official value, making it hard to import food. Hunger is endemic. Buying food at subsidised shops where price controls operate involves queuing (...)

• Neither socialism nor ‘compassionate conservatism’ help the poor. Free markets do

  16 juin 2017, par Kristian Niemietz — Energy and Environment, Housing and Planning, Regulation, Trade, Development, and Immigration, agricultural subsidies, Brexit, childcare, Common Agricultural Policy, Kristian Niemietz, planning system
  “We do not believe in untrammelled free markets. We reject the cult of selfish individualism. We abhor social division, injustice, unfairness and inequality. […] [We believe] not just in society but in the good that government can do […] We know that our responsibility to one another is greater (...)

• An optimist’s view on the eve of Brexit talks

  15 juin 2017, par Kristian Niemietz
  The additional uncertainty created by the outcome of the UK General Election threatens to overshadow the formal negotiations on the terms of Brexit, which are due to kick off on Monday. For the sake of balance, here are four good reasons for optimism about what happens next. For a start, the (...)

• Why Brexit may just have become softer

  14 juin 2017, par Kristian Niemietz
  It is unclear whether the Prime Minister’s position is tenable in anything other than the short-term. But the disastrous election result last week has thrown the previous clarity on the government’s approach to Brexit into disarray. Everyone now has a view on “what the result means” for our EU (...)

• Beware the siren voices calling for the ‘Norway option’

  13 juin 2017, par Kate Andrews — Trade, Development, and Immigration, Brexit, EFTA, free movement, Julian Jessop, Norway, Trade, WTO
  The Tories’ poor showing in the general election has revitalised those who favour some form of ‘soft Brexit’. In particular, there is growing support for a Norwegian-style arrangement as a means to retain the UK’s membership of the Single Market – at least during a transitional period. But a closer (...)

• Solidarity does not require taxation

  12 juin 2017, par Kristian Niemietz — Markets and Morality, Society and Culture, Tax and Fiscal Policy, charity, Jamie Whyte, non-excludability, public goods, solidarity, Tax Freedom Day
  Today is the Adam Smith Institute’s tax freedom day, the symbolic day you stop working just to pay taxes and get to keep the money you earn. It is a publicity stunt aimed at getting people to notice how much tax they pay. On average, Brits will pay 42% of their incomes in taxes in … Continue (...)

• Sorry, Ha-Joon Chang, but tax really IS a burden

  12 juin 2017, par Kristian Niemietz
  Myth busting is a risky business. If the myth you try to bust is in fact an important truth, you end up looking silly. Ha-Joon Chang, the Cambridge University economist, ran this risk in The Guardian last week with an article entitled “The myths about money that British voters should reject”. (...)

• Socialism : It’s always the real thing. Until it’s not.

  8 juin 2017, par Kristian Niemietz
  In a recent YouGov survey, 36% of respondents expressed a favourable, and 32% an unfavourable opinion of socialism. Capitalism, meanwhile, was viewed favourably by only 33%, and unfavourably by 39%. This means that socialism enjoys net approval in Britain, both on its own terms, and relative to (...)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4