IEA Podcast

Is the news industry broken? How have digital platforms impacted journalism? In this week's podcast, IEA Director of Public Policy and Communications and Matthew Lesh sits down with Marc Edge, a Canadian journalist, author, and academic. To learn more, check out the IEA's publication 'Breaking the News: Should digital platforms be required to fund news publishers?': https://iea.org.uk/publications...

Will free markets save the world? In this video, IEA Head of Political Economy Kristian Niemietz sits down with Swedish author and historian of ideas Johan Norberg. In his latest book, Norberg argues that large sections of the political and economic establishment talk about the global economy as a geopolitical zero-sum game, where we have to fight to control new innovations, and introduce trade ba...

Chaired by Research Assistant Daniel Freeman, the IEA Book Club was delighted to host renowned British economist and author Bernard Conolly to discuss his latest book, “You Always Hurt the One you Love: Central Banks and the Murder of Capitalism”. You can find out more about how to join the IEA Book Club here: https://iea.org.uk/iea-book-club/ You can also purchase a copy of the book here: https:/...

Has Brexit damaged UK trade? Was the OBR's prediction correct? In this week's podcast, IEA Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh sits down with Trade Economist Catherine McBride. Catherine is also the author of the IEA's latest publication, Has Brexit Really Harmed UK Trade? Countering the Office for Budget Responsibility’s claims. To learn more, check out the full paper: https...

Is ESG investing broken? What are the unintended consequences of pressure to invest in ESG? In this week's podcast, IEA Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh sits down with Sinclair Davidson, Professor of Institutional Economics in the School of Economics, Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, and Academic Fellow at the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance. This is a pub...

Can Latin America overcome authoritarianism? What are the barriers to social mobility? In this week's podcast, IEA Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh is joined by Archbridge Institute founder Gonzalo Schwarz, as well as Chilean writer, lawyer and political scientist Axel Kaiser. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to b...

As paternalism continues to subsume personal choice, is it time to roll back the frontiers of the nanny state? This is an audio version of the panel held by the Institute of Economic Affairs at Conservative Party Conference in 2023 on encroachment by the nanny state. Speakers: Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics, Institute of Economic Affairs (Chair) Philip Davies MP Annabel Denham, D...

Is wildlife trade sustainable? What impact will trade barriers have on wildlife trade? In this week's podcast, IEA Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh sits down with Dr Francis Vorhies. Francis is a distinguished academic in the field of wildlife conservation, economics, and finance, and is the Director and Co-Founder of the African Wildlife Economy Institute. He is also a Pr...

What will the future of rail look like? This is an audio version of the panel held by the Institute of Economic Affairs at Conservative Party Conference in 2023 on the future of rail. Speakers: Mark Littlewood, Director General, Institute of Economic Affairs (Chair) Mary Grant, Chief Executive Officer, Porterbrook Chris Loder MP Mark Phillips, Chief Executive, Rail Safety and Standards Board Greg...

There have been countless examples of privatisations across the world, but what determines success? In this video, IEA Communications Officer and Linda Whetstone Scholar Reem Ibrahim sits down with IEA Trade Fellow Shanker Singham. Shanker is one of the world's leading trade and competition lawyers, and worked on the privatisation of the UK electricity market. He was also the Director of the Inter...

Are we finally going to solve the housing crisis? Earlier this week, the Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer came out in favour of building 1.5 million new homes if elected. Sir Keir also described himself as a YIMBY or ‘Yes in my back yard’ because he opposes new homes getting blocked by local objections. In this week's podcast, IEA Communications Officer Harrison Griffiths sits down with I...

How can we revive liberalism in an age of conformity? Can we sustain a liberal nation-state? In this episode of Parallax Views, IEA Head of Cultural Affairs Marc Glendening sits down with Lord David Frost. Lord Frost is a former British diplomat, civil servant and politician who served as a Minister of State at the Cabinet Office between March and December 2021. Frost was also Chief Negotiator of...

Is the British state broken? From the chaotic early response to covid-19, to record-long NHS waiting lists and a broken planning system, the British state appears unable to solve many political problems. In this week's IEA Podcast, Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh sits down with Professor Alexander Evans OBE to discuss whether the British state is broken. Alexander is a Pr...

Why Is Britain's Infrastructure So Expensive? There is mounting speculation this week that the government intends to abandon the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 over skyrocketing costs. The link, meant to reach from London to Manchester via Birmingham, could now cost well over £100 billion. This is the latest in a long string of eye-wateringly expensive infrastructure projects. In this week's...

This week, the Institute of Economic Affairs published a new paper by Sir John Redwood, The New Great Inflation: How Western Central Banks Got It Wrong…and What They Should Do About It. In this video, IEA Head of Political Economy Kristian Niemetz spoke to Rt Hon Sir John Redwood. A Distinguished Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford he has been a Cabinet Minister and Shadow Cabinet Minister, the ch...

How did women make the West rich? Why do governments and societies seek to police women's bodies? In this week's episode of Breaking Barriers, IEA Communications Officer and Linda Whetstone Scholar Reem Ibrahim sat down with Victoria Bateman, a British feminist economist and academic, specialising in economic history. She is a fellow in economics at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Victoria...

What's wrong with digital markets regulation? What new powers will the CMA have? In this week's IEA Podcast, Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh sits down with Senior Scholar for Competition Policy at the ICLE Lazar Radic. They discussed their new paper Digital Overload: How the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill’s sweeping new powers threaten Britain’s economy,...

Belief in big government is almost uncontroversial on the political left. But is the state really the best means to achieve leftist ends? On this episode, Communications Officer Harrison Griffiths speaks with George Mason University Professor Peter Boetkke to discuss the work of Don Lavoie. In his books National Economic Planning: What is Left? and Rivalry and Central Planning, Lavoie made the lef...

Can European free movement survive? In this week's IEA Podcast, Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh speaks to Dr Emmanuel Comte to discuss whether freedom of movement in Europe is sustainable. Dr Comte is a historian and expert on European migration, specialising in free movement. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy and a...

Sweden's large welfare state leads some to argue that the country is a case study of successful socialism...but that's not quite the full story. Communications Officer Harrison Griffiths and Head of Political Economy Kristian Niemietz discuss 'The Mirage of Swedish Socialism', new research by Johan Norberg which charts Sweden's surprisingly complex economic history. 'The Mirage of Swedish Socialis...

Is there a Gender Pay Gap? Do the statistics really tell us the whole story? Why are childcare costs so high? In this week's episode of Breaking Barriers, IEA Communications Officer and Linda Whetstone Scholar Reem Ibrahim sits down with the Deputy Comment Editor at the Telegraph Annabel Denham to debunk the Gender Pay Gap, and discuss possible solutions to cut childcare costs.   This is a public...

This is an audiobook version of the Institute of Economic Affairs publication 'Bangers and Cash: Cutting red tape to put Britain at the centre of the cultivated meat revolution', written by Matthew Lesh, Head of Public Policy at the IEA.  The full publication can be read at:  https://ieapublication.podbean.com/e/bangers-and-cash-cutting-red-tape-to-put-britain-at-the-centre-of-the-cultivated-meat-...

Why do authoritarian governments oppress women in different ways to men? How has social media facilitated the freedom movement in oppressive regimes? In this episode of Breaking Barriers, IEA Communications Officer and Linda Whetstone Scholar Reem Ibrahim speaks to the Founder of More To Her Story, Sarah Little. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

Is China In Jeopardy? China's extraordinary rise to global superpower once appeared to be unstoppable, but now the country is facing a number of difficulties, sending shockwaves throughout the Chinese economy. On this week's podcast, IEA Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh sits down with George Magnus, Associate at the China Centre at the University of Oxford. This is a publi...

With national conservatism on the rise, has the political Right abandoned freedom? On this week’s episode of Moral Sentiments, IEA Communications Officer Harrison Griffiths speaks to IEA Senior Research Fellow Jamie Whyte about the ideology behind the creeping authoritarianism within conservatism. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus...