IEA Podcast

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, IEA Head of Media Reem Ibrahim interviews Tom Clougherty, the IEA Executive Director, and Kristian Niemietz, the IEA's Editorial Director. The conversation covers Rachel Reeves' recent speech on financial regulation, examining both the positive moves toward deregulation and concerning developments like government-backed mortgage guarantees. They also...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs Podcast, Managing Editor Dan Freeman interviews Aymen Aulaiwi, DPhil student at Lincoln College, Oxford, in the first of a three-part series examining the Soviet economy's rise, peak and downfall. The conversation begins with an analysis of Russia's economic state in 1900, exploring the autocratic tsarist system, the dominance of agriculture with over 80% of t...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs briefing, Director of Communications Callum Price interviews Professor Len Shackleton, IEA Editorial and Research Fellow, about his latest discussion paper "Liberating the Labour Market." The conversation examines how Britain's labour market operates, with around 65% of workers employed by private businesses, 20% in the public sector, and the remainder in char...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs explainer, former Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland, IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon, and former ASH Director Clive Bates examine the UK government's proposal to introduce a “generational tobacco ban” as part of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. The panel explores the legal, economic, and public health implications of a policy that would rais...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs explainer, IEA Director Eamonn Butler discusses his new book "An Introduction to Schools of Economic Thought" and explores the major economic theories that have shaped our understanding of how resources are created and distributed. Butler examines the evolution from pre-classical economics through Adam Smith's revolutionary ideas about wealth creation, Karl Ma...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Director of Communications Callum Price hosts a discussion with Executive Director Tom Clougherty and Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz on Labour's first year in government since their July 2024 election victory. The conversation examines Labour's economic performance, focusing on their growth mission, fiscal challenges, and supply-side reforms. Th...

In this IEA podcast episode, Reem Ibrahim sits down with Professor Daniel Klein to unravel why Adam Smith-writing in 1776 as revolution erupted-predicted America would become "one of the greatest and most formidable empires that ever was in the world." Starting with Smith's remarkable GDP forecast that America would overtake Britain within a century (which proved dead right), they trace how the Sc...

In this Free the Power episode, IEA Andy Mayer sits down with writer and policy analyst Alex Chalmers (Trauma Machine Substack & Works in Progress) to unravel why nuclear power went from cheap and fast-to-build in the 1960s to eye-wateringly expensive today. Starting with fruit-fly radiation studies that won Hermann Muller a Nobel Prize and seeded the “no safe dose” dogma, they trace the cascading...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, IEA Executive Director Tom Clougherty interviews Julia Willemyns, co-founder of the Centre for British Progress. The conversation explores the Centre's mission to promote pro-growth policies from a progressive perspective, examining how the centre-left can embrace economic growth and supply-side liberalisation. Willemyns discusses the organisation's e...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Communications Manager Reem Ibrahim is joined by Executive Director Tom Clougherty and Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz. The conversation covers NHS productivity challenges, the government's welfare reform U-turn, and Labour's new industrial strategy. They examine how the NHS struggles to convert financial resources into productive medical inputs,...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs briefing, Communications Manager Reem Ibrahim interviews Dr. Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics, about the government's consideration of new restrictions on alcohol advertising. The discussion examines why ministers are exploring these plans, potentially to create a "level playing field" with the upcoming junk food advertising ban, and Dr. Snowdo...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs Podcast interview, IEA Communications' Callum Price interviews Dr. Steve Davies, Senior Education Fellow, on the growing crisis of state welfare spending in the UK. Davies explains how the welfare bill has ballooned to approximately 12% of government expenditure (excluding pensions and healthcare), with incapacity and disability benefits alone expected to reac...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs Podcast Interview, IEA Executive Director Tom Clougherty interviews Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates and one of the UK's most respected tax experts. The conversation covers the fundamental problems with Britain's tax system, examining public misunderstanding of how tax thresholds work, the challenges of pro-growth tax reform, and why wealth taxes a...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs Podcast, IEA Executive Director Tom Clougherty is joined by Managing Editor Daniel Freeman and Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz for a wide-ranging discussion covering three major policy areas. The conversation examines the spiralling costs and delays of HS2, which now has no fixed opening date despite ballooning to over £100 billion for a truncated route t...

In this Free the Power podcast, the IEA's occasional series on free market solutions to energy challenges, Chief Operating Officer Andy Mayer interviews Guy Newey, Chief Executive of the Energy Systems Catapult. The conversation explores the contentious debate over locational pricing in UK energy markets - a technical reform that could fundamentally reshape how Britain prices and distributes elect...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs Briefing, Communications Manager Reem Ibrahim interviews Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics, about Quinn Slobodian's book "Hayek's B******s: The Neoliberal Roots of the Populist Right." The discussion examines Slobodian's controversial thesis that traces intellectual connections between free-market economists like Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von M...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Communications Director Callum Price is joined by Executive Director Tom Clougherty and Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz to examine the government's latest spending review. The conversation covers Rachel Reeves' announcement of increased NHS funding - another 3% real terms increase annually - while implementing spending cuts across most other depa...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs briefing, Communications Manager Reem Ibraham interviews Kristian Niemietz, Editorial Director, who has written a piece in The Telegraph entitled "The NHS Truths the Left Don't Want You to Hear." The conversation examines whether the NHS was ever truly the best healthcare system in the world, with Niemietz arguing that it never was, despite popular belief in a...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, IEA Director of Communications Callum Price interviews David Seymour, New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Regulation and leader of the ACT Party. The conversation covers New Zealand's productivity challenges and Seymour's landmark Regulatory Standards Bill, which would establish statutory principles for good regulation based on protectin...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Communications Director Callum Price hosts Executive Director Tom Clougherty and Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz for a wide-ranging discussion on three major political and economic issues facing Britain. The conversation covers the government's troubled handling of winter fuel payment reforms, examining how Labour's partial U-turn reveals the dee...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Communications Manager and Linda Whetstone Scholar Reem Ibrahim interviews Mike Morgan-Giles, CEO of the Cannabis Industry Council and Liberal Democrat District Councillor. The conversation covers the current state of medical cannabis regulation in the UK, examining how 2018 law changes have created a growing private prescription market of around 50-6...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, IEA Executive Director Tom Clougherty interviews Johan Norberg, author of the new book "Peak Human: What We Can Learn From the Rise and Fall of Golden Ages." Norberg, a prominent figure in the global freedom movement since his 2001 work "In Defence of Global Capitalism," explores what makes civilizations flourish and why they eventually decline. The c...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Communications Manager Reem Ibrahim hosts Executive Director Tom Clougherty and Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz for a wide-ranging discussion on Britain's broken systems. The conversation begins with Nigel Farage's proposal for transferable tax allowances between married couples, examining how the UK's individual taxation system creates massive i...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs event, Education Programs Manager Sam Cruickshank hosts Dr. Yaron Brook, Chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute and co-author of bestselling books including "Free Market Revolution" and "Equal Is Unfair." Dr. Brook delivers a compelling presentation on "The Morality of Capitalism," exploring why capitalism faces persistent moral objections despite its proven econo...

In this Institute of Economic Affairs event, Head of Communications Callum Price interviews Robert Jenrick MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and former Minister of State for Immigration and Secretary of State for Housing. The conversation covers the biggest barriers to economic growth in the UK, examining how persistent low growth has been exacerbated by Labour's recent policies and the ne...