Sounding Board

This week, we try to steel man the arguments against freeing up the steel industry. Steel is always sold as a strategic industry. We’re often told that we cannot free the market, that we must have tariffs on foreign steel, and that we must protect (subsidise or nationalise) our own steel industry. We conduct a... The post Steel Manning Steel, Supermarket Nukes and Chlorinated Chickens appeared fir...

This week, we discuss Castor Semenya and the controversy surrounding intersex & transgender athletes. We talk about the definition of intersex, the rules around competing against females and if there’s a way forward that can please everyone. Where should the line be drawn when deciding who can compete in the female category in sport? Is... The post The Castor Semenya Controversy: Is it time for co...

Politicians are rushing to regulate the internet with the EU copyright directive, age verification on porn sites and now a new regulator of social media platforms to police so called online harms. In this edition we look across the globe to Vietnam, who at the turn of the year passed a law banning any criticism... The post Is regulating the internet a direct threat to freedom? appeared first on so...

This week we discuss whether Britain’s current constitutional crisis is actually a good thing. As Classical Liberals & Libertarians, should we delight in people realising that the current system of government isn’t working and cannot cope with incompetent or even sinister Members of Parliament? Photo by Nik MacMillan on Unsplash —— Please visit our website... The post Could The Current Constitutio...

This week we discuss why we find buying each other communist memorabilia amusing but would not feel the same about fascist merchandise. We also question the rules around humour and what makes one ideology an acceptable target, but another not? Will Nic stop using his treasured Soviet tea set? Photo by Kirill Sharkovski on Unsplash... The post Why Is It OK To Laugh At Communism? appeared first on s...

This week we discuss the difference between stated and revealed preferences. How do economists and politicians use preferences to form policy and should they ignore stated preferences altogether? We also delve deeply into falsified preferences, a particular type of stated preference, and how we are all threatened by the psychology of this phenomenon and it’s... The post Revealed vs Stated (Includi...

It turns out no deal isn’t better than a bad deal even though the commons has certainly expressed its opinion that the Withdrawal Agreement is very bad indeed. The Irish Backstop is the clincher, and this week the power was firmly in the hands of Geoffrey Cox, the government’s lawyer in chief, who with one... The post No deal but no no deal either appeared first on sounding board .

Only two days have passed, yet another Labour MP has quit and, more significantly, 3 Conservatives MPs have too. Now that the Independent Group has 11 MPs and eclipses the Lib Dems in all the polls, what does this mean for Brexit, the two old parties, and politics in general? —— Please visit our website... The post The Conservative Party splits. What happens now? appeared first on sounding board .

It finally happened. More than 3 years after Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party and became Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, 7 Labour MPs have formally left the Labour Party and formed The Independent Group of MPs. We discuss how they did it, what their motives might be, how they come across,... The post Reaction to the Labour Party split appeared first on sounding board .

In this edition, we recap on what actually happened during & after our last podcast recording, and how it informed the way we discuss & debate issues. By understanding & agreeing each others points of view, a whole vocabulary & context is created that makes examining issues far easier. And then we explore a list... The post Every day hypocrisy: You cannot have it both ways appeared first on soundi...

Real socialism, apparently, has never been tried. For the group of socialist purists that believe a peaceful voluntary system could work globally, it could be a workable reality. We discuss the specifics of such a plan, and how it might work in practice. Could it be that they’ve cracked a way of beating a free... The post Could peaceful, purist socialism actually work? appeared first on sounding b...

It was inevitable, wasn’t it? With so much going on about Brexit, we felt we couldn’t avoid it again. We do however, try to tackle it from angles other commentators haven’t discussed. This week we ask what comes first, a belief in democracy or a belief in the EU? Are the Labour Party secret geniuses... The post Withdrawal Agreement Principles and the Politics of Opposition appeared first on soundi...

It was inevitable.  We had to talk about Brexit again, and this week we’ve dedicated an entire edition to it.  An awful lot has happened in the last week, with Theresa May releasing a draft withdrawal agreement followed by government resignations including Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, Dominic Raab. We talk about... The post The One Where We Ramble On About Brexit appeared fir...

This week we revisit voluntary tax contributions after receiving the latest figures through a Freedom of Information request and play the high/low game on how much people have voluntarily given the state. We also take a look at the staggering figures surrounding government debt, and what they don’t tell you about other government liabilities. How... The post Tax Statistics Followed On: Underwhelmi...

This week, Nic asks some intriguing questions about democracy and we both try our best to find some answers. —— Please visit our website to download or stream all our previous episodes and to read our articles. Web: https://soundingboard.com Podcast RSS: https://soundingboard.com/feed/podcast Remember, you can now subscribe on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzAT–UxzErq_UU5SCUtFg Pleas...

This week Nic challenges Andrew to guess the context of political misquotes from the past twenty years. —— Please visit our website to download or stream all our previous episodes and to read our articles. Web: https://soundingboard.com Podcast RSS: https://soundingboard.com/feed/podcast Remember, you can now subscribe on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzAT–UxzErq_UU5SCUtFg Please rea...

This week we talk about Russian economist Nikolai Kondratiev, the pioneer or long term business cycles or Kondratiev Waves. We also find out if virtue signalling socialists who want to pay more tax actually do, before discussing tax statistics in more detail. Links: Nikolai Kondratiev Voluntary Government Donations – Original FOI Request Voluntary Government Donations... The post Nikolai Kondratie...

This week we talk about burdensome regulation in the telecoms industry before discussing different ways of determining a person’s class, whether higher/further education is a good idea and the benefits of consumer choice. —— Please visit our website to download or stream all our previous episodes and to read our articles. Web: https://soundingboard.com Podcast RSS:... The post Regulation, class, e...

This week we collate the amazing progress the world is actually making, before delving into why free speech is a good thing which leads us to discussing the future of traditional media. The post Good news, free speech and the future of the media appeared first on sounding board .

This week we discuss Trump’s tactics with tariffs to obtain free trade, we ask why there are so few low tax conservative politicians and talk about the recent changes to the Department for Exiting the EU. As mentioned in segment 3, here are the links promised: Paper Money Collapse by Detlev Schlichter Detlev blogs at... The post US Free Trade, Low Tax Tories and DExEU appeared first on sounding bo...

This week, we discuss the fallout, one week on, from the Chequers agreement, including cabinet resignations and the non-state visit from President Trump. Photo by Darren Halstead on Unsplash —— Please visit our website to download or stream all our previous episodes and to read our articles. Web: https://soundingboard.com Podcast RSS: https://soundingboard.com/feed/podcast Remember, you can... The...