Search results for ""institute of economic affairs""

Successive governments have promised to reduce business red tape, whilst doing nothing about it. In fact, with regard to the tax system, ever-greater numbers of taxes and ever-greater complexity have increased burdens on business. This trend has been exacerbated by the tendency of governments to offload their costs on to businesses by turning firms into unpaid tax collectors. Research into the costs of regulation is notoriously difficult. However, this study brings together the best work on the burden of tax compliance and administration and adds important new insights. In particular, this monograph shows the severely regressive nature of the costs of complying with the UK tax system - small firms suffer far more than large firms from the imposition of government bureaucracy related to tax collection. The costs of complying with the tax system are higher in the UK than in many other countries. The authors show that this should not be the case, and propose ways of reducing the burden of tax bureaucracy. These include radical reforms, not just to the administration of the tax system, but also to the nature of the system itself.

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In this Hobart Paper, the authors -- transport economics Oliver Knipping and Richard Wellings -- propose the privatisation of the UK road network. In doing so, they examine the traditional objections to privatisation and find them wanting. in lively discussion, making good use of practical examples, the authors also look at related issues such as road taxation, the planning system, pricing, regulation and the management of congestion. Whilst the authors admit that there are valid objections to road privatisation -- and straightforward privatisation may not suit all types of roads -- there are many imaginative schemes outlined that could deal with those objections. The authors also show that the nationalisation of roads has not been a success. This study is essential reading for policy-makers, academics and students in the field of transport and logistics.

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This book examines the complex relationships between social capital, markets and democracy. It argues that participation in markets positively enriches and enhances the stock of social capital, while, conversely, democratic politics may undermine it by facilitating divisive rent-seeking by special interest groups.

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The debate on rail privatisation often seems to focus on very narrow issues. Those on both sides of the argument seem to be able to employ a mass of statistics to prove their point. Proponents of privatisation suggest, with some credibility, that all was reasonably well with the privatised railways until the Hatfield disaster. Opponents point to spiralling costs since privatisation. The authors of this monograph examine privatisation in the context of the long history of continual government intervention. The government imposed upon the industry a particular structure - separation of track and wheel. It also wrapped it up in increasing amounts of regulation. After examining the history of government intervention in the railways and the privatisation process, the authors of this monograph then examine the future of railway policy. Should the industry be allowed to evolve its own structure - remerging the ownership of track and wheel if it wishes? What aspects of a railway should be regulated? Who should own the various parts of the infrastructure? This monograph is essential reading for all with an interest in railway policy and the process of privatisation.

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In Saving Our Streams, Roger Bate explains the history of an unusual and remarkably effective 'environmental' organisation - the Anglers' Conservation Association (ACA). Founded in 1948, the ACA is a voluntary association of angling clubs and individual anglers which brings civil suits against polluters who harm fishing. Dr Bate's original and instructive history explores how the ACA, using the common law, has operated to indemnify its members against the cost of litigation, bringing thousands of actions and being awarded hundreds of injunctions and millions of pounds in damages for plaintiffs. Most cases end in out-of-court settlement which, though efficient, brings little public recognition to the ACA. The ACA has not sought the limelight, unlike other environmental groups, but, argues Dr Bate, it is the most efficient and determined pollution prevention body in Britain. Its success demonstrates the value of private initiatives against polluters.

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A New Trading Agenda for the Age of Globalisation. At a time when public opposition to joining the euro is increasing and a debate is emerging about the long term costs and benefits of Britain's membership of the EU, this paper presents a timely solution to Britain's somewhat strained relationship with the EU. Dr John C Hulsman, a senior policy analyst at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, presents a compelling case for the advancement of Britain's trade interests through UK participation in a global free trade association. This would permit Britain to gain the benefits of freer trade whilst avoiding a constant battle with EU partners over ever-closer integration. To move the debate forward, and in particular to test whether or not Dr Hulsman's proposal is viable, the IEA asked four well-known writers on European issues to analyse the paper and write commentaries. These are followed by a response by Dr Hulsman. All the commentators are generally supportive of the Hulsman idea, though they offer a variety of critiques. This publication is timely and highly readable, and stands out in the discussions about Britain's relationship with the EU, not only by raising issues of real substance, but by providing positive suggestions about a way out of the confused and quarrelsome state into which that relationship appears to have lapsed.

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Professor Paul Collier argues that the prospects for growth and stability in Africa would be enhanced if the concern about policy reversals were diminished, thus maximising inward investment flows. He advocates the EU taking a wider role and exerting more pressure on recalcitrant regimes.

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This original piece of research examines the teaching of environmental issues in the UK and US. Looking at a variety of textbooks and how specific issues are taught, they find that the teaching of the environment is characterised by bad science, sloppy thinking and indoctrination.

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Economic historian Professor Nick Crafts gives a wide-ranging assessment of the economic record of the recent Conservative Government.

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Eleven years after the first utility privatisation, the agenda has moved from whether privatisation will do better than its state predecessor to the question of how to do better with privatisation. The future of regulation seems very uncertain. The stakeholders consumers, politicians, the companies themselves and their shareholders are increasingly critical. Regulatory processes have borne the brunt of criticism. Conflicting remedies are suggested for the problems which have arisen. Should there be more competition? Should regulators' powers be increased and perhaps widened? Should some of their Offices be amalgamated? Should the respective powers of the Office of Fair Trading and the Monopolies and Mergers Commission be reconsidered? Should government become more involved in regulation? Each year the IEA, in association with the London Business School, publishes a volume of Readings which provides an up-to-date assessment of the state of utility regulation. In this, the latest in the series, the regulators themselves discuss the problems they face and leading commentators assess the regulators' contributions. The result is a wealth of detail about utility regulation in Britain where it is now and where it may be going.

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The author explains why government and bureaucratic attempts at environmental protection have failed and argues that to safeguard the countryside we need to restore private property rights.

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Now that privatisation of utilities is substantially complete, regulation has become a major economic and political issue. To provide an intellectual basis for utility regulation, each year the Institute in conjunction with the London Business School publishes a set of Readings which assess the state of regulation, considers the state of regulation, considers what problems have arisen, and discusses how they might be solved, taking into account the experiences of other countries. The authors adopt no common political or ideological stance: they bring a variety of viewpoints to bear since the intentions is to stimulate debate. The 1996 edition of this comprehensive and up-to-date review of utility regulation in Britain includes contributions not only from academic commentators but from the utility regulators and the heads of the general competition authorities.

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CONTENTS: The Lessons of History; Stages of European Integration; The Role of Monetary Policy in the Integration Process; Common Currency as Pace-Setter for Political Union; The Labour Market & Social Union; Compensatory transfers; Possible Political Tensions; Institutional Arrangements & 'Good Money from Outside'; The Difficulties & Risks of Monetary Union; Barriers Against Deficits & Debts; Constitutional restraints; Ambivalence of the Political Union; Summary.

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This is a condensed edition of 'The Road to Serfdom' republished in this edition with 'The Intellectuals and Socialism' (originally published in 1949). In 'The Road to Serfdom' F. A. Hayek set out the danger posed to freedom by attempts to apply the principles of wartime economic and social planning to the problems of peacetime. Hayek argued that the rise of Nazism was not due to any character failure on the part of the German people, but was a consequence of the socialist ideas that had gained common currency in Germany in the decades preceding the outbreak of war. Such ideas, Hayek argued, were now becoming similarly accepted in Britain and the USA. On its publication in 1944, 'The Road to Serfdom' caused a sensation. Its publishers could not keep up with demand, owing to wartime paper rationing. Then, in April 1945, Reader's Digest published a condensed version of the book and Hayek's work found a mass audience. This condensed edition was republished for the first time by the IEA in 1999. Since then it has been frequently reprinted. There is an enduring demand for Hayek's relevant and accessible message. The 'Road to Serfdom' is republished in this impression with 'The Intellectuals and Socialism' originally published in 1949, in which Hayek explained the appeal of socialist ideas to intellectuals - the 'second-hand dealers in ideas'. Intellectuals, Hayek argued, are attracted to socialism because it involves the rational application of the intellect to the organisation of society, while its utopianism captures their imagination and satisfies their desire to make the world submit to their own design.

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The British defence industry is facing greater problems and a more uncertain future than at any time since the 1920s. This concise and accessible title presents an overview of the challenges facing the defence industry and provides a robust and level-headed look at the complicated moral issues thrown up by the arms trade.

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What can today's behavioural economists learn from the classical liberals of the past? Here, Erik Matson offers critical reflections on what he calls 'the new paternalism' - a modern-day approach to policy-making that aims to make individuals better off, when judged by their own standards.

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Many people mistakenly – but perhaps understandably – believe that ‘free banking’ means paying no charges for their bank accounts. But ‘free banking’ is really an historic term to describe a system in which banks issue their own notes – without the presence of a central bank (such as the Bank of England in the UK). For some, this may seem an alien concept. But free banking has already been explored in many countries around the world. The Experience of Free Banking (first published in 1992) analyses the impact of free banking in such countries as Australia, Canada, France, the US and more. And this revised second edition widens and updates its scope to encompass free banking in Belgium, Italy, China and further afield. Featuring chapters from distinguished economists around the world, it also incorporates an innovative guide, providing an invaluable starting point for researchers delving into the historical impact and effectiveness of free banking – or assessing its future potential.

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Raising the Roof addresses one of the key issues of our era - the UK's housing crisis. Housing costs in the United Kingdom are among the highest on the planet, with London virtually the most expensive major city in the world for renting or buying a home. At the core of this is one of the most centralised planning systems in the democratic world - a system that plainly doesn't work. A system that has resulted in too few houses, which are too small, which people do not like and which are in the wrong places, a system that stifles movement and breeds Nimbyism. The IEA's 2018 Richard Koch Breakthrough Prize, with a first prize of GBP50,000, sought free-market solutions to this complex and divisive problem. Here, Breakthrough Prize judge Jacob Rees-Mogg and IEA Senior Research Analyst Radomir Tylecote critique a complex system of planning and taxation that has signally failed to provide homes, preserve an attractive environment and enhance our cities. They then draw from the winning entries to the Breakthrough Prize, and previous IEA research, to put forward a series of radical and innovative measures - from releasing vast swathes of government-owned land to relaxing the suffocating grip of the green belt. Together with cutting and devolving tax, and reforms to allow cities to both densify and beautify, this would create many more homes and help restore property-owning democracy in the UK.

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School of Thought – 101 Great Liberal Thinkers profiles the lives and ideas of some of the leading thinkers on individual liberty – from ancient times to the present day. Award-winning author Eamonn Butler outlines key elements of liberal thought and takes a chronological look at those who shaped it across the centuries. He identifies their common goals – but also highlights their differing views on, for example, the extent of government involvement in our daily lives. For anyone interested in politics, government, social institutions, capitalism, rights, liberty and morality, School of Thought – 101 Great Liberal Thinkers provides a clear and concise introduction to a set of radical ideas – and the thinkers behind them.

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How much money is circulating in the United Kingdom? The question sounds simple. In fact, it is notoriously difficult to answer, because what counts as money is not a straightforward matter. A variety of measures have been advanced, and they tell different stories about the changing supply of money in an economy. These differences are of more than merely academic interest, because measures of the money supply are inputs to the decisions of central banks. Wrong answers can lead to wrong actions, with potentially devastating economic effects. This book examines the measure of money and, in that light, the actions of the Bank of England in the lead up to the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath. It is essential reading for anyone interested in money, measures of its quantity, and the relationship between the money supply and the economic cycle.

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The authors of Education, War & Peace travelled to Liberia, Sierra Leone and South Sudan to conduct research on education in these conflict-affected countries. They uncovered an inspiring story of entrepreneurs stepping into the breach and providing low-cost private schooling to large numbers of children in areas where government was not working well and basic infrastructure had been destroyed. For-profit schools also expanded quickly to soak up educational demand once the conflicts were over. The fees were affordable to families on the poverty line and the children did better academically than those in government schools. Yet international agencies continue to promote government-run schools, even though state education has been a major source of both conflict and corruption in these countries. This groundbreaking study advocates a different approach. Low-cost private schools should be welcomed by policymakers as a means of providing high quality educational opportunities for all.

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George Selgin is one of the world's foremost monetary historians. In this book, based on the 2016 Hayek Memorial Lecture, he shows how a system of private banks without a central bank can bring about financial stability through self-regulation. If one bank stretches credit too far, it will be reined in by the others before the system as a whole gets out of control. The banks have a strong incentive to ensure an orderly resolution if a particular bank is facing insolvency or illiquidity. Selgin draws on evidence from the era of 'free banking' in Scotland and Canada. These arrangements enjoyed greater financial stability, with fewer banking crises, than the English system with its central bank and the US model with its faulty government regulation. The creation of the Federal Reserve appears to have increased the frequency of financial crises. The book also includes commentaries by Kevin Dowd and Mathieu Bedard. Dowd asks whether free-banking systems should be underpinned by a gold standard,which he regards as a tried-and-tested institution at the heart of their success. Bedard challenges the assumption that the banking sector is inherently unstable and therefore requires state intervention. He argues that increases in government control have made the banking system more prone to crisis.

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Employment law has been growing rapidly. This has not exclusively or even mainly come from the European Union. Recent UK governments have added such significant new measures as the National Living Wage, workplace pensions and the Apprenticeship Levy. The costs of such regulation are frequently assumed - by both advocates and opponents - to fall on business profits. This isn't so, except in the very short run. They are instead transferred in part to consumers, but mainly to employees themselves. Mandated benefits - longer holidays or extended maternity leave, mean reduced pay growth and fewer job opportunities. Anti-discrimination laws lead to fewer openings for disadvantaged groups, while employment protection legislation worsens job prospects for the young. Excessive regulation acts as a barrier to entry, shielding incumbents and deterring the foundation of new enterprises. Attempts to restrict new types of employment in the 'gig' economy are counterproductive, serving 'insiders' at the expense of 'outsiders'. This book combines a history of employment laws with analysis of the troublesome effects of various interventions. The author argues for a fundamental rethink. Some basic labour market regulation may still be necessary, but far less than we currently have.

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Classical liberalism is one of the most important political and social philosophies. Indeed, this set of ideas was crucial in bringing the modern world into existence. It fostered a political climate in which economies were free to develop and government limited in scope, essential conditions for the unprecedented increases in living standards seen over the last two centuries. Yet despite its huge contribution, today classical liberalism is poorly understood and often misrepresented, its insights neglected in an era of pervasive state intervention. Eamonn Butler's primer is therefore extremely welcome. It is an extremely clear and well set out introduction to this way of thinking. As such, it is highly suitable for students of the social sciences and makes a valuable contribution to greater understanding of a perspective that is enjoying a long overdue revival.

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Universities in the UK have traditionally operated under a common system which institutionalises important restrictive practices. They have operated in a cartel whose output had been regulated by government. The individual firms (ie universities) are allocated quotas of students by government, and fees and salaries are set in ways that are typical of a classic cartel. The university cartel is underpinned by a further monopoly, granted as of right to each university. In the UK nobody can award degrees unless empowered to do so by royal charter. Professor Douglas Hague takes this argument a stage further by stating that current stage of economic development is strongly based on the acquisition, analysis and transmission of information and on its application. Universities will therefore be forced to share, or even give up, part of their role as repositories of information and as power bases for ideas transmitted through teaching and writing. In this richly original Hobart Paper, Professor Hague identifies the challenges which universities will have to meet and argues that, if these can be overcome, universities should be able to survive both as competitors and complements of the knowledge industries over the coming decades. First published in 1991, with a second impression in 1996, this book has stood the test of time and is remarkably prescient given technical change over the last ten years.

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'Market failure' is a term widely used by politicians, journalists and university and A-level economics students and teachers. However, those who use the term often lack any sense of proportion about the ability of government to correct market failures. This arises partly from the lack of general knowledge -- and lack of coverage in economics syllabuses -- of Public Choice economics. Public Choice economics applies realistic insights about human behaviour to the process of government, and it is extremely helpful for all those who have an interest in -- or work in -- public policy to understand this discipline. If we assume that at least some of those involved in the political process -- whether elected representatives, bureaucrats, regulators, public sector workers or electors -- will act in their own self-interest rather than in the general public interest, it should give us much less confidence that government can 'correct' market failure. This complex area of economics has been summarised in a very clear primer by Eamonn Butler. The author helps the reader to understand the limits of the government's ability to correct market failure and also explains the implications of public choice economics for the design of systems of government -- a topic that is highly relevant in contemporary political debate. This text is an important contribution for all who seek to understand better the role that government should play in economic life.

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The political debate about poverty is entirely dominated by groups calling for more income transfers to the poor. However, now that the scope of our welfare state has reached - or even surpassed - Scandinavian levels, surely this approach has run its course. Award-winning author Kristian Niemietz lays out another approach to dealing with the problem of poverty - one that focuses on addressing the problems caused by government interventions that raise the cost of living. These interventions are enormous in their effect on the poor. As the author points out, the poverty lobbies are more or less silent on these crucial matters. This has not always been the case. In the past, free-trade movements, for example, had been seen as pro-poor movements. Alongside radical market reforms, the author proposes wide-ranging welfare reform to encourage work and remove the penalties on family formation. This would include a form of negative income tax system and the localisation of welfare decisions.

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In the last fifty years, many aspects of socialism have been rolled back around the world. Indeed, in the 1990s, following the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, it seemed as if classical liberal ideas had triumphed. But this did not happen by accident. The role of free-market think tanks was critical. This volume draws on the experiences of thirteen authors involved in classical liberal think tanks in different parts of the world. The contributors identify the strategies that have proved successful in influencing the public policy and explain how they can be adapted to local circumstances. Indeed, though the 'war of ideas' has been hard fought, it has been only partially won. New threats to freedom have emerged, including environmentalism and big-government conservatism. In some countries the burden taxation and regulation has never been greater. "Taming Leviathan" is essential reading for anyone involved in the battle against resurgent collectivism.

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It is often assumed that government intervention is required to bring to fruition large scale infrastructure projects because the large initial capital outlays such projects require must be funded from the public purse. In "Wheels of Fortune", Fred Harrison shows that large scale infrastructure projects can be made self-funding. Infrastructure projects almost always bring about a large increase in the value of adjoining land. For example, it is estimated that the London Underground Jubilee Line extension increased adjoining land values by close to GBP3 billion. When such infrastructure projects are funded by government, they therefore involve a substantial transfer of wealth from a large number of taxpayers to a small number of property owners. Harrison argues that a fairer and more efficient means to fund infrastructure projects is to capture and use the increases in land values that they bring.

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This book is the latest annual review of utility regulation and deregulation, published by the IEA in association with the London Business School. It contains a series of chapters from leading practitioners in the field which comment on the most significant and up-to-date developments. Two viewpoints are presented on each issue: the first by a distinguished academic or industry expert and the second, a shorter comment, usually by the relevant regulator. Together they show how regulation and deregulation are evolving, and highlight the successes which have been achieved and the failures which must be overcome. The book will be of considerable value to practitioners, policymakers and academics involved in regulatory reform and regulatory economics. It will also be of interest to anyone wishing to gain an overview of international regulatory policies.

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The British Government has focused the discussion on the adoption of the euro on its economic consequences. Whilst there are economic arguments for the UK joining the euro, those arguments are not a matter of 'life and death'. The political implications of the UK joining the euro are much more important. Here the most crucial aspects of the debate are not notions of 'sovereignty' on the one hand or 'maintaining influence' on the other: the key reason to maintain sterling should be to ensure 'monetary competition'. Competition between currencies will make it less likely that central banks will create inflation. Monetary competition should form part of a more general political package. Monetary arrangements will strongly influence the kind of European Union we build, and the arguments in The Euro as Politics can be applied to a wide range of European policy areas. Professor Schwartz argues that the UK should seek to build a free-trade Europe based upon competition and not based upon harmonisation of regulation and laws.

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The teaching of economic history is in decline in our schools and universities. Yet much can be learned from the analysis of historical economic events. In railway.com Robert Miller combines such analysis with an explanation of the technological developments in order to draw parallels between the early British railways and the ICT revolution. Study of the former enables us to understand likely trends in the latter. Furthermore, a number of important policy implications can be drawn from the study of the economic history of both events. Robert Miller shows too how stock market bubbles do not necessarily lead to economic losses. The use of central planning for allocating capital in network development has simply led to technological networks being under-provided. The author also considers the issues of technology 'lock in' and examines how markets, even in apparently unsophisticated economies, can solve complex resource allocation problems.

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This book is a collection of papers from the Beesley Lecture series on regulation held jointly by the IEA and the London Business School in the autumn of 2000. The chapters in this volume are revised versions of the papers given in the series and they are, as usual, followed by comments made by the chairman; the chairman in most cases being the regulator.

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The first edition of this pioneering book produced surprising conclusions from research around the world into the extent of private education. James Tooley challenged the prevailing wisdom that private education fosters social and economic inequality. On the contrary, he found that the private sector, as well as being innovative, often provides creative social responsibility programmes, subsidised places and student loan schemes. He concluded with a proposal about the role of for-profit education enterprises in promoting equitable development. In this second edition, Professor Tooley contributes a new preface which shows how his work has developed and extended into other countries. In particular, he provides a fascinating account of how private education is flourishing in China.

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The present government assumes an 'integrated transport policy' is required because integration will not be achieved by market forces. Its policies have an interventionalist bias. John Hibbs concludes that transport should not be regarded as 'something different' but as an industry best left alone to serve the public.

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University courses in environmental economics tend to focus almost exclusively on the role of the state in protecting the environment. However, as these essays show, some less trepid students have discovered that individuals can and do protect the environment through the use of property rights, markets and the rule of law (see especially the essay by Giuliano d'Auria). Indeed, private property is crucial for environmental protection, as testified by the human and environmental tragedy that befell the collectivized USSR (see the essay by Catherine Gillespie). Moreover, state regulation of the environment can have the perverse consequence of undermining private protection and thereby harming the environment (see the essay by Joseph Thomas). Environmentalists often claim that trade is harmful to the environment, citing the decline of the elephant as being a result of the ivory trade. As Nicola Tynan shows, however, trade itself is not usually the problem; rather it is a lack of private property rights which reduces the incentives of individuals to conserve species, be they elephants or seahorses.

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For half a century the US Congress effectively evaded its constitutional duty by allowing the US President to take the lead in the formulation of trade policy. The result was a system which avoided the danger of log-rolling exercises when setting tariffs. It facilitated the growth of trade and thus encouraged economic growth and rising living standards. For some, however, the system has shown signs of fragmentation arising from new pressures and challenges and is producing policy outcomes that lack coherence and rationale. New pressures include demands for trade protection arising from America's mounting trade deficit, as well as jolts to the system caused by the struggle to create a North America Free Trade Agreement. More recently, new demands largely unrelated to trade have perversely affected the policy as non-governmental organisations have demanded a role in its formulation, including those concerned with environmental, social and labour issues. To a significant extent they have effectively 'privatised' the policy process. Moreover, the US government has increasingly used trade policy for non-trade purposes - principally as a tool of foreign and security policy. The pro-liberalisation forces within Congress and the administration have been comprehensively outplayed. In the absence of political leadership and a greater public awareness of the issues at stake the stage is set for the still greater abuse of trade policy by narrow special interest groups in pursuit of particularist ends. In the circumstances, the best that can be hoped for may be a series of international agreements which could constrain the abuse of US domestic policy formulation. But even this will require greater courage and resolve by the advocates of free trade than has recently been shown.

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In Britain the costs of justice - to taxpayers and litigants - have been rising faster than GDP. For efficiency reasons and to encourage innovation, reform is required and some action is already underway. But reform is complicated because 'justice' is a complex product - bought on 'trust' by many consumers and with precedent and spillover effects. Some good ideas for reform are already in circulation. But there is a case for experimentation rather than trying to work out in advance which ideas should be implemented. Market forces should have a bigger role in the civil justice system and there should be more competition in the provision of dispute resolution services. Probable features of a reformed judicial system would be competitive tendering, better information for clients about alternative ways of proceeding and more power for trial judges to control the passage of a case. The supply of judges also needs to be addressed: court fees could be determined by market forces and the proceeds ploughed back into judicial capacity. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures allow parties a choice of jurisdictions. ADR produces precedents, to the extent they are required, and does not need the threat of litigation in the background. A big advantage of ADR is that it avoids monopolized law which otherwise tends to produce inflexibility, bad rules and politicization.

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Utility regulation in Britain has now entered a phase in which debate is no longer so much concerned with whether it is preferable to rival systems but with how to shape the'regulatory contract' in monopoly areas and, in potentially competitive areas, how to ensure rivalry.

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The root causes of land degradation are the actions of political entrepreneurs, aid agencies, and governments of developing countries who misuse 'aid' money. Only when individuals are permitted to own property, especially land and water, to engage in free trade, and to resolve disputes through customary law, will the problems of land degradation, poverty, and hunger be reduced to acceptable levels.

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This Hobart Paper addresses one of the great economic and social problems of our time: the suboptimal allocation of resources that has arisen from the incompatible financial, fiscal and regulatory regimes for the various modes of inland transport. In order to simplify the argument, it concentrates on the movement of people, whose demand for access to satisfactions gives rise to the derived demand for mobility with with the paper is concerned. The argument rests on the assumption that such satisfactions can only be assessed subjectively and that there is no planning technique which will ensure the provision of the required mobility at a quality and price that will clear the market. Having reviewed the various 'means to mobility', the paper concludes that measures to harmonise their investment, taxation and regulatory regimes so as to create an integrated market form the basis for the only 'national transport policy' that can have either meaning or success.

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In this study the authors examine the so-called scientific 'consensus' about global warming. They argue climate change is a problem of great complexity, and such analysis as has been made by no means supports the view that climate change would place intolerable burdens on future generations.

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Drawing on data from various European colonial empires, Niemietz casts doubt on the claim popular among both 19th-century imperialists and modern-day progressives that empire was a crucial factor in the West's rise to prosperity. Instead, he shows that its immorality aside Western colonialism was simply bad economics.

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The Covid-19 pandemic was, and remains, a global disaster – claiming countless lives and wreaking economic havoc that still reverberates today. But it could have been worse. Much worse. Author Stephen Davies contends the planet ‘dodged a bullet’ this time around. But he warns this was no black swan event: The conflicts in the Ukraine and the Middle East already threaten global stability. And the next existential threat to mankind could happen much sooner than we think – with the chances of it happening increasing exponentially. Here he analyses the potential catastrophes – from nuclear war and climate change to further pandemics, the misuse of Artificial Intelligence and more – that could jeopardise our planet and its people. In this fascinating and at times frightening work, he examines how we assess these risks – and what we can do about them. But Davies is no Jeremiah. He firmly believes the ingenuity, imagination and innovation of millions of people around the world will ultimately secure mankind’s continued existence.

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How can health services in the UK and Europe be improved? And can costs be reduced at the same time? Over the years, many ideas have been put forward – from increased spending on preventive healthcare to the better use of technology to reduce bureaucracy and ‘pay for performance’ schemes. But author Nima Sanandaji says this is merely tinkering at the margins. What’s needed, he argues, is a completely new approach – one which embraces disruptive innovations from a new breed of entrepreneurs. Allowing true entrepreneurialism in healthcare might be considered extreme in a Western setting – but he points to a spectacular wave of success in the East to support his case. In India, Thailand, China and the Middle East, entrepreneurs have drawn inspiration from the motor industry to streamline procedures and create economies of scale. In areas such as heart surgery, they’ve dramatically driven down costs – and dramatically improved outcomes. So much so that the new market economies of the East are now, he contends, many steps of ahead of the West. In The Henry Fords of Healthcare Sanandaji outlines the lessons the West can now learn from the East, making a radical, compelling and controversial contribution to the debate on our own ailing health systems.

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