Stimulating, worthwhile podcast with a solid core of presenters, but it suffers — at times — from being a touch doctrinaire, too often viewing everything through a reductionist economic prism. Economies are of foundational importance, but as Michael Every likes to say, what are they for? There’s a bit too much “growth-for-growth’s sake” here at times (even if that is the right approach in most instances!); a touch more political prudentialism would not go amiss.
Sometimes market intervention is a necessary evil even if it’s much less efficient (it may cost more — fiscally — to build British weapons in Britain, but it is geostrategically less costly than relying on enemies like China). Likewise when the same bellicose state actor is aggressively weaponising economic statecraft against us so that we end up playing with one hand tied behind our backs and, in the long run, undermining ourselves: globalist “free trade” is not perfectly Ricardian, nor are there always easy friend-shoring alternatives.
Farage may not be perfect (…), but he is apparently the closest we can currently get to a pilot half-capable of steering us back towards anything remotely resembling Gladstonian-Thatcherite liberalism. In practice, I doubt he would (or could) green-light more reckless debt to the degree some of his mooted policies suggest. Besides, who trusts the Tories or the left to reign in spending? Perhaps I am being naive.
Kemi bears the unfortunate (if, on a personal level, largely undeserved) dual albatrosses of both recent Tory failures and the continuing presence of wet Tory remoras: those effete Lib Dems who relentlessly undermine conservatism. So if you know someone better than Farage, do let us know. We may just have to make do and mend, chaps.
Otherwise, as a regular listener, I find plenty to recommend here even if Dr Davies is always an insufferable mid-wit (is there just something in that surname…?). Niemietz has a great sense of humour and a beautiful cat.
Kudos to Hannan for rightly highlighting the dire economic challenges Thatcher faced – and why such strong medicine was needed.
Kristian proves Germans can indeed be funny. Very funny. Snowdon’s always a great guest, eagerly followed on Spike’s Last Orders.
Although classical liberalism appears to be doomed throughout uber-entitled Europe more broadly, I give most of my fellow travellers in the IEA credit for keeping the candle burning in these dispositionally deoxygenated environs.
