IEA Podcast

Institute of Economic Affairs
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The Institute of Economic Affairs podcast examines some of the pressing issues of our time. Featuring some of the top minds in Westminster and beyond, the IEA podcast brings you weekly commentary, analysis, and debates. insider.iea.org.uk

  1. 12h ago

    The Truth About Britain's Nanny State Policies | IEA Briefing

    In this Institute of Economic Affairs briefing, IEA Director of Communications Callum Price speaks with Dr Christopher Snowdon, the IEA’s Head of Lifestyle Economics, about his new book Inside the Sausage Factory: The Illusion of Evidence-Based Policy Making. The conversation looks at four public health measures from the 2010s, plain packaging for tobacco, minimum pricing for alcohol, the sugary drinks tax and the crackdown on fixed-odds betting terminals, and asks whether the evidence used to justify them actually held up. Snowdon explains that each policy tended to rest on a similar package of evidence: modelling showing how the measure would work in theory, an example from another country that had tried something similar, and an expert review that gave it a stamp of approval. He argues that much of this evidence was weak or asked the wrong question. Plain packs were obviously less attractive, but that did not mean people would give up smoking. Modelling predicted large falls in alcohol deaths and in obesity that never materialised once minimum pricing and the sugar tax came in. In his view the evidence was rarely what decided the outcome. The second half turns to what really drove these policies through. Snowdon makes the case that pressure, not evidence, was the deciding factor, with professional and often state-funded campaign groups generating media coverage while almost nobody organised against the measures. He draws on public choice theory to explain why millions of affected consumers stayed silent, why politicians took the path of least resistance, and why ministers from George Osborne to Rishi Sunak reached for these policies to build a legacy or shift the headlines. He closes on the recent move by the Government to restrict social media for under-sixteens, argues that opinion polls are a poor basis for lawmaking, and suggests defunding state-backed pressure groups as a place to start. The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

    29 min

  2. 1d ago

    Was Thatcher the Only Time Britain Loved Capitalism? | IEA Interview

    In this Institute of Economic Affairs interview, IEA Managing Editor Daniel Freeman speaks with Martin Vander Weyer, business editor of The Spectator, author and former investment banker, about his chapter “Why We Lost Faith in Capitalism” from the new IEA book On Morality, Human Behaviour and Economics, available now in bookshops and on Amazon. The conversation traces British attitudes to business and trade from the Industrial Revolution to the present day. They discuss why the British establishment looked down on trade for so long while outsiders such as Quaker families and immigrant banking dynasties built much of the country’s industry, why Britain never produced the public business heroes that America did, and how the Thatcher years briefly made enterprise admired before the mood turned again. Vander Weyer argues that financial capitalism has repeatedly damaged its own reputation, through executive pay rows, the mis-selling of personal pensions, the dot-com bubble and the 2008 crisis and bailouts. The discussion also covers the shortage of growth capital for British firms, the difference between what banks and investors should fund, private equity and venture capital, the effect of AI on jobs and careers, and why he sees entrepreneurship as the route out. The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

    45 min

  3. 6d ago

    Is Degrowth Just Authoritarianism With Better Branding? | IEA Podcast

    In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Callum Price is joined by Director General Lord Hannan and Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz to discuss three of the week’s biggest economic stories. The conversation opens on the Piketty and Stiglitz-backed “roadmap for eradicating poverty beyond growth,” examining whether degrowth is a serious economic proposal or a fashionable pose that falls apart under scrutiny. The episode then turns to Commerce Secretary Peter Kyle’s announcement of a fast-track concierge service for high-growth British firms, and closes with Zack Polanski’s claim that cheap vegetables are a sign of exploitation and supermarket profiteering. Kristian Niemietz sets out why degrowth cannot happen voluntarily and what kind of state would actually be required to impose it. Lord Hannan draws on history — from the post-financial crisis recession to FDR’s destruction of food during the Great Depression — to show that the intuitions driving both degrowth and price controls are as old as they are wrong. On industrial policy, both argue that the government’s concierge scheme is simply a guide around obstacles the government itself created, and that cutting taxes and regulation would do more for growth than any managed scheme. The episode ends with a discussion of prices as signals, why supermarket profit margins tell a very different story to Polanski’s claims, and a striking account of how the Prophet Muhammad — himself a merchant — understood the consequences of price caps over a thousand years before Adam Smith put it into words. The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

    42 min

  4. Jun 9

    Is the UK Overtaxed, Over-borrowed, and Running Out of Road? | IEA Interview

    In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Callum Price speaks with Max Marlow, Director of Public Affairs at the Adam Smith Institute, about Tax Freedom Day 2025, which fell on Saturday 6th June, the latest date ever recorded. They discuss what the figure actually measures, how the tax take now stands at 36.1% of GDP, and why the complexity of the UK tax system is compounding the burden on households and businesses. Max explains the international comparisons, contrasting the UK’s position with lower-tax economies such as Singapore (15th March), Switzerland (21st April) and the United States (16th April), and argues that competition between states and cantons restrains tax growth in ways that centralised systems cannot. The conversation also covers the Cost of Government Day, which falls on 13th July when borrowing is included, the demographic pressures driving welfare and pension spending, and the finding that over 52% of the British population are in some way dependent on the state for income. The discussion closes with Max’s priorities for reform: rationalising the tax code, cutting red tape, pushing ahead with planning reform, and abolishing stamp duty to unlock the property market. He offers cautious optimism that some political figures are beginning to take the scale of the problem seriously, though he warns the trajectory points towards Tax Freedom Day reaching 13th June by 2030 without significant policy change. The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

    20 min

  5. Jun 5

    Have Wealth Taxes Ever Actually Worked? | IEA Podcast

    In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, host Callum Price is joined by the IEA’s new Director General Lord Hannan and Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz. The episode covers the OBR’s admission that it underestimated the fiscal damage from the Government’s employer National Insurance rise, the banning of American commentators Hasan Piker and Usman Khan from entering the UK, and Zach Polanski’s podcast discussion with French economist Gabriel Zucman on wealth taxes. Lord Hannan argues that tax rises are always harmful to growth, pointing to the “triple whammy” facing employers from National Insurance hikes, the Employment Rights Bill, and minimum wage increases. The conversation turns to whether the OBR’s mandate should be reformed and whether a competitive market in economic forecasting would produce better results. On free speech, all three agree that banning the American commentators was petty authoritarianism, with Hannan and Niemietz both arguing that consistent application of free speech principles matters more than whether you agree with the speaker. Hannan raises the uncomfortable question of whether the liberal free speech consensus of recent decades was merely a temporary standoff between competing hegemonies. The episode closes with Kristian Niemietz’s response to the Polanski/Zucman exchange on wealth taxes. Niemietz agrees that past wealth taxes have largely failed, but disputes Zucman’s claim that a broader, exemption-free version would succeed, arguing the valuation bureaucracy required would be enormous and the disincentive effects on business owners would be severe. Lord Hannan draws on his time in Brussels during Francois Hollande’s wealth tax to illustrate how quickly such policies drive wealth creators out, and argues that the true motive behind wealth tax proposals is egalitarian rather than fiscal. The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

    53 min

  6. Jun 4

    Did Capitalism Actually Help the Poor? | IEA Event

    In this IEA talk, Dr Stephen Davies, Head of Education at the Institute of Economic Affairs, delivers a lecture on the Industrial Revolution, the Great Enrichment, and what the long history of economic growth tells us about how the modern world came to be. The talk covers the extraordinary transformation in living standards since 1800 — from a world where one in four children died before their first birthday and 80–90% of the global population lived in absolute poverty, to one where that figure has fallen to under 10%. Dr Davies examines the Engels Pause (roughly 1790–1850), the period when British GDP grew by 46% while real wages rose only 12%, and traces where the missing wealth went — captured primarily by landlords and asset owners rather than workers. He explains how this reversed after 1850, when real wages surged by 123% as deflation took hold, the Corn Laws were repealed, and the elastic labour supply from the countryside began to dry up. The talk also draws a direct parallel between 19th century rural-to-urban migration in Britain and modern global migration, examines the moralistic and romantic literary critiques of industrialisation against what working-class diaries of the period actually record, and closes with the question of why China — as technologically advanced as Europe in the 14th century — failed to industrialise, and what the Ming Dynasty’s deliberate suppression of innovation reveals about how elites throughout history have blocked economic progress. The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

    1h 25m

  7. May 29

    Growth, Inequality and Overtime: What Does Britain Actually Want? | IEA Podcast

    In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Callum Price is joined by Managing Editor Daniel Freeman and Senior Economist Dr Valentin Boboc to discuss three of the week's biggest policy stories. The conversation opens with Tony Blair's 5,000-word essay on what the Government is getting wrong, examining his ten-point plan for what he calls "radical centrism" and how much of it lines up with longstanding IEA positions on planning, energy and business regulation.The second topic is the rise in NEETs above one million for the first time, with the panel looking at the figures behind the headline. Hospitality vacancies down 50%, apprenticeships down 35%, and PIP recipients set to double again by 2031. The discussion covers how a combination of employer national insurance rises, minimum wage increases and the Employment Rights Act has made it significantly more expensive to hire young people in the exact sectors where they typically find work, and why the Government's response of youth hubs and apprenticeship levies has done little to address the underlying problem.The final segment turns to Reform's new tax cut pledge, scrapping income tax on hours worked above 40 per week for those earning under £75,000. Daniel Freeman sets out in detail why the policy is poorly designed, from its exclusion of the self-employed and those with second jobs, to the cliff edge it creates at the £75,000 threshold and how straightforwardly it could be gamed by employers restructuring pay.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

    48 min

  8. May 28

    Why Is Britain's Electricity the Most Expensive in the Developed World? | Free the Power

    In this Free the Power podcast, IEA Energy Analyst and COO Andy Mayer speaks with David Turver, independent energy expert and author of the Eigenvalues Substack. David has been writing for the IEA on the costs of net zero and has a forthcoming essay examining whether opposition party energy policies could meaningfully address those costs. The conversation focuses on the real and growing financial burden of the Government’s Clean Power 2030 plan, using official figures from the National Energy System Operator, Ofgem, and the Office for Budget Responsibility. David breaks down the two main cost drivers: subsidies and grid integration costs. Subsidies are forecast to rise by around £3 billion a year by 2031, while grid integration costs, covering the capacity market, grid balancing, and transmission network expansion, are set to triple from £8 billion to £25 billion over the same period. That adds roughly £20 billion to the annual cost of running the electricity system, against a backdrop where the UK already had the most expensive industrial electricity prices in the developed world in 2024. David contrasts this with Ed Miliband’s claim that Clean Power 2030 can bring bills down for good, describing it as stretching a point beyond credulity. The discussion then turns to what the opposition parties are actually proposing. David assesses the Conservatives’ pledges to scrap the Renewables Obligation and remove carbon taxes, alongside Reform’s commitment to cancel contracts from Allocation Round 7. He finds both welcome but insufficient, with costs still set to be over £8 billion higher in 2030/31 than today even if a right-of-centre government takes power in 2028. The conversation covers the legal difficulties of unwinding offshore wind contracts, the ageing gas fleet, the risk of supply shortfalls, and what a future government would need to do to bring industrial electricity prices into the lowest quartile of the OECD. The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

    33 min
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5
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About

The Institute of Economic Affairs podcast examines some of the pressing issues of our time. Featuring some of the top minds in Westminster and beyond, the IEA podcast brings you weekly commentary, analysis, and debates. insider.iea.org.uk

Information

  • Creator
    Institute of Economic Affairs
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    369
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Institute of Economic Affairs
  • Show Website
    IEA Podcast

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