Pete Spence

Even advocates of drug legalization concede that the move risks an increase in drug use. Milton Friedman, a passionate advocate of drug legalization, noted that a fall in price would be expected to bring about a greater level of demand. Those who advocate decriminalisation of drugs, rather than legalization, often make this point in defense of their position.

During a downturn, calls for regulation to protect the most vulnerable grow more common — and more worrying. The costs of regulation are costs on goods and on jobs, and likely to reduce the availability of both. When the economy is floundering, further regulation will serve to put the brakes on growth. Here are three reasons to oppose more regulation.

Regime uncertainty

This year we ask students to submit three essays for the ‘Young Writer on Liberty’ competition on the theme:

Three policy steps to a freer, better world

The title of each article is entirely up to you.

1st Prize:
£500 cash prize
3 articles published on www.adamsmith.org/blog
3 books on the subject of liberty
2 weeks work experience at the ASI

The world’s first fat tax will soon also be the first to be abolished. Denmark has taxed saturated fats since October 2011, and the experiment has been a failure. Danes are worried that the tax has increased food bills (which was the point of the tax) and that it could be threatening the food industry. One poll found that 70% of Danes felt the tax was ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ and 80% said it had not changed what they ate.

The weather might not be predictable, but one thing is almost certain; when natural disasters strike, you can be sure that someone will claim this is a good thing. Sure enough, journalists have made the case here, here and here.

The Adam Smith Institute’s Sixth Form conference - The Independent Seminar on the Open Society - was attended by over 280 students this October. The event focused on economics, offering students an insight into some aspects of the discipline which are not covered by the A-Level syllabus.

Tucked away in the twenty-third page of the Liberal Democrat party conference agenda is a proposal to look into “fiscal measures such as the taxation of heavily sugared drinks”. This follows a recent post by two advocates of such a policy at LSE Politics and Policy which is also fairly alarming.