Adam Smith Institute

This report argues that it is time for the welfare state to be transformed. The authors argue for a new structure which can gradually be built out of the existing one. They present ways in which this can be achieved despite the financial constraints which contributing individuals and Treasury officials will impose. As such, this report sets forward a clear and intellectually coherent alternative to the welfare state, together with the means which can be used to bring it about. It thus presents a bold challenge to the conventional welfare thinking which has so visibly and lamentably failed to achieve its objectives.

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A review of post-Communist privatization. The authors find that the purpose of economic reform and privatization had been forgotte nor deliberately ignored in post-Communist countries. Firms were privatized in an unreconstructed and shoddy state, shareholders have no power, monopolies are protected, conflicts between ministries continued. The authors demanded that UK policy change to ensure effective reforms, they outlines new ways to overcome the problems and make privatization popular and beneficial.

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Is a common morality necessary for the proper functioning of a market, or is religious freedom an undeniable facet of overall freedom in a liberal society? This paper explores those questions and comes to the conclusion that the implementation of market strategies for the Church of England will more successfully promote itself and recruit members, rather than withering within its shelf of state protection, while promoting the freedom of choice that accompanies open markets. In a classic liberal idea, the church will have more importance and influcence if chosen on the market rather than forced by the state.

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This paper examines the place of excise duties on alcohol within the British fiscal system. It argues that United Kingdom taxes are by international standards heavy on beer, even heavier on wine and very heavy on spirits. These duties on alcohol are the result of historical accident and political pressures and have little or no economic rationale.

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Governments should aim for zero inflation, since even moderate inflation leads to higher interest rates, business failures and ultimately higher unemployment. 5 years before the Bank of England were granted nonminal indpendence, Charles Hanson called for monetary policy to be given over to them, as successfully deomonstrated by New Zealand.

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A look at how the variety of road transport problems in the UK could be solved using market based solutions.

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The privatization of the Forestry Commission and the reasons why are looked into by Douglas Mason. He looks closely at the history of the Forestry Commission and the reasons as to why they have failed in all areas to make state owned forestry viable. He highlights one area, visitors to the forests, as the only one if run properly by the State that could be profitable, though the need for change exists. Douglas Mason also looks at how the privatization could be pushed through and how best to protect the forests under the private sector.

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Privatization can spread wealth and reduce budget deficits in post-communist and developing countries, say contributors to the Sixth London Conference on Privatization, including Guy de Selliers,Eduardo Modiano, Ibrahim Elwan & Ustun Sanver.

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Our courts our slow, outdated, and costly. Adam Thierer shows how people in the US have abandoned them for private arbitration: and how the state and federal courts have had to accommodate this change. A model for modernising the court service in the United Kingdom and elsewhere?

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A complete guide through the theory, strategy, and record of rolling back the state in the UK - privatization, internal markets in health education, making executive agencies more independent, and the Citizen's Charter.

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