Press Release: Labour's energy policy misconceived and irresponsible

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Head of Communications Kate Andrews: kate@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207 Commenting on Ed Miliband's upcoming announcement on energy policy, Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman said:

The recent collapse in wholesale oil prices and the resulting fall in retail energy prices has highlighted Labour's price freeze policy as misconceived and irresponsible. Energy companies raised prices when Labour first announced this policy and it is possible that prices would be falling more quickly now if these firms did not have to safeguard against a price freeze under a Labour government.

According to Ofgem, 46% of the cost of a dual fuel bill is wholesale costs, which British energy firms have no control over at all. Network costs, operating costs and taxes account for almost all the rest of energy bills, with only 5% going to energy firms as profit.

Fixing a price that is almost entirely driven by shifts in the global market is stupid and counterproductive and is likely only to hurt consumers through brownouts and higher prices in the long term.

The Adam Smith Institute is an independent free market think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.

Author of ASI paper "The Green Noose" argues for rolling back the Green Belt on BBC Radio 4

Senior Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute and author of “The Green Noose: An analysis of Green Belts and proposals for reform”, Tom Papworth, spoke to BBC Radio 4 about the benefits of rolling back the green belt to make room for the millions of homes needed to solve London's housing crisis. Listen to the interview here. (Starts 05:52)

The ASI report, The Green Noose: An analysis of Green Belts and proposals for reform, looks at the Green Belt’s impact on England’s housing shortage. After a comprehensive review of the causes of the housing crisis, it concludes that the planning structure is out of date and in need of radical reform.

Press Release: Plain packaging vote marks illiberal new extension of nanny state

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Kate Andrews, Head of Communications, at kate@adamsmith.org / 07584 778207. Commenting on today's vote in favour of plain packaging in the House of Commons, Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman said:

Today's vote marks an illiberal new extension of the nanny state.

Plain packaging infringes on people’s freedom of expression, curbing the rights of adults to advertise and be advertised to. It seems likely that things like alcohol and fatty foods will be next, and plain packaging is probably a step towards a complete ban on smoking in public.

Even the public health lobby must admit that freedom of expression should only be curbed in extreme circumstances, but plain packaging does not work on its own terms. After its introduction in Australia, household expenditures on tobacco rose, and illicit tobacco seizures rose by 60 percent. The tobacco industry opposes plain packaging because it shifts smokers to cheaper brands, not because it deters them from smoking overall.

The public health lobby simply does not care about people’s freedom to smoke or drink or eat fatty foods. Freedom of expression is being thrown under the bus in the name of ‘public health’. Anyone who values their personal freedoms, whether they are smokers or not, should oppose plain packaging.

The Adam Smith Institute is an independent free market think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.

Dr Eamonn Butler highlights the inefficiencies and expenses of 'Buying British" on BBC Radio Sheffield

Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Dr Eamonn Butler, spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield about the benefits of a global economy, which enable consumers to buy cheaper, better products from specialised vendors throughout the world. He argued that too much emphasis is put on 'Buying British', when often it is more expensive and less efficient to do so. Listen to the full interview here. (Starts 01:24:10)

Sam Bowman's comments on UKIP's immigration policy feature in The Huffington Post UK

Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Sam Bowman, was quoted in The Huffington Post UK on UKIP's original pledge to cap UK migration at 50,000 people per year.

At the time of Woolfe's announcement, Sam Bowman, from the Adam Smith Institute, said the party's immigration stance was "intellectually and morally bankrupt", adding: "Despite what Ukip claims, immigration is good for virtually everyone in society, rich and poor alike."

Read the full article here.

Ben Southwood's comments on growth and redistribution feature in a BBC News article

Ben Southwood, Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, was quoted in a BBC News article on the importance of growth, competitiveness and redistribution:

We can achieve economic growth and equality in an economic strategy, but we have to be very careful about what measures we use.

It does seem that the poorer counties in the world are unequal, whereas the richer countries are more unequal. That doesn't necessarily mean that reducing inequality lets you get richer.

In fact what we tend to see is first you grow very fast, become more unequal, and then you carry on growing and everybody else catches up.

Redistributing wealth is very important for alleviating poverty but in the long run it has barely lifted anyone out of poverty, compared to the amount economic growth has lifted people out of poverty.

Economic growth has lifted billions of people around the world out of poverty, redistribution has lifted millions of people out of poverty. Redistribution is important but it isn't nearly as important as growth and we should always be focusing on growth.

Read the full article here.