Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute Ben Southwood spoke to BBC Radio Scotland about Nicola Sturgeon's new economic plan for Scotland, the battle between growth and redistribution, and how to best tackle issues of inequality. Listen to the interview here. (Starts 01:10:25)
Dr Eamonn Butler argues against a moral duty to vote on BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze
Director of the Adam Smith Institute Dr Eamonn Butler participated in BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze programme: Is it a Moral Duty to Vote? Dr Butler argued that the irrational nature of voting and the abysmal state of UK democracy illustrate why people have no moral duty to engage in the voting process. Listen to the interview here. (Starts 11:00)
The Financial Times reviews Dr Madsen Pirie's upcoming book "How To Win Every Argument"
The Financial Times gave a glowing review of Dr Madsen Pirie's upcoming book "How To Win Every Argument: The Use And Abuse of Logic", soon to be released.
Mr Pirie adds: “It is well worth the reader’s trouble to learn the Latin tags wherever possible. When an opponent is accused of perpetrating something with a Latin name it sounds as if he is suffering from a rare tropical disease. It has the added effect of making the accuser seem both erudite and authoritative.”
Author of ASI paper "The Green Noose" writes for Public Sector Executive
Tom Papworth - Senior Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute and author of ASI paper "The Green Noose: An analysis of Green Belts and proposals for reform" - wrote a comment piece for Public Sector Executive calling for radical overhaul of the UK's planning structure:
Voltaire once quipped that the Holy Roman Empire was not holy, was not Roman and was not an empire. In light of the fact that they are neither particularly green, nor are they exactly belts, one might say something similar about England’s green belts.Originally conceived to prevent urban sprawl, preserve a rural/urban distinction, stop the agglomeration of towns and encourage city-centre renewal, the green belt designation has come to encompass far more land than we have actually developed.
Green belts are twice as big as the cities they aim to contain and 50% bigger than the total amount of developed land in England.
Yet, as I discuss in ‘The Green Noose’, my recent report for the Adam Smith Institute, the fundamental premises of green belt policy are confused, ambiguous and flawed.
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.
ASI Paper "The Real Problem was Nominal" is quoted in The Daily Telegraph
The ASI's paper "The Real Problem was Nominal" was quoted in The Daily Telegraph.
Some experts have already warned that the ECB is not doing enough. Scott Sumner, a leading monetary economist, said that "European officials have not learned any of the lessons offered by the Japanese experience" of prolonged economic stagnation.“The [QE] policy would have been far more effective if done a year or two ago,” he wrote in a paper published by the Adam Smith Institute.
“The Real Problem was Nominal” - written by Prof Scott Sumner, a leading economist who was a key inspiration for the Federal Reserve’s QE3 programme - explains how the European Central Bank is repeating the mistakes that the Fed and Bank of England made in the 2008 crisis—trying to plan credit and micromanage the financial sector, when the real issue is excessively tight monetary policy.
The paper argues that Eurozone quantitative easing will not reverse the Eurozone’s decline unless it is open-ended and tied more explicitly to the ECB’s inflation target. Targeting nominal GDP—the total amount of spending in the economy, also known as aggregate demand—would be even better, the paper argues, guaranteeing more stability when unexpected supply-side shocks like oil price movements make inflation targeting trickier.
Ben Southwood discusses incentives to curb obesity on BBC World News
Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, Ben Southwood, spoke to BBC World News about Mexico City's new scheme to incentivise people to exercise by subsidising their travel service; he also argued that the proposals in the UK to curb obesity are too intrusive into individual's lives.
Kate Andrews calls for the UK to legalise drugs on Sky News
Communications Manager at the Adam Smith Institute, Kate Andrews, argued that legalising all drugs in the UK would create a safer, more accountable environment on Sky News.
Ben Southwood's comments on the CPI drop to 0.3% feature in This is Money
Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, Ben Southwood, was quoted by This is Money on the benefits of inflation dropping down to 0.3%
Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, Ben Southwood, said: 'There is good disinflation - cheaper inputs and improved productivity - and bad deflation - weak demand - and what we're experiencing now seems to be the good kind.'
And added: 'It is vital for monetary stability and neutrality that the Bank keeps its policy predictable, but right now policy is roughly where it should be.'
Sam Bowman appears as a guest on LBC's News Panel
Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Sam Bowman, appeared as a guest on LBC's News Panel to discuss the week's breaking stories.
Press Release: Inflation drop to 0.3% will make every Briton better off
For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Communications Manager Kate Andrews: kate@adamsmith.org / 07476 915072
Commenting on the drop of CPI inflation rate to a record low of 0.3%, Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, Ben Southwood, said:
There is good disinflation—cheaper inputs and improved productivity—and bad deflation—weak demand—and what we're experiencing now seems to be the good kind.
Though the headline rate is 0.3%, Mark Carney's letter to the chancellor will undoubtedly explain that this is due to falling prices of food and fuel imports, which do not risk recession and simply make every Brit better off. Core inflation (which excludes volatile products like food and fuel) is ticking along much closer to target at 1.4%.
It is vital for monetary stability and neutrality that the Bank keeps its policy predictable—a rule-based system would be superior to the current system of discretion—but right now policy is roughly where it should be.
For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Kate Andrews, Communications Manager, at kate@adamsmith.org / 07476 915072.
The Adam Smith Institute is an independent libertarian think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.