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| ADAM SMITH : A Primer [Eamon Butler] Despite his fame, there is still widespread ignorance about the breadth of Adam Smith’s contributions to economics, politics and philosophy. In ADAM SMITH -- A PRIMER, Eamonn Butler provides an authoritative introduction to the life and work of this ‘founder of economics’. The author examines not only 'The Wealth of Nations', with its insights on trade and the division of labour, but also Smith’s less well-known works, such as 'The Theory of Moral Sentiments', his lectures, and his writings on the history of science. Butler therefore provides a comprehensive, but concise, overview of Adam Smith’s intellectual achievements. Whilst earlier writers may have studied economic matters, it is clear that the scope of Smith’s enquiries was remarkable. In relating economic progress to human nature and institutional evolution he provided a completely new understanding of how human society works, and was very much a precursor of later writers such as Hayek and Popper. Indeed, with poor governance, protectionism and social engineering still commonplace, Smith’s arguments are still highly relevant to policymakers today. ADAM SMITH -- A PRIMER includes a foreword by Sir Alan Peacock, an introduction by Gavin Kennedy and a commentary by Craig Smith. { 124pp, 130x210mm, June 2008; PB, £7.50, 0255366086:9780255366083 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| ANTI DUMPING : The Enemy of Free Trade [Brian Hindley] { 144pp, 130x200mm, February 2009; PB, 0255366248:9780255366243 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| BENEFITS OF TAX COMPETITION [Richard Teather] Beginning with a primer on international taxation, this IEA monograph shows why the arguments used by governments to prevent tax competition are fallacious and demonstrates the enormous benefits that can flow from such competition. The activities of so-called tax havens frequently prevent the double or triple taxation of investment returns, and other forms of tax competition prevent governments from exploiting their citizens through high taxes on labour. The author outlines the current threats to tax competition from the EU and OECD and proposes ways in which the UK government should respond to those threats. { 178pp, 130x200mm, December 2005; PB, £12.50, 0255365691:9780255365697 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| BETTER OFF OUT? [Brian Hindley & Martin Howe] The first edition of this controversial book in 1996 significantly influenced the debate about Britain's relationship with the rest of the European Union. Its analysis of the costs and benefits of EU membership showed that they are finely balanced: there is no basis for the claim that if Britain were to withdraw from the EU there would be 'dire economic consequences'. This new and revised edition of Better Off Out? brings up to date the estimates made in 1996 and shows that subsequent studies have independently confirmed its conclusion that the net economic effect of EU membership is close to zero. It does not argue for Britain's withdrawal. But, the authors say, withdrawal should 'not be dismissed as a practical option for the nation, if membership imposes conditions that the country finds onerous'. { September 2001; PB, £10.00, 0255365020:9780255365024 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| BLACK WEDNESDAY [Alan Budd] In Black Wednesday, Alan Budd discusses the contribution of ERM membership to Britain's recent economic performance. Budd suggests that Britain joined the ERM 'in despair' after trying various methods of controlling monetary growth without the success that had been anticipated. Whilst membership of the ERM did not happen at an ideal time, because of serious imbalances within and between member economies in the late 1980s, it did provide a discipline to reduce inflation that might have been difficult to maintain without membership. The author discusses how membership of the ERM was a necessary precondition for the adoption of the stable and successful monetary arrangements that Britain has today. Samuel Brittan, Tim Congdon and Derek Scott provide commentaries on Budd's analysis. Congdon and Scott in particular have reservations about the case that Budd makes. This collection provides an important contribution to the analysis of a very significant event in Britain's recent economic and political history. { April 2005; PB, £7.50, 0255365667:9780255365666 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| BUCKINGHAM AT 25 [James Tooley (ed)] Twenty-five years after the founding of Britain's first and only independent university, the University of Buckingham, it is time to take stock. Many commentators say that universities are in crisis, in terms of funding, resources and above all staff morale. New ways must be found for them to flourish and prosper. One means of finding these 'new ways' is to revisit some of the lessons that led to the creation of the University of Buckingham in the first place, and re-apply them to the changing conditions of the present. This collection therefore includes Harry S. Fern's Towards an Independent University, first published by the IEA in 1969, which provided the intellectual framework for the creation of Buckingham as a university. A selection of up-to-date essays by notable academics and commentators complements Ferns's important paper: all specially commissioned for this volume, the essays reflect on the past, present and future of British universities and put them into the context of an increasingly competitive global market. { October 2001; PB, £15.00, 0255365128:9780255365123 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| BUS & COACH SERVICES : Moving Policy Out of Reverse Gear [Andrew Lilico] { 144pp, 130x200mm, June 2010; PB, £12.50, 0255366329:9780255366328 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CAPITAL CONTROLS : A 'Cure' Worse than the Problem? [Forrest Capie] Free capital movements played an important part in the economic integration and globalisation of the nineteenth century. By the end of the century capital flows were on a remarkable scale. The modern use of capital controls dates back to the 1930s. Professor Capie analyses historical experience with capital controls, in Britain and elsewhere, and reviews the theory. He concludes that such controls are damaging and that there is no case for reviving them, as some economists have suggested and as anti-globalisers would wish. Capital mobility improves the worldwide allocation of resources, channelling resources to their most productive uses. Controls on capital movements result in dead weight losses and bureaucratic costs. They are difficult to remove and they damage the credibility of the government's commitment to a market economy. { 111pp, 130x200mm, June 2002; PB, £10.00, 0255365063:9780255365062 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CAPITALISM : A Condensed Version [Arthur Seldon] In this condensed version of his masterpiece, "Capitalism", Arthur Seldon explains why, despite its apparent imperfections, the market system is infinitely preferable to the alternatives. The market system has, since the eighteenth century, brought enormous gains in living standards, in contradiction to the Marxist theories that predicted capitalism’s collapse. The institution of property rights has facilitated trade and investment, whilst the price mechanism has enabled people to benefit from dispersed knowledge about individual preferences. Yet politicians, needing to win votes in the short-term, have largely failed to recognise the benefits of a market system with the minimum of government intervention. The development of the welfare state has been disastrous, almost destroying the voluntary provision of health and education, whilst creating institutions that serve producer interests at the expense of consumers. Seldon's message is clear; if capitalism is to yield its best results the political process must be confined to the minimal duties of the state. This condensed version of Capitalism includes a foreword by the late Milton Friedman, an introduction by John Blundell and Philip Booth, and commentaries by James Bartholomew and D.R. Myddelton. { 96pp, 130x200mm, April 2007; PB, £7.50, 0255365985:9780255365987 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CAPITALISM, MORALITY & MARKETS [Brian Griffiths, Robert A Sirico & Norman Barry, Frank Field] In 2000 the Institute began a series of lectures, endowed by Michael Novak and the John Templeton Foundation, entitled the Templeton Forum on Markets and Morality. The four papers given in the first series, and revised by the authors, are included in this volume. Brian Griffiths considers the business corporation as a moral community, concluding that 'an independent moral standard is not only something which is good in itself but is also in the interests of shareholders and employees'. Robert A. Sirico argues that the accomplishments of business directly help to advance social prosperity, health and human welfare. Norman Barry contends that the market system is 'morally self-sufficient...and develops its own codes of conduct'. Ethical conduct requires companies simply to follow rules and conventions which make for long-run success. Frank Field discusses the provision of a minimum income in retirement which, in his view, cannot be achieved by markets alone. { April 2001; PB, £7.50, 0255364962:9780255364966 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING : Revised Edition [Philip Booth] { 288pp, July 2009; PB, £15.00, 0255366310:9780255366311 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CENTRAL BANKING IN A FREE SOCIETY [Tim Congdon] { 144pp, 130x200mm, January 2009; PB, 025536623X:9780255366236 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CHOICE & THE END OF SOCIAL HOUSING : The Future of Social Housing [Peter King] Peter King shows how the arguments in favour of central and local government control of so-called social housing do not stand up to close scrutiny. Indeed, the policy of the current government will be ineffective in pursuing the government's own aims. Instead, Peter King shows how directing subsidies through the consumers of housing can achieve better housing without political control. { 144pp, 130x200mm, July 2006; PB, £10.00, 0255365683:9780255365680 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CLIMATE ALARMISM RECONSIDERED [Robert L Bradley Jr] The energy challenges of resource depletion, security of supply and pollution have been effectively addressed by market entrepreneurship, technology, and measured regulation. The remaining sustainability issue for carbon-based energy reliance is anthropogenic or man-made climate change. Climate Alarmism Reconsidered demonstrates how the balance of evidence supports a benign enhanced greenhouse effect, and how the case for mandatory greenhouse gas reductions depends on unrealistic assumptions. Government intervention in the name of energy sustainability is the major threat to real energy sustainability and the provision of affordable, reliable energy to growing economies worldwide. Free-market structures and the wealth generated by markets help communities to best adapt to climate change. This multi-disciplinary study concludes that climate alarmism and its corollary, policy activism, are unwarranted and counterproductive for the developed world and particularly for the world's energy poor. 'Every few decades the intellectual community becomes obsessed with some energy "problem" to which it can see no solution and calls for intervention by governments and international bodies to save the world. In the 1970s the perceived problem was an imminent energy shortage; today the issue is climate change. { 130x200mm, August 2003; PB, £12.50, 0255365411:9780255365413 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY : Challenging the Activists [Colin Robinson (ed)] There is currently a consensus amongst the political establishment -- and amongst the intellectual communities that feed into it -- that detailed and wide-ranging government intervention is necessary to combat the effects of climate change. This monograph challenges that consensus. The authors look in detail at a number of the underlying, assumptions and proposals of the policy activists and find that there is enormous uncertainty relating both to the economics and to the science of climate change. As one author shows, the policy activists have form: alarmists have been wrong, time and time again, about ecological disasters. However, the authors of this monograph have more humility than their critics. They do not argue that there is no threat from climate change, merely that the level of uncertainty is huge. Given this uncertainty, and the historic failure of central planning to do anything other than undermine economic welfare, the editor, Colin Robinson, one of the country's leading energy economists, argues that it is prudent to proceed with caution. The flexibility of the market economy will deal better than central planning with any problems arising from man-made climate change. The wide ranging array of regulations, taxes, subsidies and artificially created incentives proposed by climate change activists should be rejected. { 170pp, 130x200mm, September 2008; PB, £10.00, 0255365950:9780255365956 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| COMPETITION & REGULATION IN UTILITY MARKETS [Colin Robinson (ed)] This book is a collection of papers from the Beesley Lecture series on regulation held jointly by The IEA and the London Business School in the autumn of 2001. The chapters in this volume are revised versions of the papers given in the series and they are, as usual, followed by comments made by the chairman; the chairman in most cases being the regulator. Since the early days of the Lectures on Regulation in the early 1990s, a great deal of experience has accumulated of how and how not to design and operate regulatory systems. This growing experience is reflected in the increasing detail and sophistication of the papers given in this series. { 130x200mm, July 2003; PB, £20.00, 025536539X:9780255365390 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CONVERSATION WITH HARRIS & SELDON [Ralph Harris & Arthur Seldon (in conversation with Stephen Erickson)] From the mid 1950s to the late 1980s, Ralph Harris and Arthur Seldon, as general director and editorial director respectively of the IEA, battled against a conventional wisdom which was hostile to markets. Eventually, by force of argument, they overcame much of the resistance to market ideas, and in the process established the Institute's formidable influence in shaping both opinion and policy. This Occasional Paper begins with a transcript of a conversation with Harris and Seldon which provides many insights into how they worked and what obstacles they encountered. Eight distinguished scholars, each familiar with the work of the Institute, then provide commentaries which assess its influence on thinking and the challenge to government which it constituted during the Harris/Seldon years. { May 2001; PB, £7.50, 0255364989:9780255364980 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CORPORATE GOVERNANCE : Accountability in the Marketplace [Elaine Sternberg] Corporate governance has come to prominence in recent years because of the perceived political importance of issues such as executive pay and apparent accounting scandals. As might be expected in this frenzied climate, politicians have reacted. US politicians reacted with particular speed through the passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Dr Elaine Sternberg brings some sobriety and clear thinking to the debate in this new and fully revised edition of Corporate Governance: Accountability in the Marketplace, lucidly defining the purposes of corporate governance and analysing different models of corporate regulation. The Anglo-American model allows corporations to fulfil their corporate purposes more effectively than the stakeholder or the German/Japanese models. Given that problems of executive pay, accounting scandals and so on result in corporations not achieving their proper purposes, Sternberg finds that a change in the regulatory model cannot be the answer. Instead, she proposes that we should look at the ways in which regulation prevents the Anglo-American model from working in practice as effectively as it should in theory. Sternberg shows how a genuine 'market' in corporate governance could be created so that firms had to compete for funds, with their mode of governance being one of the attractions to potential shareholders. { 130x200mm, January 2004; PB, £12.50, 025536542X:9780255365420 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CORRUPTION -- THE WORLD'S BIG C : Cases, Causes, Consquences, Cures [Ian Senior] There is general agreement that the world would be a better place without corruption, but there is less general understanding of precisely what constitutes corruption. In this book Ian Senior carefully defines corruption and finds that it is all too prevalent, not just in developing countries, but also within the institutions of governments within the EU. The book analyses the causes and consequences of corruption. There are many social and moral problems created by corruption, but from an economic perspective it has to be regarded as a serious impediment to the proper functioning of a market economy. It also has the effect of redistributing wealth away from the poor towards the better-off and towards employees of government. Ian Senior proposes a zero tolerance approach to rooting out corruption. In particular, we should not give aid to the governments of under-developed countries or use corrupt agencies for the distribution of aid. This monograph reminds us just how widespread corruption is and of the serious damage it can cause to the development of a market economy and a free society. { 210pp, 130x200mm, June 2006; PB, £12.50, 0255365713:9780255365710 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| CRIME : Economic Incentives & Social Networks [Paul Ormerod] In recent years, the economic analysis of crime has helped increase our understanding of different influences on crime levels. Although economic factors may not cause crime, different economic circumstances can increase or decrease the likelihood that an individual who may feel inclined towards criminal behaviour will commit a crime in practice. And incentives, including punishments, do affect crime rates. In a lucid style, accessible to the non-economist and economist alike, the author shows how new developments in economics can be applied to the analysis of criminal behaviour and used to draw policy conclusions. These new models take into account and illustrate how individuals interact with each other in social networks. As a result, they lead the author to more realistic conclusions and more informed policy recommendations. { June 2005; PB, £10.00, 0255365543:9780255365543 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| DANGERS OF BUS RE-REGULATION [John Hibbs] The bus industry receives much less attention from politicians and economists than the rail industry, despite the fact that the former is more important in most areas of the country. In this important historical and economic analysis, John Hibbs shows how the bus industry gradually had its commercial freedom restrained by politicians until it became totally accountable to them, leading to what Hibbs terms the 'strange suicide of the British bus industry'. Hibbs developed much of the intellectual case for the 1985 Transport Act, which, as he shows, liberated the bus industry to serve passengers rather than politicians. Huge benefits flowed from that Act, but the current government, backed up by the European Union, is allowing local authorities to pursue, by stealth, a policy of promoting franchise - or competition for a monopoly. Hibbs's economic and historical analysis is compelling and should be of interest to all involved with transport policy. { October 2005; PB, £10.00, 0255365721:9780255365727 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| DEMOCRACY IS NOT ENOUGH [John Meadowcroft] { 144pp, 130x200mm, March 2010; PB, 0255366264:9780255366267 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| DENATIONALISATION OF MONEY : The Argument Refined [F A Hayek] In this groundbreaking work, first published in 1976, Friedrich von Hayek argues that the government monopoly of money must be abolished to stop recurring bouts of inflation and deflation. Abolition is also the cure for the more deep-seated disease of the recurring waves of depression and unemployment attributed to 'capitalism'. { 144pp, 140x215mm, December 1990; PB, £10.00, 0255362390:9780255362399 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| DILEMMA OF DEMOCRACY [Arthur Seldon] Governments have been taking control of activities - 'public' goods, 'public' utilities, welfare and local government services - which would have been better left to the private sector. Most of them were being privately provided before the state crowded out private initiatives. People will increasingly escape to non-state suppliers unless the government withdraws from many of these activities. Government should reduce its share of national income from 40 per cent to 20 per cent. Arthur Seldon, for many years the IEA's editorial director, argues that attempts to correct market 'imperfections' have created over-government. But the 'escapable power of political government' is up against the 'irresistible economic force of the market'. Sir Samuel Brittan contributes a comment in which he says that Seldon's paper reveals 'a deep belief in the superior ability of ordinary citizens to make their own choices and decisions better than governments or experts or committees'. { May 2002; PB, £10.00, 0255365365:9780255365369 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| DOES BRITAIN NEED THE FSA? ((Hobart Paper Series)) [Philip Booth & Terry Arthur] It is difficult to imagine financial markets without a state regulator. But it was not so long ago that financial markets in Britain developed their own regulation, without government intervention. This monograph examines the economic case for a statutory regulator of investment transactions and finds it wanting. Private stock exchanges can provide regulation at less cost and less intrusively than the FSA. { 130x200mm, June 2009; PB, 0255365934:9780255365932 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| ECB & THE EURO : The First Five Years [Otmar Issing] Whilst the debate on the merits of adopting the euro rages on in the UK, comparatively little attention is paid to the way in which the ECB is managing monetary policy in the euro zone. This upbeat assessment by Professor Otmar Issing, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, describes the success of the first five years of the euro's life. Not only has price stability maintained, despite turbulent economic times, but the financial markets appear to be convinced that the ECB will be effective in the long term in maintaining a stable price level. Professor Issing describes the mechanisms that have been used by the ECB to achieve its objectives. Issing ends with a warning, however. EU governments must address structural difficulties in their economies, particularly in labour markets. The ECB must not be sidetracked into trying to achieve higher growth and employment, but member governments should adopt liberalising reforms. { December 2004; PB, £10.00, 0255365551:9780255365550 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| ECONOMICS OF LAW, 2ND EDITION : An Introductory Text [Cento Veljanovski] Economic analysis is increasingly being applied beyond its traditional precincts of the marketplace and the economy. One area where this has happened is in the economic approach to law: the application of economic theory (mostly price theory) and statistical methods to examine the formation, structure, processes and impact of the law and legal institutions. In this new and revised edition of "The Economics of Law", Cento Veljanovski provides an introduction to, and overview of, the economic analysis of law. The book shows the importance of economic analysis to legal theory and practice, and provides a reliable introduction to property rights, cost-benefit analysis, public choice theory and other economic approaches, set in the context of the study of the law. "The Economics of Law" will be essential reading for scholars and students in law and economics as well as related disciplines. { 188pp, 130x200mm, September 2006; PB, £12.50, 0255365616:9780255365611 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| ECONOMY & VIRTUE This volume, edited by Dennis O'Keeffe and with a foreword by David Willetts, explores the relationship between virtue, morality and alternative forms of economic organisation. It should be read by anybody who is interested in the relationship between morality and economic order. Despite the obvious success of the market economy in generating wealth, many commentators accept this success only grudgingly, and unthinkingly criticise the moral underpinnings of capitalist societies. Economy and Virtue takes such critics on and finds their criticisms wanting. It analyses how a free society both relies on and promotes values. Unless people can choose between good and evil in conditions of freedom, there is no morality in performing an action that helps another person. A market economy promotes cooperation and restrains selfishness because it relies on contracting by consenting parties, and because its legal system protects the property rights of the vulnerable, just as it does the property rights of the powerful. The authors argue that we cannot judge the market economy by observing the obvious process of 'getting and spending', because this process alone tells us nothing about the motives and character of those involved. There is much more to the market economy than material acquisition: the eminent authors in this volume discuss lucidly and convincingly the moral justifications of the market order. { 130x200mm, March 2004; PB, £12.50, 0255365047:9780255365048 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| EDUCATION ENTITLEMENTS : How to Reverse the Destruction of Adult & Vocational Education [Alison Wolf] { March 2009; 0255365861:9780255365864 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| EURO AS POLITICS [Pedro Schwartz] The British Government has focused the discussion on the adoption of the euro on its economic consequences. Whilst there are economic arguments for the UK joining the euro, those arguments are not a matter of 'life and death'. The political implications of the UK joining the euro are much more important. Here the most crucial aspects of the debate are not notions of 'sovereignty' on the one hand or 'maintaining influence' on the other: the key reason to maintain sterling should be to ensure 'monetary competition'. Competition between currencies will make it less likely that central banks will create inflation. Monetary competition should form part of a more general political package. Monetary arrangements will strongly influence the kind of European Union we build, and the arguments in The Euro as Politics can be applied to a wide range of European policy areas. Professor Schwartz argues that the UK should seek to build a free-trade Europe based upon competition and not based upon harmonisation of regulation and laws. { July 2004; PB, £12.50, 0255365357:9780255365352 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| EUROPE AFTER THE 'NO' VOTES : Mapping a New Economic Path [Patrick A Messerlin] Professor Patrick Messerlin of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, argues that the NO votes in the French and Dutch referenda on the proposed EU constitution highlight the need to design an economic agenda for the future of the EU congruent with its fundamental purpose. The NO votes show that the EU cannot be a European 'super-state' providing a wide range of social policies, but must return to the modest role originally set out in the slim Treaty of Rome. Professor Messerlin shows how liberalisation of agriculture, manufacturing and services, and engagement with widely held fears about globalisation, must be an essential part of future reform of the EU. Former European Commissioner Lord Brittan and leading European scholars Professor John Gillingham and Professor Pedro Schwartz provide commentaries on Messerlin’s analysis. This book will prove essential reading for those concerned with the future of the European Union as it maps out a positive way forward for the EU after its turbulent recent past. { 96pp, 130x200mm, May 2006; PB, £10.00, 0255365802:9780255365802 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| EUTHANASIA FOR DEATH DUTIES : Putting Inheritance Tax Out of Its Misery [Barry Bracewell-Milnes] Death duties are now only a minor source of revenue to the British Exchequer (about 1.5 per cent of Inland Revenue receipts) and they now have few committed advocates. Nevertheless they persist, mainly because of inertia. Dr Bracewell-Milnes analyses the traditional criticism of death duties and adds some novel arguments based on the concept of saving in perpetuity -- saving which is never drawn down, whether or not it was initially planned as perpetual. The perpetual saver is a public benefactor because he or she provides the rest of society with a permanent loan at rates chargeable for loans with maturity dates. Taxing perpetual saving will reduce its supply, thus resulting in losses to the rest of society. Inheritance tax does immense economic damage, according to Dr Bracewell-Milnes, and should be abolished. It is 'perverse and counterproductive for its own ostensible purposes, egalitarian or otherwise. { 151pp, 130x200mm, February 2002; PB, £10.00, 0255365136:9780255365130 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| FIFTY ECONOMIC FALLACIES EXPOSED [Geoffrey E Wood] Since 1988, Professor Geoffrey Wood of the Sir John Cass Business School, has written a regular column in the IEA's journal, Economic Affairs, in which he exposes popular economic fallacies. Fifty Economic Fallacies Exposed collects fifty of these columns and exposes numerous common fallacies. These lucid and stimulating columns are invaluable to students struggling to master some of the complexities of economic theory and its applications, who often find the most effective way to learn economic analysis is to see such fallacies exposed. It is a text particularly suitable for first year economics students, complementing existing textbooks as it does, and clarifying basic concepts in economics while demonstrating the practical uses of economic theory. { 187pp, 130x200mm, November 2002; PB, £12.50, 0255365187:9780255365185 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| FREE MARKETS UNDER SIEGE [Richard A Epstein] In this paper, Richard A Epstein, Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, explains how there are substantial gains to be made from countries getting 'easy' policy decisions correct. Societies collapse and become impoverished when they do not accept the basic principles of freedom to contract and competition. Even in the developed world these principles have not been accepted in key areas such as agricultural and labour markets. Significant welfare gains could be achieved from liberalisation in both areas. Epstein explains how liberal economists, politicians and civil servants often spend much time discussing 'difficult' cases. While these issues may be important to particular groups in society, the implications of getting 'difficult' cases wrong is not serious. Thus policy-makers and their advisers, Epstein says, would do well to concentrate on the 'easy' cases. In his study, Professor Epstein uses evidence and analysis derived from the disciplines of both law and economics. Professor Geoffrey E Wood provides a commentary that elucidates Epstein's argument and shows how it can be further applied to policy issues relevant to the UK. { 130x200mm, April 2004; PB, £10.00, 0255365535:9780255365536 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| FUTURE OF CAPITALISM [Philip Booth & Paul Dragos Aligica (eds)] { 144pp, 130x200mm, June 2010; PB, 0255366272:9780255366274 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| SHOULD WE MIND THE GAP? : Gender Pay Differentials & Public Policy [J R Shackleton] { 128pp, 130x200mm, October 2008; PB, £10.00, 0255366043:9780255366045 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| GLOBAL EDUCATION INDUSTRY, 2ND EDITION : Lessons From Private Education in Developing Countries [James Tooley] The first edition of this pioneering book produced surprising conclusions from research around the world into the extent of private education. James Tooley challenged the prevailing wisdom that private education fosters social and economic inequality. On the Contrary, he found that the private sector, as well as being innovative, often provides creative social responsibility programmes, subsidised places and student loan schemes. He concluded with a proposal about the role of for-profit education enterprises in promoting equitable development. In this second edition, Professor Tooley contributes a new preface which shows how his work has developed and extended into other countries. In particular, he provides a fascinating account of how private education is flourishing in China. { 190pp, 125x200mm, August 2001; PB, £12.50, 0255365039:9780255365031 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| GLOBALIST MANIFESTO FOR PUBLIC POLICY [Charles Calomiris] The world-wide trend towards privatisation, liberalisation and globalisation has produced substantial economic benefits. Nevertheless, liberalisation has had its shortcomings and there are potential threats to further progress, including in particular an anti-liberalisation backlash. Continuing progress depends on the ability to articulate a clear vision of the positive effects of global liberalisation and to establish institutions and policies which can help realise that vision. Reversing globalisation would harm the world's poorest inhabitants. Professor Calomiris, well known for his work on national and international financial markets, examines the successes and failures of recent global liberalisation and derives a 'globalist manifesto' for public policy. His paper is a revised version of the tenth annual Hayek Memorial Lecture given in July 2001. { January 2002; PB, £7.50, 025536525X:9780255365253 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| GOVERNMENT FAILURE : E G West on Education [James Tooley & James Stanfield (eds)] This selection of E G West's papers contains a wealth of economic and philosophical analysis which can guide policymakers in the field of Education. They also show how state monopoly provision of education has led to a particular model of schooling which does not work for many of those who use the education system -- parents and children. Perhaps the most valuable contribution of these papers, though, is their historical analysis. The extent to which education systems developed in the UK and the USA before either compulsory schooling or dominant state finance emerged is remarkable. E.G. West also analyses the debate between those who believe that the state should control education in order to shape the thinking of the younger generation, and those who believe in a purist system. He demonstrates how universal state provision of education is the model that is least likely to benefit the poor, although they could benefit substantially from programmes to help them fund their education. In an era when there is increasing dissatisfaction with state education provision, but in which the state has ever greater control of the curriculum -- including the teaching of 'citizenship' -- and management of schools, the papers in Occasional Paper 130 have never been more relevant. { 130x200mm, November 2003; PB, £12.50, 0255365527:9780255365529 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| GUIDE TO REFORM : How Policymakers Can Pursue Real Change, Achieve Great Results & Win Re-Election [Johnny Munkhammar] Progress and wealth creation are crucial for society. For when economies fail to prosper, stagnation and social malaise soon follow. Success demands change -- and change demands reform. The lessons are all around us. Countries that embrace free-market reforms experience rapid improvements in living standards This raises the question: Why don't more nations follow their example? Johnny Munkhammar examines the political obstacles to reform and identifies ways round them. He shows why reforms are needed and which direction they should take, drawing on the experiences of more than a dozen reformist countries. Munkhammar also dispels the myth that reform is invariably politically hazardous. Indeed, reform governments have almost always been re-elected -- at least once. This book offers hands-on advice to policymakers, and shows them how to turn words into action. { 280pp, 140x215mm, November 2007; PB, £15.00, 0255366183:9780255366182 , Institute of Economic Affairs (in association with TIMBRO) } |
| HAPPINESS, ECONOMICS & PUBLIC POLICY [Helen Johns & Paul Ormerod] With commentaries by Samuel Brittan and Melanie Powell. In "Happiness, Economics and Public Policy", Helen Johns and Paul Ormerod analyse the economic research that underlies politicians’ growing preoccupation with measures of 'well-being'. In a lucid and compelling analysis, written for economists and non-economists alike, the authors find that happiness research cannot be used to justify government intervention in the way its proponents suggest. Those who wish governments to take into account measures of well-being when setting policy often point to the fact that increases in income have not led to increases in measured happiness, and thus governments should concentrate on redistribution and improving the quality of life, rather than on allowing people to benefit from economic growth. In fact, measured happiness does not appear to be related to public spending, violent crime, property crime, sexual equality, disability, life expectancy or unemployment either. The stark fact is that, as Helen Johns and Paul Ormerod demonstrate, the difficulties in measuring society’s happiness are insurmountable, and policymakers should not claim that they can control and increase happiness through public policy decisions. { 144pp, 130x200mm, July 2007; PB, £10.00, 0255366000:9780255366007 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| HIDDEN COSES OF TAXATION [Francis Chittenden] { 144pp, July 2009; PB, 0255366124:9780255366120 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| HIV & AIDS IN SCHOOLS [Barrie Craven, Pauline Dixon, Gordon Stewart & James Tooley] HIV and Aids teaching is compulsory in British schools but the content is not prescribed. Should teaching in such a difficult field, where there are disputes among experts, be left to secondary school teachers with no specialist knowledge? And is it right that the subject should be compulsory? These awkward issues are confronted in this controversial paper which examines the materials being used by schools in HIV/Aids teaching and how teachers are approaching the subject. The authors conclude that, because of material provided by pressure groups, teachers are exaggerating the Aids problem and failing to stress the extent to which the risk of infection depends on behaviour. Rent-seeking by vested interests results in a serious distortion of the views presented to children. Their conclusion about Britain is that HIV/Aids teaching should no longer be compulsory. Either the law should be repealed or schools should simply drop the subject. { November 2001; PB, £10.00, 0255365225:9780255365222 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| HOW GOVERNMENT DESTROYS THE ENVIRONMENT [Helen Jackson] { 144pp, 130x200mm, November 2009; PB, 0255366280:9780255366281 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| IEA YEARBOOK OF GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE 2002/2003 Big government may be coming back into fashion. Public spending in Britain -- especially on services such as health, education and transport -- is on the increase. But how likely is it that more spending will result in better services? In this new Yearbook, Peter Warburton assembles evidence from Britain and from around the world to examine how taxation and government spending have been changing and to assess the effectiveness of government activity. He investigates the scale and scope of government, over time and in comparison with other countries, and sets out indicators of government performance, considering not only macroeconomic questions but issues now at the centre of political discussion such as health and education services and crime reduction. Six essays by leading commentators provide more detailed discussions of measuring the public sector, greater choice in health, the poverty trap, private education, imprisonment and child care and adoption. Dr Warburton's concludes that 'If there is a simple message to be gleaned from all the evidence, it is that an increase in public sector resources is no substitute for excellence in resource allocation.' { 275pp, 130x200mm, March 2002; PB, £15.00, 0255365322:9780255365321 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| IMMIGRATION IN A FREE SOCIETY [Diane Coyle] { 144pp, May 2009; PB, 0255366132:9780255366137 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS & CLASSICAL LIBERALISM [Deepak Lal] { 144pp, 130x200mm, September 2009; PB, 0255366051:9780255366052 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| LAND USE PLANNING SYSTEM [John Corkindale] The existing system of land use planning in the UK dates back to the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act and is therefore now well over half a century old. However, there have been indications that government is beginning to take seriously the case for radical reform. This Hobart Paper examines some of the government's proposals against economic evaluation criteria. The principal deficiencies are found to be that the proposals do not properly address important topics such as the internalisation of environmental externalities or land betterment taxation. The author discusses various options for change to the land use planning system primarily designed to introduce voluntary trading and the privatisation of development decisions. He argues that these options, and also market-based instruments such as tradable development rights, have the capacity to achieve a greater degree of allocative efficiency and to take some of the political heat out of the land use planning process. { February 2004; PB, £10.00, 0255365500:9780255365505 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| LECTURES ON REGULATORY & COMPETITION POLICY [Irwin M Stelzer] For many years, Dr Irwin Stelzer, the economic commentator and journalist, has been stimulating audiences around the world with lectures on a range of economic topics. In this volume, the IEA reprints revised versions of twelve lectures in three areas where Dr Stelzer is acknowledged as an expert - competition policy and the form it should take; the proper place of regulation in competitive and monopolised markets; and the content of energy and environmental policies. The essays contain many positive proposals for extending the reach of competitive markets and they comprehensively refute some major economic fallacies. This is a stimulating collection of ideas from one of the foremost economic commentators of the day. { October 2001; PB, £12.50, 025536511X:9780255365116 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF FREE MARKETS [Stephen F Copp (ed)] In this book, Stephen Copp has brought together some of the world's leading figures in the field of law and economics to discuss questions that are central to our understanding of how a free-market economy operates. Though most people accept that a free economy cannot exist in a legal vacuum, important questions about how systems of law come into being and what form they should take remain in dispute. The authors shed light on some of these issues, such as whether common law systems are better than codified law systems; the relationship between natural law and government law; whether systems of law evolve within societies or are imposed from above by government; and the role of human rights, as guaranteed by constitutions. After examining these questions, the authors then proceed to look at specific problems that are frequently disputed by economists -- such as the role of competition law; the relationship between law, regulation and economics; and how the law can protect the environment without onerous regulation. This collection is an important contribution to the literature in the field of law and economics. It is important both for economists who wish to understand more about the origins and purposes of law and regulation, and for lawyers who need to understand more about the economic foundations of sound legal systems. { 266pp, 140x215mm, August 2008; £15.00, 0255365918:9780255365918 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| LIBERATING THE LAND : The Case for Private Land-Use Planning [Mark Pennington] Despite the growing belief in the efficacy of market forces, the ownership and use of land in Britain are now '...subject to a greater array of statutory controls than at any time since the introduction of the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act'. 'Market failure' arguments are used in support of land use planning. However, in this radical attack on the present regime, Mark Pennington shows that such arguments are misguided. Planners, even if altruistic, could not gather and interpret the information which would be necessary to run an efficient land use planning system. In practice, planners have their own interests and are subject to pressure from special interest groups which benefit from the present regime. Fundamental change is required, according to Pennington. The system is over-centralised, there is too little experimentation, information is lacking and incentive structures are inappropriate. The costs of enforcing property rights could be reduced by entrepreneurial action in a market. Private covenants, deed restrictions and the establishment of proprietary communities are the way forward. { 130x200mm, March 2002; PB, £10.00, 025536508X:9780255365086 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| LIVING WITH LEVIATHAN : Pubic Spending, Taxes & Economic Performance [David B Smith] David Smith shows the damage that is caused to economic welfare by high taxation. He also shows how unequal the distribution of public spending is across the regions of the United Kingdom. Future developments in public spending are examined, together with a programme for reducing the size of government to a manageable level. { 190pp, 130x200mm, November 2006; PB, £12.50, 0255365799:9780255365796 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| MAKING POVERTY HISTORY [Frederik Erixon] { 144pp, January 2010; PB, £12.50, 0255366159:9780255366151 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| MALARIA & THE DDT STORY [Richard Tren & Roger Bate] Malaria kills millions of people each year and hundreds of millions more suffer chronic illness. Economic development is inhibited and poverty is perpetuated. Tren and Bate argue that action against malaria is over-centralised and narrowly focused, ignoring local conditions and concerns. Health agencies in developing countries and some companies are trying to stem a resurgent tide of malaria. Their work is, however, hampered by pressure from environmentalist groups and donor agencies which still crusade against the use of DDT and which have a partial victory under the POPs (persistent organic pollutants) convention. A continuing anti-DDT campaign would have as its victims people in some of the world's poorest countries. { May 2001; PB, £10.00, 0255364997:9780255364997 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| MARKET IN AIRPORT SLOTS [David Starkie, Tom Bass & Barry Humphreys] Over the last twenty years, airports and airlines have been privatised in a number of countries. However, many of the fundamental functions of airports remain outside the market process. In particular, the allocation of take-off and landing slots is largely determined by custom and practice and by regulation. The pricing of such slots does not follow economically rational principles. The current, arbitrary system of allocating airport slots can hinder competition and prevent slots being used by airlines that value them most. The authors suggest how a market in airport slots can be developed to address these problems. They are careful to take account of competition issues and other special features of the industry in developing their proposals. Nevertheless, the authors agree on the need to assign property rights to airport slots and allow slots to be traded. Only then can there be a more rational allocation of scarce airport take-off and landing slots. { April 2003; PB, £10.00, 0255365055:9780255365055 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| MONEY & ASSET PRICES IN BOOM & BUST [Tim Congdon] By considering recent and historical events such as the Great Depression, episodes of boom and bust in the UK, and the malaise in Japan in the 1990s and the early 21st century, monetary economist Tim Congdon is able to show how monetary policy affects both financial markets and the real economy. In all these episodes, fluctuations in money supply growth led to booms or busts in financial markets and were associated with turbulence in the price level and in output and employment. The crucial linkages between monetary policy and financial markets, argues the author, involve broad money, not narrow money. Non-bank financial institutions, such as pension funds and insurance companies, play a critical role in transmitting fluctuations in money growth to asset prices. This monograph is an important contribution to the crucial debate on the role of monetary aggregates in setting monetary policy. Congdon's argument, that ignoring monetary aggregates can lead to profound instability in the real economy, is compelling. { August 2005; PB, £10.00, 0255365705:9780255365703 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| MONEY, INFLATION & THE CONSTITUTIONAL POSITION OF CENTRAL BANK [Milton Friedman & Charles A E Goodhart] There are at least three requirements for an economy to maintain stable prices. Policy markers and opinion formers must understand that inflation brings no medium or long-term economic benefit; the causes of inflation -- monetary growth -must be also be understood; and there needs to be a stable and credible institutional structure that will deliver a sound monetary policy. This book brings together two classic IEA papers by Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman with a new work by Charles Goodhart who is a Bank of England Advisor and former member of the Monetary Policy Committee. In doing so, 'Money, Inflation and the Constitutional Position of the Central Bank' provides a thorough yet accessible text appropriate for anybody who wants to understand inflation and how it should be controlled. Friedman's paper, 'Unemployment Versus Inflation?' is a lucid explanation of why higher inflation does not lead to lower unemployment, and his 'The Counter-Revolution in Monetary Theory', the first Wincott lecture, explains why excess monetary growth is the only cause of sustained inflation. Goodhart's paper 'The Constitutional Position of the Central Bank' was the 32nd Wincott Memorial Lecture. It explains how the Institutional arrangements for central banks should be developed to deliver stable prices and, importantly, to influence inflation expectations. Professor Geoffrey Wood sets the historical perspective in his introduction and also links the work of Goodhart and Friedman to the current thinking of the new Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King. { 130x200mm, April 2003; PB, £10.00, 0255365381:9780255365383 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| NEW RURAL ECONOMY [Berkeley Hill] This book charts the development of the new rural economy and considers whether government policy has similarly developed. In the rural economy tourism now employs more people that agriculture, and the agricultural sector itself has become much more diverse. But the government bodies charged with delivering countryside policy very often seem wedded to a view of the rural economy and the traditional agricultural sector as synonymous. In "The New Rural Economy", Professor Berkeley Hill of Imperial College London analyses the appropriate roles of the public and private sectors in the developing rural economy and questions whether evidence of 'market failure' necessarily justifies government intervention, if 'government failure' imposes greater costs than the problems intervention was intended to remedy. This book is essential reading for those concerned with the development of the countryside and the proper role of government in creating a sustainable, long-term future for those living and working in rural Britain. { November 2005; PB, £15.00, 0255365462:9780255365468 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| NORTHERN ROCK : A Public Policy Disaster [Kevin Dowd] { 144pp, 130x200mm, September 2009; PB, 0255366256:9780255366250 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| PATHS TO PROPERTY : Approaches to Institutional Change in International Development [Karol Boudreaux & Paul Dragos Aligica] Sub-Saharan Africa has received tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid over the last fifty years, yet economic development has remained elusive. In many countries absolute poverty has increased and life expectancy has declined. Karol Boudreaux and Paul Aligica argue that instead of traditional approaches to development policy, the focus needs to be on adoption of sound political and legal institutions, with clearly defined and enforced private property rights to encourage entrepreneurship and economic growth. The authors examine several case studies of property rights reform in the developing world and suggest that universal policies applied regardless of local culture and tradition tend to fail. Reforms are more likely to succeed when they evolve gradually and are tailored to local norms and values rather than imposed from above by governments, aid agencies and supranational institutions. { 128pp, 125x200mm, December 2007; PB, £10.00, 0255365829:9780255365826 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| PENSION PROVISION : Government Failure Around the World [Philip Booth & Nick Silver (eds)] { 320pp, 130x200mm, October 2008; PB, £15.00, 0255366027:9780255366021 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| PLEA TO ECONOMISTS WHO FAVOUR LIBERTY : Assist the Everyman [Daniel B Klein] Should economists remain as detached scholars, pursuing their research to the satisfaction of themselves and fellow academics? Or should they try to educate their fellow men and women in economic ideas, hoping to have an impact on economic policy? In this Occasional Paper, Professor Daniel B. Klein addresses these issues, concluding that if economists want to be influential in policy-making, they must be willing to communicate with the 'Everyman'. Scholasticism is valuable in encouraging high research standards, but it has been carried too far in the economics profession, to the detriment of research and teaching which are relevant to policy. Five well-known economists - John Flemming, Charles Goodhart, Israel Kirzner, Deirdre McCloskey and Gordon Tullock - then comment on Klein's paper. { June 2001; PB, £10.00, 0255365012:9780255365017 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| POST-COMMUNIST TRANSITION : Some Lessons [Leszek Balcerowicz] The post-communist transition in Europe and the former Soviet Union is one of the most important transformations in modern history. Changes were exceptionally large and it was not only political and economic systems which were affected: there were changes in social structures, new territorial boundaries in some cases had to be established and new institutions had to be constructed. Moreover, market-oriented reforms were introduced under democratic regimes. Leszek Balcerowicz, President of the National Bank of Poland and former Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, one of the leading reformers in eastern Europe, discusses the varying outcomes of transitions in different countries, showing that it was policies, more than initial conditions, which produced the differences. He argues that the larger the scope of market-oriented reforms the better the performance in terms of growth, low inflation and environmental improvement. The presence of competent and determined reformers has also been a crucial factor in successful transformations. { 63pp, 130x200mm, September 2002; PB, £7.50, 0255365330:9780255365338 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| POVERTY OF 'DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS' [Deepak Lal] This is a classic IEA text, first Published in 1983, but revised and expanded in 1997. Its critique of that type of 'development economics' highly influential in the early 1980s, which the author branded the 'dirigiste dogma', proved extremely controversial in the first few years of the book's life. Professor Lal concluded that the demise of the dogma would be beneficial to the health of 'both economics and the economies of developing countries'. The history of the last twenty years has demonstrated the force of the Lal critique. The dogma in its old form has gone, as Professor Lal shows in a postscript that brings the original text up to date both in terms of statistics and in terms of the history of ideas. Nevertheless, as he warns, dirigiste tendencies have not disappeared, but are emerging in new guises. { July 2002; PB, £15.00, 0255365195:9780255365192 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| PRICING OUR ROADS : Vision & Reality [Stephen Glaister & Daniel J Graham] The only significant road pricing scheme in the UK is that introduced by Ken Livingstone in London. But the technology now exists to develop a nationwide scheme of road user charging, with prices to road users varying with the level of congestion in a given area at a given time. The only obstacles to implementing road user charging would seem to be political. Stephen Glaister and Daniel Graham have used sophisticated geographical and economic modelling to examine the potential effects of different types of road user charging schemes. The results of the modelling are explained lucidly and clearly. Using the results of the authors' models, policymakers should be able to find an approach which is acceptable given the practical realities they face. The authors also look carefully at the implications of road user charging and identify other policy areas that policymakers would need to consider. { July 2004; PB, £10.00, 0255365624:9780255365628 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| PRIVATE ROADS [Oliver Knipping] { 144pp, 125x200mm, August 2009; PB, 0255366191:9780255366199 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| PROHIBITIONS [John Meadowcroft (ed)] This collection of essays examines those areas where the freedom of individual men and women to voluntarily engage in mutually advantageous exchanges is prohibited or restricted by government. The authors critically examine the economic and philosophical rationale for the prohibition of alcohol, the sale of body parts, medicinal drugs, pornography, prostitution, recreational drugs, tobacco and trade in endangered species, among other topics. { 270pp, 130x200mm, March 2008; PB, £12.50, 0255365853:9780255365857 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING WITHOUT THE BBC [Alan Peacock] Eighteen years ago Professor Sir Alan Peacock made radical proposals in a report commissioned by the then Government on the future funding of the BBC. These proposals involved making subscription to the BBC voluntary but providing a fund that would finance public service broadcasting on a competitive basis. The report was widely acclaimed, as its proposals would help ensure quality programming within the context of a competitive broadcasting market. It is widely recognised that the technology is now available to make Peacock's vision a reality. In the context of the Government's review of the BBC's charter and the broadcasting regulator's review of public service broadcasting, this timely contribution once again puts the existing model of broadcasting to the test. Peacock shows how his radical ideas can now be implemented in practice. He also proposes a new corporate model for the BBC that will make it independent of the state but not fully commercial. { September 2004; PB, £10.00, 0255365659:9780255365659 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| RAILWAY.COM : Parallels Between the Early British Railways & the ICT Revolution [Robert C B Miller] The teaching of economic history is in decline in our schools and universities. Yet much can be learned from the analysis of historical economic events. In railway.com Robert Miller combines such analysis with an explanation of the technological developments in order to draw parallels between the early British railways and the ICT revolution. Study of the former enables us to understand likely trends in the latter. Furthermore, a number of important policy implications can be drawn from the study of the economic history of both events. Robert Miller shows too how stock market bubbles do not necessarily lead to economic losses. The use of central planning for allocating capital in network development has simply led to technological networks being under-provided. The author also considers the issues of technology 'lock in' and examines how markets, even in apparently unsophisticated economies, can solve complex resource allocation problems. { 130x200mm, July 2003; PB, £12.50, 0255365349:9780255365345 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| RAILWAYS, THE MARKET & THE GOVERNMENT The debate on rail privatisation often seems to focus on very narrow issues. Those on both sides of the argument seem to be able to employ a mass of statistics to prove their point. Proponents of privatisation suggest, with some credibility, that all was reasonably well with the privatised railways until the Hatfield disaster. Opponents point to spiralling costs since privatisation. The authors of this monograph examine privatisation in the context of the long history of continual government intervention. The government imposed upon the industry a particular structure -- separation of track and wheel. It also wrapped it up in increasing amounts of regulation. After examining the history of government intervention in the railways and the privatisation process, the authors of this monograph then examine the future of railway policy. Should the industry be allowed to evolve its own structure -- remerging the ownership of track and wheel if it wishes? What aspects of a railway should be regulated? Who should own the various parts of the infrastructure? This monograph is essential reading for all with an interest in railway policy and the process of privatisation. { 250pp, 130x200mm, May 2006; PB, £12.50, 0255365675:9780255365673 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| RALPH HARRIS IN HIS OWN WORDS : The Selected Writings of Lord Harris [Ralph Harris. Foreword by Lord Howe of Aberavon] When Lord Harris of High Cross (Ralph Harris) died, in October 2006 at the age of 81, the tributes to him described him as one of the 'men who changed Britain'. Friends and opponents alike acknowledged that Ralph, in his role as General Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and in partnership with his friend, Arthur Seldon, had been instrumental in providing the ideas and the intellectual entrepreneurship that sparked the 'Thatcher revolution' of the 1980s, transforming the British economy from one of the worst performers among developed countries to one of the best. This book selects from Ralph's considerable opus, revealing that economics need not always be a 'dismal science'. Economic analysis was, in the hands of Ralph Harris, deployed to great effect in plain language and with a wit and wisdom that made it fun. Colin Robinson's Introduction places Ralph Harris' work in context and provides an invaluable insight into the author's beliefs and personality. This book will be warmly welcomed and read by academics and researchers of economics, politics and the history of ideas as well as those interested in the work of the Institute of Economic Affairs. { 343pp, 155x230mm, March 2008; PB, £25.00, 0255366213:9780255366212 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| REALLY STABLE MONETARY POLICY [Geoffrey Wood & Juan Fernandez] { 144pp, 125x200mm, July 2009; PB, £12.50, 0255366205:9780255366205 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| REGULATING UTILITIES & PROMOTING COMPETITION : Lessons for the Future [Colin Robinson (ed)] This book continues the series of annual books which critically review the state of utility regulation and competition policy. With contributions by some of the leading figures in the field, this important new book presents incisive chapters on a number of prominent topics. A key feature of the series is the contribution of not only academics and independent commentators, but also of the regulators and heads of the competition authorities themselves. { 225pp, 130x200mm, May 2006; PB, £35.00, 0255365837:9780255365833 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| REGULATION OF FINANCIAL MARKETS [Philip Booth & David Currie (eds)] This collection of essays provides important insights into a number of aspects of financial regulation which will be of lasting value. The authors are leading figures from regulatory bodies, financial markets and academia. There are several issues on which all the authors are broadly agreed: market discipline is important, regulators should not attempt to eliminate risk, and there are great benefits from financial liberalisation and globalisation. The essays offer different perspectives, however, on the correct regulatory response to financial crises, how the EU should manage regulation, and other issues of importance to the future of international financial markets. It is increasingly common for books and papers on regulation to focus on detail and to be highly specific and technical. While The Regulation of Financial Markets does not ignore the detail, it also considers fundamental and practical issues in regulation and provides a valuable broader perspective. { August 2003; PB, £12.50, 0255365519:9780255365512 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| RESCUING SOCIAL CAPITAL FROM SOCIAL DEMOCRACY [John Meadowcroft & Mark Pennington] Many of those on the left of the political debate regard social capital as the 'magic bullet', arguing that intervention to provide social capital will allow socialist policies to succeed. Their argument is comprehensively undermined in this Hobart Paper, which shows that social capital itself is a product of the market and cannot be created by politicians. Attempts by politicians to create social capital through 'cultural planning' are subject to exactly the same problems that lead their interventions in economic systems to fail. In order for democratic systems to work, they must be limited to co-ordinating certain core political functions. Markets will generate attributes such as trust and non-discrimination, which are necessary to oil the wheels of both commercial and political society. { November 2007; PB, £10.00, 0255365926:9780255365925 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| ROAD TO SERFDOM : with The Intellectuals & Socialism [Friedrich A Hayek] In “The Road to Serfdom” and “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, Hayek explained the enduring appeal of socialist ideas. Socialism satisfies people’s desire to impose order on the world through central direction rather than allowing an order to develop through individuals’ autonomous choices. Socialism has particular appeal to intellectuals -- the teachers, journalists and other commentators who pass comment on public policy without any special expertise on economic matters, whom Hayek termed ‘the second-hand dealers in ideas’. Once the logic of planning has become accepted throughout society, the only solution to the inevitable failure of socialism will be the imposition of a more comprehensive plan. Hence, planning leads to a process by which individual freedom is incrementally eroded -- the road to serfdom. The two papers, together with the forewords and introduction, are still so relevant today as we seek a freer world, whilst surrounded by an intellectual establishment, both in the UK and EU, that is largely hostile to freedom and capitalism. { 140pp, 130x200mm, August 2005; PB, £10.00, 0255365764:9780255365765 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| ROLE OF BUSINESS IN THE MODERN WORLD [David Henderson] It is now a widely held view that a new era has dawned in which businesses must adopt a new conception of their mission, purpose and conduct, by endorsing and implementing corporate social responsibility. In The Role of Business in the Modern World, Professor David Henderson argues if we ask businesses to achieve broader social goals, we risk undermining the very system in which business activity leads to opportunity and prosperity. Professor Henderson describes the unprecedented material progress that has occurred in the last century as a result of the wide-ranging entrepreneurial opportunities and competitive pressures that exist within a market economy. The material prosperity created by the activities of business is threatened by the 'global salvationist consensus' that has arisen in recent years and which seeks to change the role of business via the doctrine of corporate social responsibility. Professor Henderson shows that this consensus is based upon a set of fallacious beliefs about the nature of capitalism, profiteering and business enterprise. { July 2004; PB, £12.50, 0255365489:9780255365482 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| SAVING OUR STREAMS [Roger Bate] In Saving Our Streams, Roger Bate explains the history of an unusual and remarkably effective 'environmental' organisation - the Anglers' Conservation Association (ACA). Founded in 1948, the ACA is a voluntary association of angling clubs and individual anglers which brings civil suits against polluters who harm fishing. Dr Bate's original and instructive history explores how the ACA, using the common law, has operated to indemnify its members against the cost of litigation, bringing thousands of actions and being awarded hundreds of injunctions and millions of pounds in damages for plaintiffs. Most cases end in out-of-court settlement which, though efficient, brings little public recognition to the ACA. The ACA has not sought the limelight, unlike other environmental groups, but, argues Dr Bate, it is the most efficient and determined pollution prevention body in Britain. Its success demonstrates the value of private initiatives against polluters. { August 2001; PB, £10.00, 0255364946:9780255364942 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| SELF EMPLOYMENT : Ladder of Opportunity or Employment Ghetto [Peter Unwin] This monograph considers issues that are central to our understanding of self-employment in the UK. The author begins with a review on the evidence of the role of self employment and entrepreneurship in employment creation. The discussion ten moves on to consider self-employment as a route for advancement of many groups in society that face disadvantage in the labour market. The author concludes by considering the role of government in this relationship. { 144pp, 130x200mm, June 2009; PB, 0255366108:9780255366106 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| SHOULD BRITAIN JOIN THE EURO? [Patrick Minford] European economic and monetary union is driven by politics, but the economic costs and benefits of Britain's membership can and should be assessed, argues Professor Patrick Minford in this careful and succinct analysis of the cases for and against Britain adopting the Euro. The core argument in favour is the reduction of exchange-rate risk, but because the Euro is a regional currency that has fluctuated considerably against the dollar, exchange-rate variability might not be less under the Euro and could even increase. In any case, financial markets can diversify away such risks. Minford sees substantial costs of membership: increased variability of UK output, employment and prices in response to shocks; damaging harmonisation of tax rates, social support and regulation; and the possibility that British taxpayers will have to meet some of the costs of big projected state pension deficits in Germany, France and Italy. He concludes that EMU, 'as it is constituted and planned would be strongly against British interests to join'. { 69pp, 130x200mm, August 2002; PB, £7.50, 0255365276:9780255365277 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| SHOULD WE HAVE FAITH IN CENTRAL BANKS? [Otmar Issing] Central bank independence is now in vogue because of previous experience of politicisation of monetary policy. But can the central bankers be trusted more than the politicians? In this Occasional Paper, Professor Otmar Issing, the leading monetary economist and one of Europe's most influential central bankers, argues that price stability is a 'common good' and that it is better in the hands of an independent central bank with a clear price stability mandate. The independent central bank with such a manadate, in effect, represents a set of rules which impose constraints on the abuse of power either by politicians or by central bankers. Central bankers operate best in institutions which have a clear objective and are held accountable to the public. Professor Geoffrey Wood adds a commentary which puts Issing's paper in the context of the 'rules versus discretion' debate and deals with three related issues: the meaning of 'price stability', the importance of stable money to the functioning of a market economy and the central bank's role in maintaining financial stability. { 55pp, 130x200mm, May 2002; PB, £7.50, 0255365284:9780255365284 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| SIR HUMPHREY'S LEGACY : Facing Up to the Cost of Public Sector Pensions [Neil Record; Foreword by David Laws] Whilst private sector pension schemes have been closing down rapidly in the last few years, public sector employees continue to enjoy 'gold plated' benefits. In addition, rates of ill health retirement in public sector pension schemes are extremely high. Proposed reforms to public sector schemes will make little difference to the benefits available to new employees and no difference at all to benefits of existing employees. Private sector taxpayers have to meet the cost of public sector pensions, so how has this divide between the standard of private and public sector pensions arisen? Part of the answer lies in the fact that the costs of public sector schemes are not properly accounted for. In this monograph, Neil Record estimates that public sector pension liabilities are about £1trillion -- but the government publishes estimates of the liabilities of only half this level. The author argues that nothing can be done to deal with the liability accrued so far, but that action can be taken to make costs transparent in the future. If costs are made transparent we can start to change the nature of public sector schemes, to the benefit of workers and taxpayers alike. Further reform proposals are discussed by commentators Philip Booth and Nick Silver. { 128pp, 130x200mm, September 2006; PB, £10.00, 0255365780:9780255365789 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| SIXTY YEARS ON : Who Care for the NHS? [Helen Evans] Politicians will go to any lengths to persuade the voting public that the National Health Service is safe in their hands. Alternative policy models cannot be placed before the electorate unless political parties take huge risks. Yet, at the same time, we see even a Labour government drawing private finance into the health service and giving patients rights to use the private sector. This groundbreaking new study shows that, although the politicians do not feel confident in proposing radical new models of healthcare, elite opinion in the media, in political circles, in academia and in policy think tanks has fallen out of love with the idea of a centrally planned health service provided and financed by government. Elite opinion does not, as yet, warm to a free market in healthcare. Although aspects of a market-based system are accepted, ideas of "market failure" loom large -- especially amongst the political-class. Nevertheless, the author shows how some groups of opinion formers are prepared to be more radical. These groups, she believes, may in time be effective in promoting a vision of a market in healthcare that is free from government interference and from the stifling power of government-granted professional monopolies. { 170pp, 130x195mm, June 2008; PB, £10.00, 0255366116:9780255366113 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| TAMING LEVIATHAN : Waging the War of Ideas Around the World [Colleen Dyble (ed)] In the last fifty years, many aspects of socialism have been rolled back around the world. Indeed, in the 1990s, following the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, it seemed as if classical liberal ideas had triumphed. But this did not happen by accident. The role of free-market think tanks was critical. This volume draws on the experiences of thirteen authors involved in classical liberal think tanks in different parts of the world. The contributors identify the strategies that have proved successful in influencing the public policy and explain how they can be adapted to local circumstances. Indeed, though the 'war of ideas' has been hard fought, it has been only partially won. New threats to freedom have emerged, including environmentalism and big-government conservatism. In some countries the burden taxation and regulation has never been greater. "Taming Leviathan" is essential reading for anyone involved in the battle against resurgent collectivism. { 190pp, 130x195mm, July 2008; PB, £12.50, 0255366078:9780255366076 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| THEY MEANT WELL : Government Project Disasters [D R Mydleton] How is it that so many major, government-sponsored projects can lose so much money? As the title of this book makes clear, the answer to this question does not lie with malign intentions on behalf of their promoters in government. In a highly readable but detailed account of the history of six major government project failures, D R Myddelton shows that failure results from mismanagement, lack of clear lines of responsibility and lack of accountability. These problems have their roots in the wider economic problems of undertaking quasi-commercial ventures in the public, rather than in the private, sector. This results in well-meaning politicians and government officials wasting huge sums of taxpayers' money. The projects examined in this book cover a period of 80 years. Their analysis leads to important lessons for a wider range of economic activity in which governments become involved, including major government IT projects and the hosting of the Olympic Games in 2012. The case study approach ensures that the book is very readable; it also provides an excellent basis for discussion on university courses, including MBAs, that cover public policy and management issues. { 246pp, 130x200mm, September 2007; PB, £12.50, 0255366019:9780255366014 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| TRADE POLICY, NEW CENTURY : The WTO, FTAs & Asia Rising [Razeen Sally] { April 2008; £12.50, 0255365446:9780255365444 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| TRIBUTE TO PETER BAUER Peter Bauer (Lord Bauer) was an economist of considerable influence, particularly on the prevailing wisdom about the value of foreign aid ('government-to-government transfers', as he preferred to call it). Shortly before his death in May 2002, he received the first award of the prestigious Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty from the Cato Institute in Washington DC. The volume begins with a transcript of a conversation with Lord Bauer in which he speaks about his career, his interactions with other economists and his contributions to economic analysis. Following that, there is a speech given by John Blundell at the Friedman Prize award ceremony that came just after Lord Bauer's death. The final sections contain ten tributes to Lord Bauer, written by distinguished economists who knew him well, who appreciated his influence and who saw his work from different perspectives. They provide an appraisal of the life and work of a great economist who fundamentally affected the analysis of economic development. { September 2002; PB, £10.00, 0255365314:9780255365314 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| UNSHACKLING ACCOUNTANTS [D R Myddelton] In Unshackling Accountants, Professor D R Myddelton of Cranfield School of Management looks at the history of and the arguments for and against detailed accounting standards. Myddelton concludes that, while there may be a case for the accounting profession to develop voluntary guidelines, the imposition of rigid standards is likely to prevent the art of accounting from evolving. Myddelton believes that the argument that more regulation and more uniformity are necessary to avoid scandals such as those at Enron and WorldCom is flawed. He argues that those scandals happened at a time when accounting practices were more regulated than ever before and in jurisdictions where practices were laid down in the greatest detail. Very often, in fact, bad practice is imposed by regulation and accounting standards. { 130x200mm, June 2004; PB, £12.50, 0255365594:9780255365598 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| UTILITY REGULATION & COMPETITION POLICY [Colin Robinson (ed)] This book is a collection of papers from the Beesley Lecture series on regulation held jointly by the IEA and the London Business School in the autumn of 2000. The chapters in this volume are revised versions of the papers given in the series and they are, as usual, followed by comments made by the chairman; the chairman in most cases being the regulator. { 130x200mm, July 2002; PB, £20.00, 0255365233:9780255365239 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| UTILITY REGULATION IN COMPETITIVE MARKETS : Problems & Progress [Colin Robinson (ed)] This is the latest book in the annual series published by the IEA and the London Business School, which critically reviews the state of utility regulation and competition policy. The strength of the series is that each chapter is followed by a comment by the relevant regulator or a prominent expert in the field. This new volume contains chapters on a number of prominent concerns, including changes in the British system of utility regulation, the spectrum allocation question, liberalisation of EU energy markets, security of supply issues, reform in the European postal sector, the future of rail regulation, the cost of capital and Ofcom’s strategic approach to regulation. { 238pp, 155x230mm, May 2007; PB, £20.00, 0255365993:9780255365994 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| VON MISES : A Primer [Eamon Butler] { 144pp, 130x200, October 2010; PB, 0255366299:9780255366298 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| VOTE MOTIVE, 2ND EDITION [Gordon Tullock; Edited by Kurrild-Klitgaard] In this classic introductory public choice text, Gordon Tullock analyses the motives and activities of politicians, civil servants and voters. Government 'servants' can most likely be assumed to be pursuing their own interests, just like those in the private sector, although, given the coercive power of the state, the effects can be far from benign. The incentive structures present within public institutions mean that government action may well fail to improve economic welfare and frequently has results different from those intended. The application of the 'economic theory of politics' effectively undermines the market failure approach to government policy-making, which relies on the assumption that benevolent and far-sighted governments are capable of clearing up the failings of private markets. This new edition includes a reflection by Gordon Tullock and commentaries by Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard, Charles K. Rowley, Stefan Voigt and Michael C. Munger. These contributions consider the impact of the original publication of "The Vote Motive" in 1976. Thirty-years later, with public-sector bureaucracies retaining substantial control over large swathes of the economy, it is clear that policy-makers still have much to learn from Tullock’s seminal work. { 148pp, 130x200mm, December 2006; PB, £10.00, 0255365772:9780255365772 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| WAGING THE WAR OF IDEAS : Third Edition [John Blundell; Foreword by Walter E Williams] This paper discusses how 'wars of ideas' can be waged, using the author's extensive experience, both as director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and at other classical liberal think tanks. John Blundell begins his stimulating collection of published essays, reviews and introductions by showing how the founders of the IEA successfully fought the conventional 'planning' wisdom of the 1960s and 1970s, providing the ideas which, by the 1980s and 1990s, had brought about increased freedom and a revival in the use of markets. He draws lessons from those days and then surveys the contemporary scene, showing how the anti-liberal ideas emerging now are different from those which prevailed in the early years of the IEA. As well as giving a valuable view of the IEA's development in the past, these essays also offer advice on how to continue winning in the new circumstances of the present. "Waging the War of ldeas" has been constantly in demand since it was first published in 2001. This new and expanded edition contains three new chapters and is introduced by Professor Walter Williams. { 190pp, 130x200mm, February 2007; PB, £12.50, 025536606X:9780255366069 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| WAR BETWEEN THE STATE & THE FAMILY : How Government Divides & Impoverishes [Patricia Morgan] In a new study, Patricia Morgan shows how tax and benefits policy has undermined family life in Britain and encouraged fraud and dishonesty. The study shows how the tax and benefits systems are particularly harsh on single-earner couples who have to earn over £50,000 before there is no loss from declaring their relationship to the authorities. This situation encourages couples not to marry and, if they are living together, to lie to the authorities about their family situation. In 2004/05, the government paid credits and benefits to 200,000 more lone parents than actually live in the UK -- fraud is widespread. The tax and benefits system encourages such fraud. In the most extreme case, a couple can gain nearly £10,000 a year by not declaring their relationship. Family life has been discouraged over 25 years by both Conservative and Labour governments. In the Thatcher years, the Conservative government gave lone parents special financial benefits and priority entitlement to council housing. In the Labour years, the state increasingly became the child-care provider. As Patricia Morgan comments, "Under Thatcher, the state became the bread-winner for lone parents; under Brown the state became the child carer. The consequences are obvious -- couples are strongly encouraged not to commit to each other because, by doing so, they will lose out financially. Both Conservative and Labour governments also removed any offsetting compensation in the tax system that had previously helped two-parent families." Government policy penalising two-parent families has had a disastrous economic and social effect. Couples who describe themselves as "closely involved" are twelve times more likely than married couples to split up in the first three years of a child’s life. There are also higher levels of worklessness and benefit dependency -- lone parent families receiving an average of 66% of their income in benefits and tax credits. Morgan shows how it is clear from international evidence, examining trends over time and by looking at the behaviour of individuals on different levels of income, that the tax and benefits system has caused the increase in lone parent families. Where there are no incentives for lone parenthood, couples tend to stay together, marry and ensure that they can support their children independently of the state. Individuals and couples respond rationally to the incentives they face -- currently the government is giving families perverse incentives, encouraging them not to form stable family units. Major changes in the tax and benefit system are necessary. Benefits to lone parents could be reduced. Also, the perverse incentives in the benefits system that discourage couples from committing together should be offset by a tax system that recognises families. In particular, families should be allowed to allocate the income of the main earner to non-earners in the family for tax purposes. Reforms to the tax and benefits system should be bolstered by reforms to the "no fault" divorce laws that currently allow a guilty party to walk away from their marriage contract whilst imposing financial penalties on the injured party. { 160pp, 130x200mm, March 2007; PB, £10.00, 0255365969:9780255365963 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| WAY OUT OF THE PENSIONS QUAGMIRE [Philip Booth & Deborah Cooper] This book provides an analysis of the current problems of pension provision in the UK and a radical plan for reform. The authors believe that the system of retirement income provision in the UK is so mired in complexity that nothing less than wholesale change is necessary. The authors believe that state pensions should only be offered on a contributory basis - there should be no automatic right to a 'citizen's pension', as has been proposed by many commentators. Attention should also be paid to the social security system to remove the perverse incentives of means testing. Anomalies and special treatment of favoured groups in the tax system should also be removed. The Way Out of the Pensions Quagmire proposes a holistic approach to pension reform that takes proper account of the interaction between pensions, tax, social security and financial regulation. { March 2005; PB, £12.50, 0255365179:9780255365178 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| WHEELS OF FORTUNE [Fred Harrison] It is often assumed that government intervention is required to bring to fruition large scale infrastructure projects because the large initial capital outlays such projects require must be funded from the public purse. In Wheels of Fortune, Fred Harrison shows that large scale infrastructure projects can be made self-funding. Infrastructure projects almost always bring about a large increase in the value of adjoining land. For example, it is estimated that the London Underground Jubilee Line extension increased adjoining land values by close to £3 billion. When such infrastructure projects are funded by government, they therefore involve a substantial transfer of wealth from a large number of taxpayers to a small number of property owners. Harrison argues that a fairer and more efficient means to fund infrastructure projects is to capture and use the increases in land values that they bring. { January 2006; PB, £12.50, 0255365896:9780255365895 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |
| WERE 364 ECONOMIST ALL WRONG? [Philip Booth (ed)] In March 1981, 364 economists agreed to write to The Times arguing strongly against the then government's monetary and fiscal policy. However, the Thatcher government decided to ignore these voices and continue the pursuit of policies to defeat inflation and restore fiscal responsibility. To the opponents of the 364, this decision marked a turning point in British post-war economic history: every other post-war government had capitulated and returned to policies of reflation and direct control of prices and incomes in the face of intense political pressures when the going was tough. The 1981 Budget, which precipitated the letter, was also a turning point in other respects: from 1981 there was continual growth, falling inflation and eventually, employment growth. Arguably, the 1981 Budget set the scene for today's benign macro-economic outlook and political consensus in favour of stable prices and fiscal prudence. Amongst the 364 were many economists who play a very prominent part in public life today. Some dissent from their former views and others continue to justify them. In this publication some of the signatories of the letter to The Times, together with their opponents discuss the key issues raised and its relevance to economic policy today. Included is a list of the original signatories and other relevant historical material. { 135pp, 130x200mm, March 2006; PB, £10.00, 0255365888:9780255365888 , Institute of Economic Affairs } |