Interview: Kristian Niemietz discusses the NHS with Ryan Bourne (video)

Kristian Niemietz

23 November 2015

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According to the Commonwealth Fund, the NHS is the best healthcare system in the world. But according to the OECD, it is one of the worst. Who is right? Is the NHS failing, or is it just underfunded? Does a nationalised healthcare sector provide ‘democratic accountability’, and would market mechanisms undermine it? Is the NHS prepared for the challenges that an ageing society poses? In this interview, Kristian Niemietz, Head of Health and Welfare at the IEA and Research Fellow at the Age Endeavour Fellowship (AEF) discusses these and other questions with Ryan Bourne, the IEA’s Head of Public Policy.

Kristian is the author of the IEA’s ‘NHS trilogy’:

·         ‘Health check: The NHS and market reforms’

·         ‘What are we afraid of? Universal healthcare in market-orientated health systems’

·         ‘A patient approach. Putting the consumer at the heart of UK healthcare’

Kristian Niemietz

Head of Political Economy

Dr Kristian Niemietz is the IEA's Editorial Director, and Head of Political Economy. Kristian studied Economics at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and the Universidad de Salamanca, graduating in 2007 as Diplom-Volkswirt (≈MSc in Economics). During his studies, he interned at the Central Bank of Bolivia (2004), the National Statistics Office of Paraguay (2005), and at the IEA (2006). He also studied Political Economy at King's College London, graduating in 2013 with a PhD. Kristian previously worked as a Research Fellow at the Berlin-based Institute for Free Enterprise (IUF), and taught Economics at King's College London. He is the author of the books "Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies" (2019), "Universal Healthcare Without The NHS" (2016), "Redefining The Poverty Debate" (2012) and "A New Understanding of Poverty" (2011).