The IEA is an educational charity in the classical liberal tradition, whose mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental … Continue reading “The social costs of fraud and its prevention “

Noah Smith used this curious phrase in a recent piece on “The pushback against industrial policy” to justify a preference … Continue reading “The Technological Externality of Scaling”

“UK gas exports sourced from the North Sea and the Irish Sea double in a year… even as millions of … Continue reading “The Daily Mail’s “energy mercantilism” is deeply misguided”

You would think that half the UK energy suppliers going bust would be quite a good indicator that they are … Continue reading “The public is dangerously misinformed on energy policy”

Market failures are not simply outcomes you do not like. They are institutional inefficiencies such as externalities (where a proportion … Continue reading “When market failure attracts rent-seekers”

A long time ago – when people were more worried about global cooling than warming, but were just as worried … Continue reading “The market as a learning process”

The energy-price crisis is an economic problem. It is not a moral problem. It is a matter of bringing supply … Continue reading “Energy price hikes: less moralising, more economics”

Debates over climate policy often get bogged down in different judgments about future technological progress and costs. What will our … Continue reading “Net Zero is a flawed and irrational policy”

Ian Mulheirn, the Director of Consulting at Oxford Economics and a former HM Treasury economist, has published an article arguing … Continue reading “How to define Britain’s housing shortage away”

The UK government has published its proposed legislation to implement a temporary cap on domestic energy prices. Those encouraged by … Continue reading “The government’s ‘temporary’ energy price cap is bad economics”

Jeremy Corbyn described the recent Queen’s Speech as “thin gruel”. It didn’t “have enough meat for one year, let alone … Continue reading “Why ‘thin gruel’ need not be a bad thing in politics”

Aggregation is the ignis fatuus of modern modes of thought. Sums beguile. Averages bamboozle. Reality is found at the margins.

The purpose of markets is to discover the clearing price at which supply and demand balance. Demand is not simply … Continue reading “Academic interest: the free-market case against subsidised student loans”

Aggregation is the ignis fatuus of modern modes of thought. Sums beguile. Averages bamboozle. Reality is found at the margins. … Continue reading “Fickle as the wind”