IEA Senior Education Fellow Stephen Davies has written for CapX discussing his new book Apocalypse Next, which highlights the growing risk of Global Catastrophic Events (GCEs) and sets out a new approach to preparing for them.

Steve wrote:

“We need to consider such risks the right way, based on good science, probabilistic reasoning and mathematics – and a sound economic understanding of costs and benefits.

“Even with GCRs, there are some ways of responding that are either futile or actively counterproductive, in some cases as bad as the thing they are meant to guard against. An example of this are demands for top-down global government or controls on innovation.

“This is the exact opposite of what we should do. Not only would it create a permanent global tyranny (itself a GCR), but it would cut off the best ways we have of producing solutions and leave us at the mercy of the choices of well-intentioned but ignorant and fallible elites.

“Primarily, though, we should champion market exchange and free institutions, which have proven the most effective tool to deliver sustained innovation. Rather than a global Apollo or Manhattan Project, this means unleashing the ingenuity of billions of individuals to tackle these difficult, existential challenges. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it offers our best chance of achieving the innovation necessary to make it through the next century.”

Read Stephen’s full piece here.

Find out more about Apocalypse Next here and purchase a copy on Amazon.