‘Stop the Gangs’ Approach Won’t Stop the Boats
15 August 2024
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Monetary Policy
Housing and Planning
Economic Theory
15 August 2024
Len Shackleton quoted in The Express
IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Len Shackleton has been quoted in a Daily Express article on small boat crossings in the channel, arguing that cracking down on people smuggling gangs will have a minimal impact on crossings due to the highly profitable nature of the business.
Len was quoted:
“The Labour Party, like the Conservatives before them, claims to want to stop the small boats. But is their alternative plan – ‘to stop the gangs’ – likely to succeed? I fear it will not.
“The reasons why they won’t have to do with the economics of the problem. The ‘supply’ of small boats is not the monopoly of a Bond-style ‘Mr Big’, stroking a cat while he dictates where boats should be launched.
“Given the extraordinarily high profits of this dreadful trade, breaking one or two gangs would have little impact.
“Removing some of the bad guys will mean that would-be migrants will for a while have difficulties finding boats, and the price charged by the remaining bad guys will rise.”
You can read the full article here.
You can also read Len’s full blog post The Economics of the Small Boats.
Len was quoted:
“The Labour Party, like the Conservatives before them, claims to want to stop the small boats. But is their alternative plan – ‘to stop the gangs’ – likely to succeed? I fear it will not.
“The reasons why they won’t have to do with the economics of the problem. The ‘supply’ of small boats is not the monopoly of a Bond-style ‘Mr Big’, stroking a cat while he dictates where boats should be launched.
“Given the extraordinarily high profits of this dreadful trade, breaking one or two gangs would have little impact.
“Removing some of the bad guys will mean that would-be migrants will for a while have difficulties finding boats, and the price charged by the remaining bad guys will rise.”
You can read the full article here.
You can also read Len’s full blog post The Economics of the Small Boats.
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