On 8 March 2016, the IEA hosted the event ‘Should supporters of free markets support Britain’s continuing membership of the EU?’. … Continue reading “Free-marketeers should support Britain’s membership of the EU”

Supra-national authorities, such as the EU, should do two things. They should restrain governments from over-stepping their natural authority. Second, … Continue reading “What would a Brexit mean for the UK’s financial system?”

In Part 1 of this post, I looked at the way international financial regulation encouraged complexity and regulatory capture. In … Continue reading “The systemic risk of international financial regulation (Part 2)”

In the last 30 years there has been a huge movement towards the internationalisation of financial regulation. This manifests itself … Continue reading “The systemic risk of international financial regulation (Part 1)”

Tomorrow, Financial Markets Commissioner Lord Hill will be releasing his much-awaited Green Paper on creating a Capital Markets Union (CMU) … Continue reading “Post-crisis financial regulation: intentions vs. consequences”

Our financial regulators are not known for their incisive economic analysis, but more for tying up in red tape sectors … Continue reading “Financial consumers – not as daft as they look (to regulators)”

Two fallacies are common in the EU debate. One is the ‘nirvana fallacy’, the idea that, if we leave the … Continue reading “What Brexit would really mean for financial services”

Banks are embroiled in another “mis-selling” scandal, but we can be sure that customer behaviour won’t be affected. Few people … Continue reading “Customers have no incentive to punish mis-selling banks”

In August 2010, the IEA published Does Britain Need a Financial Regulator? Written by Professor Philip Booth and myself, with … Continue reading “State regulation: a scourge on the financial landscape”