IEA Podcast

Dr. Nima Sanandaji, a Swedish author and public policy expert, challenges the common myths surrounding Scandinavian socialism. He reveals that Sweden's economic success stemmed from a century of low taxes and free market capitalism, not socialism. The discussion highlights data showing that lower-tax countries enjoy better welfare outcomes, education, and employment rates. Sanandaji also warns about the pitfalls of high-tax welfare states and offers policy lessons from successful low-tax nations like Ireland and Malta.

Welcome to Economics 101, a new series designed to distill the fundamental principles of economics into clear, easy-to-understand explanations. Join Dr. Stephen Davies as he breaks down complex economic concepts using simple analogies and real-world examples, making economics accessible to everyone regardless of their background. Whether you’re a student, professional, or simply curious about how the economy works, this series will equip you with the essential knowledge to understand the economic forces that shape our daily lives.In this episode, Dr. Davies explores the most foundational concept in all of economics: scarcity. But scarcity doesn’t mean what most people think it means. It’s not about things being rare - it’s about resources requiring effort to acquire and transform, and the fact that using them for one purpose means you can’t use them for another. This simple insight leads to what economists call “the economic problem”: how do we decide what to produce with limited resources when people want different things? Dr. Davies explains why the price mechanism in competitive markets has proven to be the most efficient solution to this fundamental challenge, far more effective than central planning or consensus-building. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Managing Editor Daniel Freeman is joined by Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz and Energy Analyst Andy Mayer. The trio discuss the BBC’s turbulent week following Director-General Tim Davie’s resignation over misleading edits of a Trump speech, examining long-standing questions about BBC bias and whether the licence fee funding model remains justifiable in the streaming age.The conversation moves to Labour’s chaotic U-turns on child benefit caps and income tax thresholds, with Kristian unpacking why the government keeps reversing course on key policies. They analyse whether these flip-flops reflect political inexperience, poor planning, or deeper issues with Labour’s fiscal strategy and spending priorities.The episode concludes with Andy Mayer’s analysis of Britain’s potential nuclear renaissance, as Ed Miliband announces plans to build small modular reactors with Rolls-Royce. While welcoming the ambition, Andy warns that Britain’s regulatory overreach and history of cost overruns could undermine the project. The discussion covers whether Rolls-Royce can compete globally, concerns about protectionism, and why so many environmentalists remain hostile to nuclear power despite its zero-carbon credentials. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

Join Lord Kamall in conversation with Lord Matthew Elliott, one of Britain’s most prolific policy entrepreneurs, in this captivating episode of Entrepreneurial Minds. From selling magazine ads as a student at LSE to founding the Taxpayers Alliance while ducking into phone boxes in Parliament’s “dungeon,” Matthew shares the extraordinary journey of creating multiple influential campaign organisations. Discover how he built Britain’s most effective taxpayer advocacy group from scratch, navigated the Brexit campaign with Vote Leave, and founded the Jobs Foundation to help disadvantaged people into work. This isn’t your typical business startup story, it’s about entrepreneurship in the political arena, where success is measured in policy change rather than profit margins.Matthew reveals the secrets behind effective grassroots campaigning, the art of media relations, and why he believes successful campaign groups need enemies as much as allies. He discusses his controversial stance on Trump, the influence of his self-made grandfather versus his social worker father, and offers candid advice for aspiring policy entrepreneurs. Whether you’re a budding activist, interested in political campaigning, or simply curious about how ideas become movements, this conversation provides rare insights into the mechanics of political change.Recorded at the Institute of Economic Affairs in partnership with the Vinson Center at the University of Buckingham and the Buckingham Enterprise Innovation Unit, this is the second in our series exploring different forms of entrepreneurship. Subscribe for more conversations with entrepreneurs who are changing Britain, one bold idea at a time. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

In this Institute of Economic Affairs event, Managing Editor Daniel Freeman interviews Dr. Kit Kowol about his book “Blue Jerusalem: British Conservatism, Winston Churchill, and the Second World War” published by Oxford University Press. The conversation examines the surprisingly dynamic and idealistic aspects of the British right during World War Two and their competing visions for post-war Britain, challenging the myth that only Labour had ideas for the home front while Conservatives focused solely on military strategy.Kit discusses the conservative intellectual renaissance that occurred during the war years, explaining how the absence of strong party control allowed a flowering of bottom-up thinking through journals, pamphlets, dining clubs and proto-think tanks. He explores how different factions within the Conservative Party fought over Britain’s future, from those advocating for economic planning to free marketeers warning against socialism. The conversation covers the debate between those who wanted a “people’s war” with revolutionary citizen armies versus professional military leadership, and how these wartime arguments shaped Britain’s political trajectory.The discussion concludes with reflections on why the Conservatives lost in 1945 despite wartime achievements, the post-war consensus that marginalised free market voices, and why the Conservative Party cannot simply look to the past for answers to today’s challenges. Kit argues that modern Britain is radically different from 1945 or even 1997, requiring fresh thinking rather than historical parallels. This event took place at the IEA, the organisation whose intellectual origins emerged from the same wartime milieu Kit documents in his book. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, IEA Head of Media Reem Ibrahim interviews Lord David Frost, the incoming Director General and Ralph Harris Fellow at the IEA. The conversation covers Lord Frost’s unusual political journey from Labour Party member to free marketeer, shaped by his experiences as a civil servant in Brussels during the 1990s. He discusses how witnessing the EU’s centralisation drive and the genesis of the single currency revealed the problems of politics overwhelming rational economics.Lord Frost explains his transition from the civil service to political life, culminating in his role negotiating Brexit and his subsequent elevation to the House of Lords. He reflects on the failures of the Brexit process, particularly the gutting of regulatory reform opportunities and the retention of EU laws that should have been scrapped. The discussion examines why Brexit hasn’t delivered the economic benefits promised, with Lord Frost identifying government dysfunction, excessive taxation, and regulatory burdens as key barriers rather than Brexit itself.The interview concludes with Lord Frost’s vision for the IEA and the free market movement. He argues that Britain needs fundamental solutions to its dysfunction in housing, energy, public services, and welfare. Lord Frost advocates for preparing the intellectual groundwork through serious research that explains how markets work better, similar to what the IEA achieved in the 1970s. He believes the movement must focus less on short-term tactical wins and more on winning the long-term war of ideas, making free market solutions the obvious answer when Britain reaches its crisis point. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Head of Media Reem Ibrahim speaks with Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz and Managing Editor Daniel Freeman about three major political developments. The conversation covers Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s unprecedented pre-budget speech delivered at 8pm on Tuesday evening, Nigel Farage’s shift towards Thatcherism, and socialist Zohran Mamdani’s election victory in New York.The discussion examines Reeves’s hints at significant tax increases ahead of the budget, with Daniel explaining how the government may raise between £20-30 billion through various measures. They analyse the possibility of increasing the basic rate of income tax for the first time since 1975 under Denis Healey, which would breach Labour’s 2024 manifesto commitments. The impact of last year’s employer National Insurance contributions hike is explored, particularly the damage to youth employment and job vacancies. Kristian contextualises the persistent budget deficit and record-high public spending and taxation, arguing that broad-based tax increases were inevitable given Labour’s unwillingness to cut spending.The podcast concludes with analysis of Zohran Mamdani’s New York mayoral victory and its implications for Democratic Socialists of America. They discuss his proposals for state-run grocery stores and free bus travel, debating whether this represents a genuine socialist revival or a localised phenomenon. The conversation explores potential spillover effects to UK politics, including Green Party politicians like Zack Polanski attempting to ride similar socialist waves, and whether international political trends can successfully transfer across different contexts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Managing Editor Daniel Freeman interviews Professor Donald Boudreaux, who is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a senior fellow at the Mercatus Center, and a member of the IEA’s Academic Advisory Council. The conversation focuses on Boudreaux’s new book, The Triumph of Economic Freedom: Debunking the Seven Myths of American Capitalism, co-authored with former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm. They discuss why these economic myths persist and how they distort policy debates in both the United States and the United Kingdom.The interview examines several key myths, starting with the claim that the Industrial Revolution impoverished workers. Professor Boudreaux presents evidence showing that real wages, living standards, and life expectancy began rising for ordinary workers in Britain no later than the 1840s, and possibly as early as the mid-18th century. They discuss the so-called Engels pause and why workers voluntarily moved from the countryside to urban factories, voting with their feet for better economic prospects. The conversation also tackles the debate around tariffs and protectionism, particularly addressing claims that 19th century American prosperity was built on high tariffs rather than economic freedom and open immigration policies.The discussion concludes with an analysis of the China shock and manufacturing job losses in America. Professor Boudreaux presents research showing that regions affected by increased Chinese trade are actually better off today than before, and that approximately 87% of manufacturing job losses come from labour-saving technology rather than trade. He challenges the national security argument for tariffs, noting that broad-based tariffs like those imposed by recent US administrations hit allies just as hard as adversaries. Throughout the conversation, they emphasize how economic myths continue to shape misguided policies despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

In this Institute of Economic Affairs clip, Aymen Aulaiwi explains how Stalin's command economy functioned and why centrally planned socialist systems inevitably fail. He breaks down the mechanics of Soviet five-year plans, where Gosplan set production targets that cascaded down through ministries to individual factories, completely bypassing market signals and consumer demand. Aulaiwi describes how Stalin's obsession with heavy industry - driven by Marx's "fetishisation of industry" and fears of capitalist invasion - led to an economy that prioritised steel and coal production over consumer goods, creating a system where "I do not buy sheets of steel off a catalogue, but I do buy lamps and textbooks." The discussion explores the three fundamental problems that doom all command economies: information asymmetries, soft budget constraints, and principal-agent problems. Using the example of a Newcastle café owner wanting to sell Dubai chocolate versus a Birmingham baker making poppyseed muffins, Aulaiwi illustrates Hayek's argument that economic information is too dispersed and localised for any central planner to understand. He explains how this connects to Marx's outdated labor theory of value, which ignores both the role of capital and consumer demand, treating products purely as embodiments of labor time rather than responses to market needs. Aulaiwi reveals a striking contradiction at the heart of Stalin's "socialist" system - despite Marx's belief that capital was pure exploitation, Stalin actually focused obsessively on capital accumulation and investment levels, making him "literally a capitalist" who suppressed worker consumption to fund industrial expansion. The conversation demonstrates why socialist calculation is impossible without real market prices, and how even modern attempts to introduce "social costs" like carbon taxes face the same information problems that destroyed the Soviet economy. This clip provides a devastating Austrian School critique showing why socialist economics cannot work in practice, regardless of good intentions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Head of Media and Linda Whetstone Scholar Reem Ibrahim interviews Deirdre McCloskey, Isaiah Berlin Chair in Liberal Thought at the Cato Institute and Distinguished Professor Emerita of Economics, History, English and Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The conversation explores McCloskey’s concept of “equality of permission” from her forthcoming book, examining how this primary liberalism of 1776 and 1789 differs from modern notions of equality of opportunity and equality of outcome.McCloskey argues that true liberalism isn’t about material redistribution or state-enforced equal starting points, but about removing obstacles that prevent people from pursuing their own flourishing. She critiques both socialist equality of outcomes and the impossible goal of equality of opportunity, advocating instead for a society with no masters rather than no poor. The discussion covers how this framework applies to occupational licensing, immigration, consumer protection, and economic regulation, with McCloskey contending that professional licensing requirements and government regulations often create artificial barriers rather than genuine protection.The interview concludes with reflections on the future of liberalism and the importance of free speech and a free press as essential battlegrounds. McCloskey draws parallels between government censorship of drama in London until 1967 and modern debates about regulating AI and hate speech. She remains optimistic that people’s hearts desire freedom, while warning against the temptation to become “wards of the state” rather than free adults. The conversation touches on everything from Abraham Lincoln’s self-education to the quality of ploughman’s lunches in Oxford pubs. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe