Made in Britain: The 500-Year Story Behind the Industrial Revolution | IEA Interview

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Daniel Freeman, Managing Editor at the IEA, speaks with Dr. Gregory Clark, Professor of Economics at the University of Southern Denmark and author of A Farewell to Alms (2008) and The Son Also Rises (2014). The conversation explores why economic growth was almost non-existent before 1800 and what set Britain on the path to the Industrial Revolution, focusing on the relationship between social mobility, fertility patterns and the gradual transformation of human behaviour over centuries.Dr. Clark sets out his argument that pre-industrial England was characterised by a consistent fertility advantage among the upper and middle classes, with wealthier families producing significantly more surviving children than poorer ones. He explains how this demographic pressure drove the slow downward spread of commercially useful traits through the population over many generations, contributing to declining interest rates, rising literacy, and falling rates of violence long before industrialisation took hold. The discussion also covers why other societies with comparably sound institutions, including ancient Rome, Babylonia and Qing Dynasty China, never made the same transition, and what role European marriage patterns, particularly the tendency to marry later and for love rather than family arrangement, may have played in shaping the distribution of abilities within society.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. 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, Callum Price is joined by Kristian Niemietz, IEA Editorial Director, and Lord Frost, IEA Director General. They discuss the OECD’s latest growth forecasts, which place the UK as the hardest hit economy in the G20, the Government’s response to the energy price shock, and what — if anything — should be done about rising inflation.The conversation then turns to the Government’s new towns plan, narrowed from 12 to 7 proposed sites. Kristian and Lord Frost debate whether these amount to genuine new towns or simply extensions of existing conurbations, whether the history of new towns offers any useful lessons, and whether the current planning system is capable of delivering the housing numbers the country needs.The final segment examines a piece in The Critic by Steve Loftus arguing that AI will be so transformative that capitalism itself will need to be replaced. Kristian and Lord Frost push back, questioning whether AI is truly different in principle from previous technological revolutions, what the productivity figures actually show so far, and what Hayek’s insights about tacit knowledge mean for the limits of machine intelligence.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff.0:00 Introduction 1:56 OECD Growth Forecasts & The UK’s Energy Crisis 11:20 New Towns: Central Planning or Pragmatic Housing Policy? 24:18 Will AI Replace Capitalism? 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

Are we living through the biggest financial bubble in history — and does anyone in power know it? In this IEA event, Rt Hon Steve Baker FRSA and Max Rangeley present a joint case that decades of deficit spending, money creation and artificially low interest rates have inflated an asset bubble unprecedented in its scale and scope. Drawing on data from the OBR, the Bank of England and the OECD, Baker sets out the broad strategic context: from Nixon closing the gold window in 1971 and the collapse in the purchasing power of money, to the tripling of the UK money supply between 1997 and 2010, and the Government effectively printing its way through Covid.Rangeley then takes the argument further, showing how each recession since the late 1980s has been met with lower interest rates and larger debt bubbles — from the dot-com crash to the 2008 financial crisis to the present day, where total global debt has surpassed $300 trillion. Using original data on corporate productivity, zombie companies and asset valuations, he argues that this cheap credit has not driven investment and innovation but instead entrenched stagnation, priced young people out of housing, and suppressed birth rates across the developed world.Baker closes with a warning and a call to action. When this bubble bursts, he argues, it must not be misdiagnosed as a failure of free markets — it is the product of a centrally planned monetary system propping up a welfare state that cannot fund itself through taxation alone. The speakers urge economists, journalists and policymakers to undergo a paradigm shift in economic thinking before it is too late, and make the case that the choice ahead is not inevitable decline but one between collapse and renewal.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. 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, host Callum Price is joined by Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz and, making his first appearance on the podcast, Senior Economist Dr Valentin Boboc. Together they discuss a busy week in British economic policy. The episode opens with Rachel Reeves' Mace lecture, in which the Chancellor set out her theory of growth and the case for an "active and strategic state." The panel assess what she got right on diagnosis, where the contradictions lie, and what the same-day announcement of 50% steel tariffs reveals about the direction of travel.The conversation then turns to the Green Party leader’s economic speech, which the panel characterise as “karaoke anti-Thatcherism” — a consistent set of arguments, consistently wrong. Topics covered include the claim that private housebuilding cannot solve the housing crisis, the energy supply problem, and the proposal for a wealth tax projected to raise around £15 billion, which Dr. Bok notes is roughly four or five days of current government spending. Kristian also examines the historical record of wealth taxes and why a narrowly targeted version is unlikely to raise the sums being claimed. The episode also addresses the government’s approach to youth unemployment, where measures including the National Insurance rise and the Employment Rights Bill are seen to be working against the very problem a new youth employment hub is supposed to fix.The final segment covers a piece on supermarket planning restrictions, exploring how the town centre first policy has driven up costs, squeezed out independent retailers and forced supermarkets into buildings never designed for the purpose. The panel argue that the real issue is not supermarket-specific but reflects a broader failure of land use and planning policy — one with consequences across housing, energy, infrastructure and the cost of living.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff.Photo: Chris McAndrew / UK Parliament 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

Governments across Europe have convinced themselves they can pick winners, drive innovation and save the planet — all at the same time. But what happens when the bill comes due? Kristian Niemietz is joined by Professor Kristin Sandstrom and Professor Magnus Henriksen, authors of a new IEA report on green industrial policy in the EU, to find out.From Northvolt — the European Union’s flagship battery manufacturer that became Sweden’s largest bankruptcy since the 1930s — to the broader failure of the Green Deal to deliver on its promises, the case studies are damning. The professors argue that the problem with industrial policy is not just picking winners, but creating losers: distorting markets, misallocating capital and leaving local communities to foot the bill.Climate policy has become the Trojan horse for a new era of big government intervention — and the economics profession has largely failed to push back. This interview cuts through the green rhetoric and asks what a genuine exit strategy from the Green New Deal would actually look like.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff.The professors' book, A Green Entrepreneurial State?, is open access and available here: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-15512-2 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 Andy Mayer, IEA Chief Operating Officer, with Sean Ridley, energy and environment analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies and co-author of Power to the Markets, for a comprehensive breakdown of why Britain’s energy market has stopped functioning as a market at all. This episode of Free the Power explores how decades of subsidies, government targets, and intervention have eroded price signals to the point where costs are locked in for generations, and consumers are left footing the bill.Ridley traces the journey from the 2008 Climate Change Act through to Ed Miliband’s Clean Power 2030 plan, explaining how a drive to decarbonise the grid has produced a system built around capacity rather than price. The discussion unpacks the Contracts for Difference model, the Renewables Obligation, and the regulated asset base model for Sizewell C, revealing how each layer of policy has compounded costs for households. As one industry executive told a parliamentary committee, even if wholesale prices halved, bills would still rise due to the upward pressure of accumulated policy decisions.The conversation also examines Great British Energy, the government’s flagship national energy champion, questioning whether an £8 billion capitalisation can realistically compete with the likes of EDF or Orsted, and whether it risks becoming a return to 1970s-style nationalised industry. Ridley argues that Power Purchase Agreements, better price signals, and a genuine market role for small modular reactors offer a credible alternative path to cheap, reliable energy without the government picking winners.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. 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

Inheritance tax is one of Britain’s most hated taxes -- but is the outrage justified? Kristian Niemietz sits down with Rory Meakin, Research Fellow at the Taxpayers’ Alliance and author of a new IEA paper on inheritance tax, to examine what this tax actually does, how much it raises, and whether it makes any economic sense. From the farmer protests that pushed the issue back into the headlines, to the surprising fact that Britain sits in the global top five for inheritance tax rates, this conversation cuts through the politics to look at the hard numbers.Rory and Kristian explore the serious practical problems with inheritance tax -- from the near-impossible task of valuing a privately owned family business, to the compliance costs that fall squarely on grieving families rather than the state. They also tackle the ideological debate head-on, revealing that the case for a 100% inheritance tax has been made not just by left-wing commentators, but by figures like James Buchanan, the Nobel Prize-winning father of public choice economics -- and they explain why that argument ultimately fails in the British context.The conclusion is striking: inheritance tax doesn’t raise much revenue, likely damages savings and investment, and is the least popular tax in Britain -- yet the current system is more punitive than most comparable countries, particularly when it comes to passing wealth to your own children. Rory sets out what a reformed system could look like, including raising the threshold to £2 million -- which would remove 95% of estates from the tax altogether -- and explains why, even if full abolition is off the table, there are straightforward ways to make this tax far less damaging.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. 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 episode of the IEA Podcast, Lord Frost is joined by Kristian Niemietz and Andy Mayer to discuss the growing “Dubai phenomenon” — why increasing numbers of Brits are leaving the UK to build a better life abroad, and why politicians like Ed Davey are wrong to criticise them for it. The panel argues that rather than attacking those who leave, Britain should be asking why it can no longer offer the living standards, low crime, and economic opportunity that draws people to places like Dubai in the first place.The conversation turns to energy policy, where Andy Mayer welcomes the Government’s moves to implement the Fingleton Review on nuclear energy, making the case that a nuclear-led decarbonisation strategy would cost around £400 billion less than the current renewables-heavy approach. The panel challenge the Committee on Climate Change’s claim that net zero will cost Britain almost nothing, arguing the assumptions behind it are implausible and that nuclear power — with a 90% capacity factor versus solar’s 10-12% — is simply a far more reliable and affordable path to decarbonisation.Finally, the panel examines a troubling free speech case in Germany, where an IEA author was accused of posting a Nazi symbol for sharing a satirical image comparing Putin to Hitler. Kristian and Andy argue this reflects a broader erosion of free speech culture across the West — where laws designed for a pre-internet world are being weaponised in bad faith to silence political opponents, and where the only real safeguard is a strong cultural commitment to free expression that is increasingly absent.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. 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

Callum Price is joined by Dr Lawrence Newport, co-founder of Looking for Growth, a grassroots movement pushing for meaningful economic reform across the UK. Lawrence explains how the movement was born out of frustration with the Government’s first budget, which he argues was indistinguishable from years of previous Treasury thinking, typified by managed decline and a lack of ambition from the political class.The conversation covers the deep structural problems holding Britain back, from the inability to build infrastructure at reasonable cost and speed, to a legal and planning system that actively subsidises frivolous objections. Lawrence draws on concrete examples, including the Thames Valley Crossing, HS2, and the extraordinary case of a 30-year charity kite festival being shut down over a rare flower, to illustrate how quangos and an ever-expanding regulatory regime are strangling the country’s capacity to get things done.The pair also discuss the student loans crisis and the campaign to release Longitudinal Educational Outcomes data so that parents and students can make genuinely informed decisions about university. Lawrence argues that universities have engaged in deeply misleading practices for years, and that publishing this data in full would shatter a number of sacred assumptions about the value of a degree, ultimately benefiting students, taxpayers, and universities alike in the long run.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. 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

On the 250th anniversary of its publication, we revisit one of the most consequential books ever written: Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. Published on 9th March 1776 — the same year as the American Declaration of Independence — Smith’s masterwork laid the intellectual foundations for modern economics, free trade, and the idea that individual freedom, properly channelled through law and competition, can transform entire nations from poverty to prosperity.Daniel Freeman is joined by Dr Mark Skousen, presidential fellow at Chapman University and author of The Making of Modern Economics and the new IEA paper The Genius of Adam Smith. Together they explore why Smith, a Scottish moral philosopher with no economics department to his name, produced ideas that still define debates about wealth, inequality, and the role of government today. From the invisible hand to the system of natural liberty, Skousen unpacks why Smith’s three grand principles — justice, freedom, and competition — remain as radical and relevant as ever.They also take stock of the state of the Adam Smith model in 2026, asking whether his vision of peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice is advancing or retreating in the face of rising protectionism, trade wars, and renewed enthusiasm for state intervention. With Smith’s ideas increasingly under pressure from all sides of the political spectrum, this conversation is a timely reminder of what is at stake — and why, 250 years on, the debate Smith started is far from over.The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff. 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