Kristian Niemietz – författare

The political debate about poverty is entirely dominated by groups calling for more income transfers to the poor. However, now that the scope of our welfare state has reached - or even surpassed - Scandinavian levels, surely this approach has run its course. Award-winning author Kristian Niemietz lays out another approach to dealing with the problem of poverty - one that focuses on addressing the problems caused by government interventions that raise the cost of living. These interventions are enormous in their effect on the poor. As the author points out, the poverty lobbies are more or less silent on these crucial matters. This has not always been the case. In the past, free-trade movements, for example, had been seen as pro-poor movements. Alongside radical market reforms, the author proposes wide-ranging welfare reform to encourage work and remove the penalties on family formation. This would include a form of negative income tax system and the localisation of welfare decisions.

The British National Health Service remains the sacred cow of British politics - any criticism is considered beyond the pale, guaranteed to trigger angry responses and accusations of bad faith. This book argues that the NHS should not be insulated from reasoned debate. In terms of health outcomes, it is one of the worst systems in the developed world, well behind those of other high-income countries. The NHS does achieve universal access to healthcare, but so do the health systems in every other developed country (with the exception of the US). Britain is far from being the only country where access to healthcare does not depend on an individual's ability to pay. Author Kristian Niemietz draws on a wealth of international evidence to develop a vision for a universal healthcare system based on consumer sovereignty, freedom of choice, competition and pluralism. His roadmap for reform charts a path from the status quo to a more desirable and effective alternative.

Why did the West become rich? Was it the product of institutions, culture, and economic policies? Or were foreign expansion, imperialist exploitation and the slave trade the keys to prosperity? In this book, Kristian Niemietz takes the reader beyond the ‘Culture War’ debates around the legacy of the British Empire, and looks at the economics of imperialism. By examining the empirical work of modern historians of colonialism, as well as the views of contemporary figures ranging from Adam Smith to Karl Marx, Niemietz explores a debate which has raged for three centuries and is only growing more contentious. Drawing on data from various European colonial empires, Niemietz casts doubt on the claim – popular among both 19th-century imperialists and modern-day progressives – that empire was a crucial factor in the West’s rise to prosperity. Instead, he shows that – its immorality aside – Western colonialism was simply bad economics. Far from being a story of plunder leading to sustained growth, the story of empire is an all too familiar tale of vested interests using the state to secure private benefits while leaving the taxpayer to foot the bill.