Institute of Economic Affairs – serie

It’s one of the big questions of our time: Are there too many people in the world? Or too few?Whichever way, how would we decide? Here, economist Steven E. Landsburg, acclaimed author of The Armchair Economist and Can You Outsmart an Economist?, assesses the benefits – and the drawbacks – of having a bigger global population. The People Paradox is based on the transcript of his fascinating 2017 IEA Hayek Memorial Lecture, in which Landsburg details how the growth in the world population has brought immense improvements to our quality of life. He contends the planet still has plenty of room – and addresses continued calls for population control.Landsburg, professor of economics at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, draws on everything from modern history to everyday life (including the contents of his sock drawer!) to mount a thought-provoking, powerful – and often humorous – argument for continued population growth.With a commentary by Dr Stephen Davies, Head of Education at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London.

Politicians around the world have signed up to achieving carbon net zero by 2050. And several countries, including the UK and those in the EU, have struck a ‘new green deal’. This puts environmental taxes and subsidies at the heart of energy policy. But it’s created an immensely complex and costly merry-go-round in which even fossil fuels end up being subsidised. This chaotic system, say authors Philip Booth and Carlo Stagnaro, is wide open to regulatory capture – and to an ideologically motivated agenda. It is also less resilient to crises in energy supply, such as the one caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. In Carbon Conundrum they illustrate the incoherence, iniquities and inefficiency of this large-scale government intervention. And they warn that ‘climate change is too important a challenge to be approached in this way’. Instead, they argue for a rational ‘polluter pays’ system of taxing energy sources. This, they contend, would give individuals and businesses much more control over how they reduce carbon emissions. And it would stimulate greater levels of carbon reduction – at a much lower economic cost.

The Covid-19 pandemic was, and remains, a global disaster - claiming countless lives and wreaking economic havoc that still reverberates today. But it could have been worse. Much worse. Author Stephen Davies contends the planet 'dodged a bullet' this time around. But he warns this was no black swan event: The conflicts in the Ukraine and the Middle East already threaten global stability. And the next existential threat to mankind could happen much sooner than we think - with the chances of it happening increasing exponentially. Here he analyses the potential catastrophes - from nuclear war and climate change to further pandemics, the misuse of Artificial Intelligence and more - that could jeopardise our planet and its people. In this fascinating and at times frightening work, he examines how we assess these risks - and what we can do about them. But Davies is no Jeremiah. He firmly believes the ingenuity, imagination and innovation of millions of people around the world will ultimately secure mankind's continued existence.

For as long as the concept has existed, capitalism has been critiqued by its opponents for its alleged immorality. Collectivist thinkers and politicians have blamed the capitalist system for everything from environmental degradation to human failures like racism, misogyny, and greed. Some defenders of markets have embraced such criticisms, revelling in the supposed amorality of a market system. Yet, as this book shows, there is also a rich history of scholars who explained that the expansion of trade, a well-functioning market economy and higher living standards can be achieved in line with moral and ethical principles. Indeed, the market economy is rooted in morality, and this is precisely an approach classical political economists explored. This collection of essays by contemporary scholars covers a range of disciplines, including philosophy, theology, sociology, political science and economics. The insights within remind readers that there are strong arguments for the morality of free-market capitalism.