A market economy can nurture good human attributesIn the thirtieth IEA Discussion Paper, Philip Booth examines the moral limits to the market economy. Christians often express concerns about the way in which self interest in the market economy can become disordered or bent and thus manifest...

Modern welfare states undermine human flourishingIn the thirty-first IEA Discussion Paper, Professor Philip Booth explains how modern welfare states and high levels of public debt undermine human flourishing. His arguments are presented in the context of Catholic social teaching.Professor Booth...

There are frequent calls for financial markets to be more actively regulated by state agencies, such as the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority. They reflect neo-classical, market-failure approaches to economics, which suggest that the market does not maximise...

Animosity towards the business of finance is ancient and persistent. As finance creates intangible value, its contribution is invisible to many observers, but the proposed remedy - increased statutory regulation - may heighten, rather than mitigate the exposure of taxpayers and households to...

The system of contracting out of state pensions - a form of pension privatisation - operated very successfully in the UK until recent years with cross-party support. This was very important in ensuring that the UK system of private pension provision was one of the most successful in the Western...

This submission responds to the call for evidence. It is structured as follows. It begins with a brief answer to a number of the questions put by the Committee. In Appendices one to three, more detailed evidence is provided which, in each case, relates to one or more of the questions. Appendices...