Mancur Olson explained in The Logic of Collective Action (1965) that the free rider problem and the paradox of participation discourage rational consumers from taking collective action to oppose policies that disadvantage them. The lack of grassroots opposition to 'nanny state' policies from...

In 2016, the IEA and EPICENTER launched the first edition of Dr Christopher Snowdon's 'Nanny State Index', which tries to measure the degree of restrictiveness of paternalistic policies that interfere with personal lifestyle choices in various areas. 'Nanny state' is obviously a pejorative term,...

The benefits of innovation are unpredictable and hard to quantify. Fear of adverse consequences can lead to excessive emphasis on risk avoidance, leading to regulation that holds back beneficial innovation. The experience in tobacco harm reduction illustrates this.Innovative reduced-risk...

The UK and Sweden have the lowest smoking rates in the European Union as a result of consumers switching from cigarettes to low risk nicotine products. Public Health England and other health organisations have concluded that the health risks of vaping are unlikely to exceed 5% of the risks of...