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FMNews
Email List Archive
Doh... No idea how, but in last month's news bulletin I forgot to tell you about one of the most important newspaper articles I have seen in two decades. It's by Anthony Browne, the health editor of the Observer. His point: that with all its waiting lists, mistakes, and inefficiencies, the NHS treats people not just badly but inhumanely. Though he comes from the left and has always supported the NHS, now he thinks that UK healthcare is being held back by misplaced ideology. Sensational. Look on the Observer website or link to http://www.observer.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,564801,00.html . In my opinion... ...we need a new Marshall Plan to spread democracy across the world. Yes, maybe we have to use military force against extremists. But just as importantly, we need to get the world's populations co-operating with each other through trade and through markets. Democracies don't commonly go to war with each other -- the citizens who ultimately control them have too much to lose -- and countries which trade with each other can't afford wars either. Markets and democracy are our best safeguard against future terrorism. Let's encourage them. See my article in the front page of the website, at http://www.adamsmith.org.uk . Have you ever wondered... ...why the Treasury has only a ten-minute break for morning tea? Simple: any longer and they'd have to re-train all the economists. Events, events Quite a bit going on at ASI, as usual. I'm just back from our 100-strong conference on utilities in London, and tonight I'm off to our discussion dinner in the House of Commons where departmental and academic experts are looking at what we need to do with the welfare state to make it fit for the 21st Century. I'll be posting more about that project soon on our issues page: http://www.adamsmith.org.uk/cissues/home.htm . Over the last month we've had power lunches with Derek Morris (head of the competition commission), Lord Rees-Mogg (of the Times), Andrew Alexander (the Daily Mail's business guru), and Adam Raphael (of the Economist). Coming up we have TV watchdog Patricia Hodgson, investor/columnist Irwin Stelzer, prison doctor Theodore Dalrymple, and government traffic adviser David Begg. And over 100 sixth-formers have already signed up for our annual Seminar of the Open Society in Westminster next month. Impressive, or what? For information on these events, email events@adamsmith.org.uk , or visit our forward diary page at http://www.adamsmith.org.uk/policy/news/forward.htm . Education, education, education And it doesn't end there. Our big education project kicks off with a lunchtime seminar for leading public and private providers. Over the next ten months, we're looking in detail at how to bring new sources of supply -- including schools run by parents, churches, and local community groups -- into state-funded education. There's more about that on our issues page too. As Adam had it... Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence (said Adam Smith in a lecture of 1755), but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice. After the theft of Railtrack and plenty of other illiberal legislation recently, I'm beginning to wonder whether we have any of those things at all... - Adam Smith Institute, 23 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BL, UK Tel +44 (0)20 7222 4995 - Fax +44 (0)20 7222 7544 E-mail info@adamsmith.org - Web www.adamsmith.org
In December 2004 this page was modified significantly from its original form for archiving purposes.
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