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--------------------------------------------------------------------------- IN THIS BULLETIN... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LECTURES, LUNCHES, SEMINARS, MEETINGS, YOU NAME IT STUFF (well, there's no way of describing it, really) WORLD DOMINATION (but we hope to retain our humility...) THE STATE WE'RE IN: Sad statistics gleaned from the ePolitix news pages BUT FIRST... A new element has been discovered -- Governmentium. It has 1 neutron, 22 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 124 assistant deputy neutrons. Although inert, it impedes every reaction it touches: even the simplest process can take months or years if Governmentium is brought in. It has no half-life, and its mass actually increases over time due to periodic structural reorganizations. Governmentium is formed by morons concentrating in a quantity that scientists call a 'critical morass'. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPCOMING EVENTS: more on http://www.adamsmith.org/policy/news/forward.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOOK BOOZE-UP: Professor John Hibbs launches his hard-hitting new Kogan Page book on the economics and politics of transport at a Great Smith Street reception on Tuesday 11 March at 6pm (very brief remarks by the author at 7pm: free Valium for transport planners before they begin). Lots of bigwigs from transport/politics/economics there...why not you? Call Steve on 020 7222 4995 or email events@adamsmith.org to sign in. AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 IDEAS: On 8 April at 6pm we're launching our new website www.80Ideas.net with a reception in Westminster. Author Keith Boyfield will be on hand to explain (briefly!) some of the fascinating and innovative ideas from other countries, whereby people have been able to deliver public services better or cheaper, or get government out of their provision altogether. The site covers everything from library privatization to airline/airport deregulation, to pollution permits. Sign in by emailing events@adamsmith.org or call Steve on 020 7222 4995. TWIGG DROPS IN: The Spring Adam Smith Lecture 2003, sponsored by Provident Financial, will be given by the schools minister, Stephen Twigg MP and takes place at 6.15pm on Tuesday 13 May in Church House Conference Centre, Great Smith Street, London SW1. For information and invitations, email events@adamsmith.org or call Steve on 020 7222 4995. MULLIN THINGS OVER: Parliament's Home Affairs Committee chair Chris Mullin MP comes in for a lunchtime discussion on prison, drugs and all sorts of other nasty things, Thursday 13 March. EGGERS FOR BREAKFAST: William Eggers, Director for Deloitte Research and a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research will lead a morning seminar on public-private partnerships and 'networked government' at the Institute on Wednesday 12 March. SLEAZEBUSTER BURSTS IN: Sir Nigel Wicks, chair of the commission on standards in public life, joins us at a Power Lunch in Westminster on Tuesday 18 March. Email steve@adamsmith.org for invitations. RAYNSFORD BRIGADED: Local-government minister Nick Raynsford talks about the firefighters' strike, the council tax, and more, at a Power Lunch on Tuesday 25 March. Email steve@adamsmith.org for invitations. RUSH TO JUDGEMENT: Washington trade expert Greg Rushford joins us for a lunchtime roundtable on Friday 28 March to review world trade policy. GREAT AND THE BAD: We've just signed up foreign-policy expert Lord (Charles) Powell for a Power Lunch on 17 June. And on 15 May we will have the dynamic and irreverent ex-Sun editor Kelvin McKenzie. Should be good. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- STUFF --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FAME AT LAST: I see that one of my own books is being offered as a prize on home page of http://www.free-market.net . Can't be selling, I guess. INFO: Daniel Brett, Managing Editor of "World of Information" is seeking specialists to write country-by-country analyses of the political and economic developments in the past year. Email dan@worldinformation.com for information or to respond. KIWIS NETTED: I'm going to feature the New Zealand Business Roundtable on the 'Super Sites' section of http://www.adamsmith.org pretty soon. They have a big online database of articles, submissions, speeches, publications and other resources at http://www.nzbr.org.nz (but you heard it here first). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GUESS WHO'S COMING TO LUNCH? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUGGESTIONS PLEASE: We're pondering who to include as guest speakers in our Summer/Autumn series of Power Lunches. Let us have your suggestions on interesting and entertaining guests. Email events@adamsmith.org please. NEXT NEXT GENERATION: And likewise for The Next Generation Group members... who would you like to see in our Autumn programme? Email tng@adamsmith.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOMORROW, THE WORLD... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GET-TOGETHERS: Our conference division continues to expand our programme of East/West conferences on key economic sectors. Coming up: - The Russian retail sector (1-2 April, Moscow) - Transport infrastructure projects (8-9 April, Prague) - Pharmaceuticals and healthcare (21-22 May, St Petersburg) Find the full listings on http://www.asi-conferences.com TEACHING THE WORLD TO SING: I told you about Tanzanian rap star Mr Ebbo's toe-tapping video on privatization which we helped write and produce. Our international division is now working on projects in pretty well every continent, though Australia and Antarctica continue to elude us. We're helping governments and state enterprises to reform all over the globe. Visit http://www.adamsmithinstitute.com for more details and contacts. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FURTHER FATUOUS FACTS: gleaned from the pages of ePolitix.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - A government-backed course advises pupils under 16 to try oral sex as part of a drive to cut teenage pregnancies. - The Institute for Public Policy Research is proposing new taxes on the airline industry in a bid to slow passenger numbers. Well they would... - Some 70 percent of new spending on public services has gone into wages. Real frontline improvements grew by only 2.3 percent. - Government ministers clocked up over a million miles in chauffeur-driven car journeys last year (while telling the rest of us to use the bus more). - Lord Irvine's annual bill for advisers and consultants has inceased from 400,000 pounds to 2,500,000 pounds since Labour came to power. - Network Rail has begun a programme of redundancies in a bid to reduce its billion-pound operating budget by 10-15 percent. - The Better Regulation Taskforce has reported seven Whitehall bodies to the National Audit Office for underestimating the burden of their red tape. - The Chancellor's promise to double public investment spending will fail because departments have spent less than half their infrastructure budgets. - Meanwhile, business investment has fallen faster than any time over the last 40 years. I wonder what brought that on? (hint: see all 8 items above) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- AS ADAM HAD IT: with a Budget coming up, you might like to reflect that... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is no art which one government sooner learns of another than that of draining money from the pockets of the people. (Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book V Chapter II Part II) You can find the whole text of this and other works by Smith on http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-intro.htm . e ----- Dr Eamonn Butler Director, The Adam Smith Institute 23 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BL To unsubscribe, visit www.adamsmith.org/lists.htm
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