The institute of economic affairs: Undermining the post-war consensus
Titel:
The institute of economic affairs: Undermining the post-war consensus
Auteur:
Muller, Christopher
Verschenen in:
Contemporary British history
Paginering:
Jaargang 10 (1996) nr. 1 pagina's 88-110
Jaar:
1996
Inhoud:
The Institute of Economic Affairs was founded in 1955, as a research educational charity, to examine the role of 'markets and pricing systems as technical devices for registering preferences and apportioning resources'. The IEA is financed by a series of voluntary contributions, sales of publications and conference fees, but has ensured that it is not over-dependant on a particular source of income to guarantee academic independence. The IEA began to publish regularly in 1957, with much of its work based on micro-economic analysis. Whilst remaining conspicuously free of any political organisation, the Institute has been able to provide a consistent alternative analysis to the collectivist macro-economic hegemony, which existed from the 1950s to 1970s. Much of the success of the IEA came during the 1970s, when politicians began to question the role of the state in economic life. Through publications IEA authors had caused the prevailing intellectual climate to be re-considered, with the benefits of markets being more understood. During the 1980s much of the IEA's philosophy was adopted in practical terms, with the political and economic agenda having shifted away from Keynesian collectivism, and towards classical liberalism. The end of the 1980s brought difficulties for the IEA, both internally and externally, and the 1990s has seen a far broader intellectual outlook in its analysis, not least with public choice economics.
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