TALKING POINT: Track and Trace
By the IEA’s Head of Regulatory Affairs, Victoria Hewson
Centralised or decentralised? No, not a debate about reforming Whitehall, but a question about the optimal approach to contract tracing.
Digital contact tracing, using mobile phones to identify who people diagnosed with the coronavirus have been in contact with, has been held out as a potential game changer that could help government lift lockdown restrictions.
This week, I wrote on the IEA blog about the UK’s effort, developed by NHSX (the technology joint venture between the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care) that has been under scrutiny from Parliamentary committees, civil liberties campaigners and lawyers.
I have previously expressed concerns that in the early clamour for mass testing, important questions of the wider uses of testing data were being neglected. Would test results be used to allow people who have had the virus to move freely on public transport and in workplaces, for example? When combined with an app operated by government, which the entire population will be urged to download, these questions have become more pressing.
NHSX has been criticised for using a centralised approach, where it will collect the contacts of people with symptoms, rather than a decentralised system that is less invasive of privacy because contact data is only ever stored on each individual’s device.
We had Jim Killock from the Open Rights Group on the IEA podcast to discuss the difference between these models, whether either of them can actually work, and whether mass surveillance is a proportionate response to the public health need.
Hosted by IEA Head of Communications Emma Revell, the podcast also covered the somewhat conflicted role of privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner, as she both advises NHSX on its app and is responsible for enforcing its compliance with data protection law.
Over on IEA YouTube, I also joined Allie Renison (Head of EU & Trade Policy at the Institute of Directors), Christian May (Editor of City AM) and the IEA's Emily Carver for a discussion on the government's Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. Watch here.
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Coronomics
On Friday, IEA Senior Academic Fellow Professor Philip Booth gave evidence in a Treasury Committee hearing.
He said that the economic risks of the lockdown multiply the longer that it lasts, and that the question of policy uncertainty makes it difficult for businesses to plan, as they are running through their capital and facing bankruptcy.
And in a new briefing for the IEA, the economist and author Paul Ormerod argued that economists have been conspicuous by their absence from the policy debate over the easing and ultimate ending of lockdown. Model Behaviour was covered in The Times.
Economists have expertise in analysing how people alter their behaviour when either incentives change or the set of information which they have changes. They need to get involved right now in these key policy issues, Ormerod concludes, while the "seeming certainties proffered by some prominent epidemiologists need to be exposed". Read the briefing paper in full here.
The IEA discussed Coronomics far and wide this week. Professor Len Shackleton, Editorial and Research Fellow at the IEA, addressed the impact of extending the furlough scheme in an op-ed for the Telegraph, and he was quoted in the Mail Online and The Sun.
IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop wrote for, and was quoted in, the Daily Express outlining why government must "step aside as soon as possible and allow markets to work". And our Head of Political Economy Dr Kristian Niemietz penned an op-ed for Reaction on how entrepreneurial ingenuity and adaptability will get us out of this crisis.
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Live with Littlewood – Take Two
On Thursday, the IEA held its second Live with Littlewood webinar. Catch up here on our YouTube channel, watch our two-minute preview here, and tune in this Wednesday, 20th May at 6pm for the next edition.
Panellists included CapX Editor John Ashmore, CPS Director Robert Colvile, City AM's Comment and Features Editor Rachel Cunliffe, IEA Head of Education Dr Stephen Davies, Comedian and Writer Dominic Frisby, the Telegraph's Madeline Grant, ASI Head of Research Matthew Lesh and Toby Young, General Secretary of the Free Speech Union (FSU).
Toby also joined Mark for a discussion on free speech. Is it in peril? What does the FSU hope to achieve? And why is unbridled free speech necessary? You can watch the conversation here.
For more information on the Free Speech Union and why it is needed, click here.
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The Path to Prosperity
On Wednesday, the IEA hosted a Book Club webinar, chaired by our Director General Mark Littlewood, with former MEP Dan Hannan and Daniel Lacalle, author of "Freedom or Equality: The Key to Prosperity through Social Capitalism".
Capitalism is quickly falling out of favour with the middle class in the Western World. The next decades will present numerous challenges – including the acceleration of technology and use of robots, an ageing population, the sustainability of education, or health care costs. “Freedom or Equality” addresses these while examining Social Capitalism—a "moderate option that can deliver superior growth and prosperity worldwide". Watch here.
And today we posted our Book Club webinar, with Nick Timothy CBE and chaired by IEA Academic and Research Director Professor Syed Kamall, on our YouTube Channel. Timothy discussed his latest book: “Remaking One Nation: The Future of Conservatism”.
Drawing on Timothy's experience as former Downing Street joint Chief of Staff, "Remaking One Nation" traces the crisis of Western democracy back to both the mistaken assumptions of philosophical liberalism and the rise of ideological ultra-liberalism on left, right and centre.
Sparing no sacred cows, Timothy proposes a new kind of conservatism that respects personal freedom but also demands solidarity. Catch up here.
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Monday to Saturday, IEA Daily brings you the key stories of the day – plus the latest on all our online activities and recommendations on must-reads, must-listens and more.
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You're Invited
On Tuesday 19th May at 12.45pm, IEA Director General Mark Littlewood will discuss the future of the union with Andrew Bowie MP (Conservative) Angus MacNeil MP (SNP) and IEA Senior Academic Fellow Professor Philip Booth. Will Covid-19 lead to increasing fragmentation, strengthening voices for independence? Or could a federal Britain emerge? Register here.
Later on Tuesday 19th May (6pm-7pm), the IEA is hosting a webinar with economist and author Vicky Pryce and The Spectator's Economics Correspondent Kate Andrews. Chaired by the IEA's Director of Communications Annabel Denham and drawing on the themes of Pryce's recent book, Women vs Capitalism, it will examine the compatibility of free markets and feminism. Sign up here.
On Wednesday 20th May, from 1pm-2pm, the IEA will host Professor Mark Pennington for a webinar on the distinction that Hayek makes between "simple" and "complex" phenomena, and how this distinction can help us understand the challenge facing policymakers working to address the coronavirus pandemic. Register here.
And on Thursday 21st May, from 5pm-6pm, three distinguished guests will be joining our Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon for what promises to be a fascinating webinar on Prohibition and the Pandemic. Dr Jeffrey Miron, Virginia Berridge and Dr H. Westley Clark will examine whether the pandemic has provided a vital cover and opportunity for nanny statists to push through their agenda. Are any of the new restrictions justified and are they likely to remain in place after the crisis has passed? Sign up here.
And don’t forget to tune into our next Live with Littlewood webinar, Wednesday, 20th May, 6pm onwards.
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