View source for Institute of Economic Affairs

{{Short description|Free-market think tank}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{infobox organization
| name = Institute of Economic Affairs
| logo_size = 120
| image =
| size =
| abbreviation = IEA
| motto =
| formation = {{start date and age|df=yes|1955}}
| logo = Institute of Economic Affairs London logo.png
| type = [[Free market]] think tank
| headquarters = London, United Kingdom
| leader_title = Executive Director
| leader_name = [[Tom Clougherty]]
| website = [https://iea.org.uk/ iea.org.uk]
| funding = Partially disclosed, including Jersey Finance and the John Templeton Foundation, funding from fossil fuel industry, gambling industry, and tobacco industry
}}
The '''Institute of Economic Affairs''' ('''IEA''') is a British [[right-wing]] free market [[think tank]],{{refn|name=RW|<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pegg|first1=David|last2=Lawrence|first2=Felicity|last3=Evans|first3=Rob|title=Rightwing thinktank breached charity law by campaigning for hard Brexit|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/05/rightwing-thinktank-breached-charity-law-by-campaigning-for-hard-brexit|access-date=15 October 2020|location=London|work=The Guardian|date=5 February 2019|language=en|archive-date=24 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024148/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/05/rightwing-thinktank-breached-charity-law-by-campaigning-for-hard-brexit|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-07-15 |title='Brexit': IEA offers prize for UK exit plan from EU |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-23322122 |access-date=2023-08-03 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024149/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-23322122 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=cowburnbaynes>{{cite news |last1=Cowburn |first1=Ashley|last2=Baynes|first2=Chris|title=Right-wing think tank Institute of Economic Affairs issued with formal warning after Brexit report 'breached charity law'|location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/institute-economic-affairs-brexit-report-warning-charity-commission-a8764776.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603054332/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/institute-economic-affairs-brexit-report-warning-charity-commission-a8764776.html |archive-date=3 June 2019 |url-status=live|work=[[The Independent]] |date=5 February 2019 |language=en|quote=The [Charity Commission]'s warning said the IEA 'was not sufficiently balanced and neutral, as required by law from charities with educational purposes', and also criticised the free-market think thank for only inviting speakers 'who held a particular set of views'}}</ref><ref name=courea>{{Cite news |title=Matt Hancock took cash from chairman of 'anti-NHS' Institute of Economic Affairs |last1=Courea |first1=Eleni |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=10 February 2021 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/matt-hancock-took-cash-from-anti-nhs-institute-of-economic-affairs-z2lms76t5 |url-access=subscription |access-date=7 July 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709203519/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/matt-hancock-took-cash-from-anti-nhs-institute-of-economic-affairs-z2lms76t5 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Den96/><ref name=Sto97/>}} which is registered as a charity.<ref name=charcom>{{cite report |title=The Institute of Economic Affairs Ltd |url=https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=235351&subid=0|publisher=[[Charity Commission for England and Wales]] }}</ref> Associated with the [[New Right#United Kingdom|New Right]],<ref name=Den96>{{cite book |last1=Denham |first1=Andrew |title=Think-Tanks of the New Right |date=1996 |publisher=[[Routledge|Dartmouth]] |location=Aldershot/Brookfield |isbn=978-1-85521-868-0 |pages=1–7 ''[[List of Latin phrases (E)#et passim|et passim]]''}}</ref><ref name=Sto97>{{cite book |last1=Stone |first1=Diane |title=Capturing the Political Imagination: Think Tanks and the Policy Process |date=1997 |author-link=Diane Stone |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7146-4716-6 |page=22 |edition=1st |url=https://www.routledge.com/Capturing-the-Political-Imagination-Think-Tanks-and-the-Policy-Process/Stone/p/book/9780714642635 |access-date=15 October 2020 |archive-date=17 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017065248/https://www.routledge.com/Capturing-the-Political-Imagination-Think-Tanks-and-the-Policy-Process/Stone/p/book/9780714642635 |url-status=live }}</ref> the IEA says that it seeks to "further the dissemination of free-market thinking" by "analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems".<ref name=IEAaboutpage>{{cite web |url=https://iea.org.uk/about-us |title=About Us |website=Institute of Economic Affairs |access-date=20 September 2020 |archive-date=21 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112026/https://iea.org.uk/about-us |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=IEAwedo>{{cite web |url=https://iea.org.uk/what-we-do/ |title=What We Do |website=Institute of Economic Affairs |access-date=20 February 2019 |archive-date=17 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217103617/https://iea.org.uk/what-we-do/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Founded by businessman [[Antony Fisher]] in 1955,<ref name="founded 1955">{{cite news |last1=Ahmed |first1=Nafeez |title='The Dark Heart of Trussonomics: The Mainstreaming of Libertarian Theories of Social Darwinism and Apartheid' |url=https://bylinetimes.com/2022/10/10/the-dark-heart-of-trussonomics-the-mainstreaming-of-libertarian-theories-of-social-darwinism-and-apartheid/ |access-date=12 October 2022 |work=Byline Times |date=10 October 2022 |quote=A year later, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) – founded in 1955, originally based in Westminster's Tufton Street, a driving force of Thatcherism |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024559/https://bylinetimes.com/2022/10/10/the-dark-heart-of-trussonomics-the-mainstreaming-of-libertarian-theories-of-social-darwinism-and-apartheid/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the IEA was one of the first modern think tanks,<ref name=Curtis11/> and promoted [[Thatcherite]] ideology, and [[free market]] and [[Monetarism|monetarist]] economic policies.<ref name="Hafer92">{{cite journal |last1=Hafer |first1=R.W. |title=Monetarist Economics [Review] |journal=Southern Economic Journal |date=April 1992 |volume=58 |issue=4 |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |page=1131 |doi=10.2307/1060253|jstor=1060253 }}</ref> It published [[climate change denial]] material throughout the 1990s and 2000s.<ref name="pegg" /> It has advocated for [[privatisation]] of, and abolition of complete government control of, the [[National Health Service]] (NHS), in favour of a healthcare system with market mechanisms.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iea.org.uk/publications/universal-healthcare-without-the-nhs/|title=Universal healthcare without the NHS|website=Institute of Economic Affairs|date=14 December 2016|author=Kristian Niemietz|access-date=7 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184810/https://iea.org.uk/publications/universal-healthcare-without-the-nhs/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="courea" /><ref name="pegg">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/10/thinktank-climate-science-institute-economic-affairs|title=Revealed: top UK thinktank spent decades undermining climate science|last1=Pegg|first1=David|date=10 October 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=10 October 2019|last2=Evans|first2=Rob|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=24 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024655/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/10/thinktank-climate-science-institute-economic-affairs|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018 the director of the IEA met with foreign donors and offered to arrange access to government ministers in return for financial contributions. This initiated an investigation by the UK charity regulator, the [[Charity Commission]], as to whether the group had failed to uphold its legal obligations. Following complaints of the IEA's conduct by cross-party politicians in 2024, the Charity Commission opened a compliance case into the IEA in May 2025.

The IEA is headquartered in [[Westminster]], London.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.desmog.com/institute-economic-affairs/|title=Institute of Economic Affairs|access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=27 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627160959/https://www.desmog.com/institute-economic-affairs/|url-status=live}}</ref> It subscribes to a [[neoliberal]] world view and advocates positions based on this ideology.<ref name="Cahill" /> The IEA has been criticised for operating in a manner closer to that of a [[lobbying]] operation than as a genuine think tank,<ref name=obs11nov18>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/11/brexit-whistleblower-shahmir-sanni-taxpayers-alliance-concedes-it-launched-smears|title=TaxPayers' Alliance concedes it launched smears against Brexit whistleblower|last=Cadwalladr|first=Carole|date=11 November 2018|newspaper=The Observer|access-date=11 November 2018|archive-date=24 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024656/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/11/brexit-whistleblower-shahmir-sanni-taxpayers-alliance-concedes-it-launched-smears|url-status=live}}</ref> and for receiving some funding from tobacco companies whilst campaigning on tobacco industry issues.

==History==
In 1945 [[Antony Fisher]] read an article in ''[[Reader's Digest]]'' by [[Friedrich Hayek]] that summarised Hayek's work ''[[The Road to Serfdom]]''.<ref name="ieachronology">{{cite web|url=http://www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/Chronology.pdf|title=IEA: Chronology|access-date=20 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609131035/http://www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/Chronology.pdf|archive-date=9 June 2011}}</ref><ref name=Curtis11/> Later that year, Fisher visited Hayek at the London School of Economics. Hayek dissuaded Fisher from embarking on a political and parliamentary career to try to prevent the spread of socialism and [[central planning]].<ref name="ieachronology"/> Instead, Hayek suggested the establishment of a body that could engage in research and reach the intellectuals with reasoned argument,<ref name="ieachronology"/> saying that a think tank would have far more "decisive influence in the great battle of ideas".<ref name="Geoghegan 2024">{{cite news |last=Geoghegan |first=Peter |date=29 May 2024 |title=The Invisible Doctrine by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison review – neoliberalism's ascent |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/29/the-invisible-doctrine-by-george-monbiot-and-peter-hutchison-review-neoliberalisms-ascent |access-date=1 January 2025 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Set up by Fisher and [[Oliver Smedley]],<ref name="Cockett 1994">{{cite book|last=Cockett|first=Richard|year=1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gWm9QgAACAAJ|title=Thinking the Unthinkable: Think-Tanks and the Economic Counter-Revolution, 1931–1983|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London|isbn=978-0-00-223672-0 <!-- 978-0-00637-586-9 -->}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}}</ref> the IEA was thus founded after Hayek had suggested that an intellectual counterweight through think tanks was necessary to combat the prevailing [[post-war consensus]] around [[Keynesianism]] and the [[Butskellism]] of [[Rab Butler]] and [[Hugh Gaitskell]]. Fisher, Smedley, and others were successful in building the IEA and its affiliates of [[Atlas Network]] into a bastion of [[free-market]] economics and neoliberalism,<ref name="Geoghegan 2024"/> which supplanted the post-war Keynesian paradigm.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Timothy |date=2005 |title=The Work of Economics: How a Discipline Makes Its World |journal=European Journal of Sociology |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=299–310 |doi=10.1017/S000397560500010X |s2cid=146456853|doi-access=free|jstor=23999581 |quote=By that time [1979] what had begun as a fringe right-wing current had become the most powerful political orthodoxy. The neoliberal movement was now trying to extend its network to other parts of the world. In 1981, a close collaborator of Hayek, Anthony Fisher, established the Atlas Foundation for Economic Research. Its goal was to coordinate activities and corporate funding among the network of European and American think tanks, and to extend it by developing and financing a group of neoliberal organizations in Western Europe and the United States.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Salles-Djelic |first=Marie-Laure |chapter=Building an Architecture for Political Influence: Atlas and the Transnational Institutionalization of the Neoliberal Think Tank |date=<!-- 27 October --> 2017 |title=Power, Policy and Profit |location=Chelthenham|pages=25–44 |chapter-url=https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/edcoll/9781784711207/9781784711207.00007.xml |access-date=31 December 2024 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|isbn=978-1-78471-120-7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Innset |first=Ola |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCLNDwAAQBAJ<!-- https://www.google.com/books/edition/Reinventing_Liberalism/NCLNDwAAQBAJ --> |title=Reinventing Liberalism: The Politics, Philosophy and Economics of Early Neoliberalism (1920–1947) |date=<!-- 29 January --> 2020 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-38885-0 |location=Berlin |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NCLNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA187 187] |access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref>

The IEA's first location was a cramped, £3-a-week room with one table and chair at Oliver Smedley's General Management Services, which housed various free-trade organisations at 4 Austin Friars, a few dozen yards from the Stock Exchange in the heart of the City of London.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Frost |first=Gerald |title=Antony Fisher: Champion of Liberty |publisher=Profile Books |year=2002 |isbn=1-86197-505-8 |edition=1st |pages=59–90| chapter = 5, Making the Case for the Market |language=English}}</ref> In June 1955, ''The Free Convertibility of Sterling'' by George Winder was published, with Fisher signing the foreword as Director of the IEA.<ref name="ieachronology"/> In November 1955 the IEA's Original Trust Deed was signed by Fisher, Smedley, and John Harding. [[Ralph Harris, Baron Harris of High Cross|Ralph Harris]] (later Lord Harris) began work as part-time General Director in January 1957.<ref name="ieachronology"/> He was joined in 1958 by [[Arthur Seldon]] who was initially appointed Editorial Advisor and became the editorial director in 1959.<ref name="ieachronology"/> Smedley wrote to Fisher that it was "imperative that we should give no indication in our literature that we are working to educate the public along certain lines which might be interpreted as having a political bias. ... That is why the first draft [of the IEA's aims] is written in rather cagey terms".<ref name="Curtis11">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fadamcurtis%2Fentries%2Ffdb484c8-99a1-32a3-83be-20108374b985 |title=The Curse of Tina |website=BBC |publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]] |location=London |date=13 September 2011 |last=Curtis |first=Adam |author-link=Adam Curtis |access-date=18 July 2018 |archive-date=23 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723234818/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/entries/fdb484c8-99a1-32a3-83be-20108374b985 |url-status=live }}</ref> 

The [[Social Affairs Unit]] was established in December 1980 as an offshoot of the Institute of Economic Affairs to carry the IEA's economic ideas onto the battleground of sociology.<ref name=Muller/> "Within a few years the Social Affairs Unit became independent from the IEA, acquiring its own premises."<ref name=Muller>{{cite journal |last=Muller |first=Christopher |title=The Institute of Economic Affairs: Undermining the Post-War Consensus |journal=Contemporary British History |volume=10 |issue=1 |year=1996 |pages=88–110 [p. 102] |doi=10.1080/13619469608581370 }}</ref> In 1986 the IEA created a Health and Welfare Unit to focus on these aspects of social policy.<ref name="ieachronology"/><ref name=Muller/> Discussing the IEA's increasing influence under the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government in the 1980s in relation to the "advent of [[Thatcherism]]" and the privatisation of public services, Dieter Plehwe, a Research Fellow at the [[WZB Berlin Social Science Center]], has written that "[t]he arguably most influential think tank in British history ... benefited from the close alignment of IEA's [[neoliberal]] agenda with [[corporatocracy|corporate interests]] and the priorities of the Thatcher government.<ref>"Academic Identities – Academic Challenges? American and European Experience of the Transformation of Higher Education and Research", Dieter Plehwe, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011, pp. 172–173</ref>

During the 1990s the IEA began to focus its research on the effects of regulation,<ref name="Den96" /> and began a student outreach programme.<ref name="Den96" /> Free-market publications continued to be the core activity of the IEA.<ref name="Den96" /> [[Oliver Letwin]] said of the organisation in 1994: "without the IEA and its clones, no Thatcher and quite possibly no Reagan; without Reagan, no Star Wars; without Star Wars, no economic collapse of the Soviet Union. Quite a chain of consequences for a chicken farmer!"<ref>{{cite journal |last=Blundell |first=John |author-link=John Blundell (economist) |title=No Antony Fisher, no IEA: 'The Case for Freedom' after 50 years |journal=[[Economic Affairs (journal)|Economic Affairs]] |volume=18 |issue=3 |year=1998 |page=42 |doi=10.1111/1468-0270.00108}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Obituaries |first=Telegraph |date=2021-12-20 |title=Linda Whetstone, evangelist for the free market who also helped to raise standards in British dressage – obituary |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/12/20/linda-whetstone-evangelist-free-market-also-helped-raise-standards/ |access-date=2023-08-06 |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406101211/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/12/20/linda-whetstone-evangelist-free-market-also-helped-raise-standards/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2007 British journalist [[Andrew Marr]] called the IEA "undoubtedly the most influential think tank in modern British history".<ref>{{cite episode|title=New Britannia|series=[[Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain]]|publisher=[[BBC One]]|number=5|airdate=19 June 2007}}</ref> Damien Cahill, a professor of Political Economy at the [[University of Sydney]], has characterised the IEA as, "Britain's oldest and leading neoliberal think tank".<ref name="Cahill">{{cite book|last=Cahill|first=Damien|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GKAiBAAAQBAJ|title= The End of Laissez-Faire?: On the Durability of Embedded Neoliberalism|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GKAiBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Institute+of+Economic+Affairs%22%2C+%22neoliberal+think+tank%22&pg=PA12 12]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031110922/https://books.google.com/books?id=GKAiBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Institute+of+Economic+Affairs%22,+%22neoliberal+think+tank%22&pg=PA12 |archive-date=31 October 2023 |location= Cheltenham|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|isbn=978-1-78100-028-1 }}</ref> In October 2009 the IEA appointed [[Mark Littlewood]] as its Director General, with effect from 1 December 2009.<ref name="cherwell">{{cite news|last=Robert|first=Walmsley|url=http://www.cherwell.org/comment/interviews/2014/01/25/interview-mark-littlewood|title= Interview: Mark Littlewood|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224220930/http://www.cherwell.org/comment/interviews/2014/01/25/interview-mark-littlewood |archive-date=24 February 2015 |work=[[Cherwell (newspaper)|Cherwell]]|date= 26 January 2014|access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> In September 2022 an associated think tank, the [[Free Market Forum]], was founded.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-06 |title=Revealed: rightwing 'slash and burn' ideas that could be blueprint for Truss |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/06/revealed-rightwing-slash-and-burn-ideas-that-could-be-blueprint-for-truss |access-date=2022-10-07 |website=The Guardian |language=en |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024600/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/06/revealed-rightwing-slash-and-burn-ideas-that-could-be-blueprint-for-truss |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2023 Mark Littlewood stood down as the IEA's Director General and was replaced by [[Tom Clougherty]] under the title of Executive Director.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://iea.org.uk/tom-clougherty/ | title=Tom Clougherty | access-date=14 February 2024 | archive-date=14 February 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214115833/https://iea.org.uk/tom-clougherty/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Purpose and aims==
{{Conservatism UK}}
In 2018 the IEA's then-director Mark Littlewood said "We want to totally reframe the debate about the proper role of the state and civil society in our country ... Our true mission is to change the climate of opinion."<ref name=Monbiot18Dark>{{cite news |last1=Monbiot |first1=George |title=Dark money lurks at the heart of our political crisis |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/18/dark-money-democracy-political-crisis-institute-economic-affairs |access-date=15 July 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331124846/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/18/dark-money-democracy-political-crisis-institute-economic-affairs |archive-date=31 March 2019 |url-status=live |date=18 July 2018}}</ref> The IEA promotes the market and has two prominent themes in its publications: first, a belief in limited government and, second, "the technical (and moral) superiority of markets and competitive pricing in the allocation of scarce resources."<ref name=Den96/>

The IEA is described as a "university without students"{{according to whom|date=August 2023}} because its primary target is not politicians but "the gatekeepers of ideas", namely the intellectuals, academics, and journalists.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Tesseyman |first=Andrew James |date=1999 |title=The new right think tanks and policy change in the UK |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/14343269.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616102536/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/14343269.pdf |archive-date=16 June 2022 |access-date=6 August 2023 |website=core.ac.uk [publisher of doctoral theses] }}</ref> The IEA believe that a change in the intellectual climate is a pre-condition for any ideological shift within political parties or government institutions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blundell |first=John |date=February 1987 |title=How To Move a Nation, Could a chicken farmer and two economists change British history? |url=https://reason.com/1987/02/01/how-to-move-a-nation/ |journal=Reason Magazine |pages=31–35 |access-date=6 August 2023 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024600/https://reason.com/1987/02/01/how-to-move-a-nation/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The IEA has written policy papers arguing against government funding for pressure groups and charities involved in political campaigning.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Snowden|first1=Christopher|title=Sock Puppets: How the government lobbies itself and why|url=http://www.iea.org.uk/publications/research/sock-puppets-how-the-government-lobbies-itself-and-why|publisher=IEA Discussion Paper 39|access-date=17 March 2015|archive-date=23 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323002900/http://www.iea.org.uk/publications/research/sock-puppets-how-the-government-lobbies-itself-and-why|url-status=live}}</ref> The IEA does not receive government funding.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Who-Funds-You-IEA.pdf|title=Who funds you? FAQ|publisher=IEA|access-date=14 December 2018|archive-date=14 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214213938/https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Who-Funds-You-IEA.pdf}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=December 2023}} 

The IEA supports privatising the [[National Health Service]] (NHS) with repeated calls to replace the NHS with an insurance-based health system in the UK;<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cityam.com/calls-to-scrap-nhs-and-replace-with-social-health-insurance-system/ | title=Replace the NHS with Social Health Insurance says think tank | date=19 September 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://lowdownnhs.info/analysis/iea-a-well-connected-right-wing-think-tank-paid-to-reject-the-nhs-model/ | title=IEA: Think tank funded by big business rejects public health policies and the NHS - the Lowdown | date=2 September 2019 }}</ref> campaigns against controls on junk food;<ref>{{cite web | url=https://iea.org.uk/media/banning-fast-food-outlets-is-not-the-answer-to-tackling-obesity/ | title=Banning fast food outlets is not the answer to tackling obesity }}</ref> attacks trades unions;<ref>https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/SUMMERTIME-BLUES-TRADE-UNIONS.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=July 2025}}</ref> and defends [[zero-hour contract]]s,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://iea.org.uk/why-zero-hours-contracts-are-a-good-thing/ | title=Why zero-hours contracts are a good thing | date=20 February 2020 }}</ref> unpaid internships and tax havens.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://iea.org.uk/in-the-media/press-release/britain-should-embrace-tax-havens-new-research-shows | title=Britain should embrace tax havens, new research shows |date=19 June 2013}}</ref> IEA staff are frequently invited by the BBC and other news media to appear on broadcasts.<ref>{{Cite news |title=LBC's James O'Brien wins Ofcom battle with Institute of Economic Affairs |last=Waterson |first=Jim |newspaper=The Guardian |date=9 August 2021 |access-date=25 October 2021 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/aug/09/lbcs-james-obrien-wins-ofcom-battle-with-institute-of-economic-affairs |quote=[Ofcom] also noted that O'Brien had indeed invited the [IEA] on air |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024601/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/aug/09/lbcs-james-obrien-wins-ofcom-battle-with-institute-of-economic-affairs |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Rightwing UK thinktank 'offered ministerial access' to potential US donors |last=Booth |first=Robert |newspaper=The Guardian |date=30 July 2018 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/29/rightwing-thinktank-ministerial-access-potential-us-donors-insitute-of-economic-affairs-brexit |quote=[The IEA's] Littlewood told BBC Radio 4 Today's programme ... |access-date=29 July 2018 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024212/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/29/rightwing-thinktank-ministerial-access-potential-us-donors-insitute-of-economic-affairs-brexit |url-status=live }}</ref> The IEA also published, between 1994 and 2007, "at least four books, as well as multiple articles and papers, ... suggesting manmade climate change may be uncertain or exaggerated [and that] climate change is either not significantly driven by human activity or will be positive", according to an October 2019 ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]'' article.<ref name="pegg" /> Specifically, in 2003, the IEA published the book ''Climate Alarmism Reconsidered'' which concluded that government intervention in the name of sustainability is the major threat to energy sustainability and the provision of affordable, reliable energy to growing economies worldwide.<ref name="Bradley 2003 144">{{Cite book |last=Bradley |first=Robert L. |title=Climate Alarmism Reconsidered |publisher=The Institute of Economic Affairs |year=2003 |isbn=0-255-36541-1 |edition=1st |location=London|page=144 |language=English}}</ref> It further advocated that free-market structures and the wealth generated by markets help communities to best adapt to climate change.<ref name="Bradley 2003 144" />

===Concerns about political independence===
As a registered charity, the IEA must abide by the regulations of the [[Charity Commission for England and Wales]], and so cannot "promote, or be seen to promote, a political party or candidate".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://charitycommission.blog.gov.uk/2024/05/20/campaigning-and-political-activity-what-do-charities-need-to-consider-ahead-of-a-general-election/ |title=
Campaigning and political activity – what do charities need to consider ahead of a general election? |website=Charity Commission blog |publisher=[[Charity Commission for England and Wales]] |date= 20 May 2024  |last=Fraser |first=Orlando |access-date=30 April 2025 |archive-date=3 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603030102/https://charitycommission.blog.gov.uk/web/20240603030102/https://charitycommission.blog.gov.uk/2024/05/20/campaigning-and-political-activity-what-do-charities-need-to-consider-ahead-of-a-general-election/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 

In July 2018, the Charity Commission opened a regulatory compliance case into the IEA due to concerns about its political independence after the then-director of the IEA was secretly recorded offering potential US donors access to government ministers and civil servants, telling an undercover reporter that his organisation was in "the Brexit influencing game". While seeking funding, Littlewood said that the IEA allowed donors to shape "substantial content" in reports.<ref name=obs29jul18>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/29/rightwing-thinktank-ministerial-access-potential-us-donors-insitute-of-economic-affairs-brexit |title=Rightwing UK thinktank 'offered ministerial access' to potential US donors |newspaper=The Observer |author=Robert Booth |date=29 July 2018 |access-date=29 July 2018 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024212/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/29/rightwing-thinktank-ministerial-access-potential-us-donors-insitute-of-economic-affairs-brexit |url-status=live }}</ref> The IEA denied that it breached charity law.<ref name=graun30jl18>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/30/labour-calls-for-inquiry-into-iea-thinktank-over-cash-for-access-claims |title=Thinktank faces double investigation after 'cash for access' claims |newspaper=The Guardian |author1=Robert Booth |author2=Rajeev Syal |date=30 July 2018 |access-date=31 July 2018 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924025211/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/30/labour-calls-for-inquiry-into-iea-thinktank-over-cash-for-access-claims |url-status=live }}</ref> Alison White, the then-[[Lobbying in the United Kingdom#Regulation|registrar of consultant lobbyists]], also said she would examine whether the think tank should be registered as a lobbyist after the undercover investigation, but in 2019 the registrar concluded that the IEA did not meet "statutory criteria for consultant lobbying in this case".<ref>{{cite web |date=10 June 2019 |title=Investigation case summary – Institute of Economic Affairs activities for E Foundation |url=https://registrarofconsultantlobbyists.org.uk/investigation-case-summary-institute-of-economic-affairs-activities-for-e-foundation/ |website=registrarofconsultantlobbyists |access-date=10 October 2022 |archive-date=10 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010211046/https://registrarofconsultantlobbyists.org.uk/investigation-case-summary-institute-of-economic-affairs-activities-for-e-foundation/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Also in July 2018, it emerged that casino owners had donated £8,000 to the IEA after the IEA published a report calling for fewer restrictions on casino openings,<ref name="graun30jl18" /> and that an IEA report arguing that tax havens (such as Jersey) benefited the wider economy had been partially funded by a group representing financial interests in [[Jersey]]. The IEA stated that the funding they received never influenced the conclusions of reports, and that their output was independent and free from conflict of interest.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/31/jersey-finance-paid-iea-to-trash-hotbeds-of-tax-evasion-claims |title=Jersey Finance paid for IEA report rubbishing 'hotbeds of tax evasion' claims |newspaper=The Guardian |author=Robert Booth and David Pegg |date=31 July 2018 |access-date=31 July 2018 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924025105/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/31/jersey-finance-paid-iea-to-trash-hotbeds-of-tax-evasion-claims |url-status=live }}</ref> 

In November 2018, the IEA removed a report on [[Brexit]] from its website after the Charity Commission said that it was "not sufficiently balanced and neutral".<ref>{{cite web |title=Charity Commission tells think tank to delete Brexit report |last=Hargrave |first=Russell |website=ThirdSector.co.uk |date=3 December 2018  |url=https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/charity-commission-tells-think-tank-delete-brexit-report/governance/article/1520113 |access-date=30 April 2025 |archive-date=18 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218081131/https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/charity-commission-tells-think-tank-delete-brexit-report/governance/article/1520113 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=cowburnbaynes /> In February 2019, the Commission issued an official warning to the IEA and instructed trustees to provide written assurances that the IEA would not engage in campaigning or political activity contravening legal or regulatory requirements.<ref>{{cite web |title=Regulator issues warning to Institute of Economic Affairs over Brexit report |last=Ricketts |first=Andy |website=ThirdSector.co.uk |date=5 February 2019 |url=https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/regulator-issues-warning-institute-economic-affairs-brexit-report/governance/article/1524900 |access-date=17 July 2021 |archive-date=17 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717132117/https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/regulator-issues-warning-institute-economic-affairs-brexit-report/governance/article/1524900 |url-status=live }}</ref> IEA trustees were also required to implement a process to ensure that research reports and launch plans were signed off by trustees. Following the IEA's compliance, the Charity Commission withdrew the official warning in June 2019.<ref name="civil">{{cite web |title=Official warning to Institute of Economic Affairs is withdrawn by Charity Commission |last=Weakley |first=Kirsty |website=civilsociety.co.uk – News |date=28 June 2019 |url=https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/charity-commission-withdraws-official-warning-to-institute-of-economic-affairs.html |access-date=17 July 2021 |archive-date=17 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717100135/https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/charity-commission-withdraws-official-warning-to-institute-of-economic-affairs.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 2024, the Charity Commission agreed to review concerns raised about IEA. It had initially, in March 2024, declined to investigate. A joint complaint by the [[Good Law Project]], four cross-party politicians and a former member of the Charity Commission board had suggested the IEA had breached charity law.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/commission-to-review-concerns-against-institute-of-economic-affairs-after-u-turn.html | title=Commission to review concerns against Institute of Economic Affairs after u-turn }}</ref> The commission opened a compliance investigation in May 2025. It stated that it will examine trustee management of  potential political bias, lack of transparency around funding, and policy positions that are potentially predetermined, and thus not in keeping with its stated educational purpose.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Legraien |first1=Léa |title=Regulator Opens Compliance Case into Institute of Economic Affairs |url=https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/regulator-opens-compliance-case-into-institute-of-economic-affairs.html |work=Civil Society |date=28 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Adewale |first1=Dami |title=Regulator opens case into think tank after internal review |url=https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/regulator-opens-case-think-tank-internal-review/governance/article/1919208|location=London|work=[[Third Sector (magazine)|Third Sector]] |publisher=Haymarket Group|date=23 May 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

====Freer launch====
In March 2018<ref name="Steerpike1">{{cite news |author1=Steerpike |title=Liz Truss speaks freely: we need to be Tories with attitude |url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/03/liz-truss-speaks-freely-we-need-to-be-tories-with-attitude/ |access-date=1 March 2019 |work=Coffee House |publisher=The Spectator |date=20 March 2018 |archive-date=23 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323131340/https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/03/liz-truss-speaks-freely-we-need-to-be-tories-with-attitude/ }}</ref> the IEA subsidiary ''Freer'' was founded to promote a positive message of liberal, supply-side Conservative renewal.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Steerpike |title=Tory think tank wars: Bright Blue have the last laugh |url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/05/tory-think-tank-wars-bright-blue-have-the-last-laugh/ |access-date=1 March 2019 |work=Coffee House |publisher=The Spectator |date=29 May 2018 |archive-date=2 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302073536/https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/05/tory-think-tank-wars-bright-blue-have-the-last-laugh/ }}</ref><ref name="Bennett1">{{cite news |last1=Bennett |first1=Owen |title=Meet The New Conservative Think-Tanks Hoping To Reboot The Tories |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/think-tanks-conservative-tories-onward-freer_uk_5b04492ce4b0c0b8b23ec51d |access-date=1 March 2019 |work=The Huffington Post |date=24 May 2018 |archive-date=23 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823110708/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/think-tanks-conservative-tories-onward-freer_uk_5b04492ce4b0c0b8b23ec51d |url-status=live }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=October 2022}} Freer held two meetings at the 2018 Conservative conference (with none in any other political parties' conferences),<ref name="Eye1490">{{cite news |title=Stink tanks |work=Private Eye |issue=1490 |date=February–March 2019}}</ref> and remains entirely within the IEA's structural and organisational control.<ref name="Hughes1">{{cite news |last1=Hughes |first1=Solomon |title=Making the IEA 'Freer' to espouse Tory ideology |url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/freer-espouse-tory-ideology |access-date=1 March 2019 |work=Morning Star |date=5 April 2018 |archive-date=2 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302025023/https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/freer-espouse-tory-ideology |url-status=live }}</ref> Cabinet ministers and MPs (including [[Michael Gove]] and [[Liz Truss]]) spoke at the organisation's launch. Truss called for a neoliberal "Tory revolution" spearheaded by "Uber-riding, Airbnb-ing, Deliveroo-eating freedom-fighters",<ref name="Bennett1" /> comments which were criticised by the ''[[Morning Star (British newspaper)|Morning Star]]'' for failing to take into consideration the quality of employment within the companies mentioned.<ref name="Hughes1" /> Conservative blogger [[Paul Staines]] said that the launch "piqued the interest of senior ministers including Michael Gove, [[Dominic Raab|Dom Raab]] and Brexit brain [[Shanker A. Singham|Shanker Singham]]".<ref name="Hughes1" />{{better source needed|date=July 2025}} 

As of early 2019, the organisation had 24 parliamentary supporters, including prominent Conservative MPs such as Liz Truss, [[Chris Skidmore]], [[Priti Patel]], [[Ben Bradley (politician)|Ben Bradley]], and [[Kemi Badenoch]]. Freer also holds events and publishes pamphlets for Conservative MPs, and has been referred to the [[Charity Commission]] by ''[[Private Eye]]'' for political bias.<ref name="Eye1490" />{{needs update|date=July 2025}}

==Funding==
The IEA is a registered educational and research charity.<ref name=roccc>{{EW charity|235351|The Institute of Economic Affairs Limited}}</ref> The organisation states that it is funded by "voluntary donations from individuals, companies and foundations who want to support its work, plus income from book sales and conferences",<ref name="IEA-about">{{cite web|url = http://www.iea.org.uk/about|title = about the IEA|publisher = Institute of Economic Affairs|access-date = 29 October 2009|archive-date = 9 January 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110109153551/http://www.iea.org.uk/about|url-status = live}}</ref> and says that it is "independent of any political party or group".<ref name=IEA-about /> The Charity Commission listed total income of £2.34 million and expenditure of £2.33 million for the financial year ending 31 March 2021.<ref name=roccc />

The IEA policy is to allow donors to choose whether or not to disclose their funding.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQs |url=https://iea.org.uk/faqs/ |access-date=2024-01-23 |website=Institute of Economic Affairs |language=en-GB |archive-date=23 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123073524/https://iea.org.uk/faqs/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Some publish their grants to the IEA;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encouraging independence and enterprise for a healthy old age |url=https://www.templeton.org/grant/encouraging-independence-and-enterprise-for-a-healthy-old-age |access-date=2024-01-23 |website=John Templeton Foundation |archive-date=23 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123073523/https://www.templeton.org/grant/encouraging-independence-and-enterprise-for-a-healthy-old-age |url-status=live }}</ref> others do not. It has been criticised for receiving minor funding (less than 5% of revenue) from major tobacco companies whilst campaigning on tobacco industry issues.<ref name=Monbiot18Dark/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/15/cigarette-packaging-corporate-smokescreen-liberty |work=[[The Guardian]] |title=Cigarette packaging: the corporate smokescreen |author=George Monbiot |author-link=George Monbiot |date=15 July 2013 |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924025212/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/15/cigarette-packaging-corporate-smokescreen-liberty |url-status=live }}</ref> [[British American Tobacco]] (BAT) confirmed it had donated £40,000 to the IEA in 2013,<ref name=ash>{{cite web |title=British American Tobacco's response to ASH |date=June 2014 |url=http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__9d9kcy.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO9DLM9T/$FILE/medMD9KSF99.pdf?openelement |access-date=19 March 2015 |archive-date=1 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301123638/http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__9d9kcy.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO9DLM9T/$FILE/medMD9KSF99.pdf?openelement |url-status=live }}</ref> £20,000 in 2012 and £10,000 in 2011, and [[Philip Morris International]] and [[Japan Tobacco International]] also confirmed they provide financial support to the IEA.<ref name="cigcash">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jun/01/thinktanks-big-tobacco-funds-smoking |title=Health groups dismayed by news 'big tobacco' funded rightwing thinktanks |last=Doward |first=Jamie |date=1 June 2013 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924025107/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jun/01/thinktanks-big-tobacco-funds-smoking |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2002, a leaked letter revealed that a prominent IEA member, the right-wing writer [[Roger Scruton]], had authored an IEA pamphlet attacking the [[WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control|World Health Organisation's campaign on tobacco]], whilst failing to disclose that he was receiving £54,000 a year from Japan Tobacco International.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/jan/24/advertising.tobaccoadvertising |work=[[The Guardian]] |title=Scruton in media plot to promote smoking |author1=Kevin Maguire |author2=Julian Borger |author1-link=Kevin Maguire (journalist) |date=24 January 2002 }}</ref><ref name="bmj">{{cite journal |title=Pro-tobacco writer admits he should have declared an interest |url= |author1=Zosia Kmietowicz |author2=Annabel Ferriman |journal=[[British Medical Journal]] |doi=10.1136/bmj.324.7332.257 |pmc=65291 |date=2 February 2002 |volume=324 |issue=7332 |page=257 |pmid=11823350 }}</ref> In response, the IEA said it would introduce an author declaration policy.<ref name="bmj"/> The IEA also says that it "accepts no tied funding".<ref name="peer review">{{cite web |title=Peer Review Protocol |url=https://iea.org.uk/peer-review-protocal/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201175327/http://www.iea.org.uk/publications/peer-review-protocol |archive-date=1 February 2016 |url-status=live |publisher=IEA |access-date=23 August 2018 }}</ref>

An organisation called American Friends of the IEA had received [[US$]]215,000 as of 2010 from the U.S.-based [[Donors Trust]] and [[Donors Capital Fund]], [[donor-advised fund]]s which support right-wing causes.<ref name="guardian.co.uk">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/18/charities-pr-rightwing-ultra-rich |author=George Monbiot |author-link=George Monbiot |work=[[The Guardian]] |title=The educational charities that do PR for the rightwing ultra-rich |date=18 February 2013 |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924025108/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/18/charities-pr-rightwing-ultra-rich |url-status=live }}</ref> The think tank [[Transparify]], which is funded by the [[Open Society Foundations]], in 2015 ranked the IEA as one of the top three least transparent think tanks in the UK in relation to funding.<ref name="sarahneville" /><ref name="t2015" /> The IEA responded by saying "It is a matter for individual donors whether they wish their donation to be public or private – we leave that entirely to their discretion", and that it has not "earmarked money for commissioned research work from any company".<ref name="sarahneville">{{cite web |last1=Neville |first1=Sarah |title=British think-tanks 'less transparent about sources of funding' |url=https://www.ft.com/content/ae6968c4-b5ec-11e4-b58d-00144feab7de |work=[[Financial Times]] |access-date=19 March 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924025109/https://www.ft.com/content/ae6968c4-b5ec-11e4-b58d-00144feab7de?siteedition=uk |url-status=live }}</ref>

Funding to the IEA from the alcohol industry, food industry, and sugar industry has also been documented.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Impact of Market Forces on Addictive Substances and Behaviours: The web of influence of addictive industries. |last1=Miller |first1=David |last2=Harkins |first2=Claire |last3=Schlögl |first3=Matthias |last4=Montague |first4=Brendan |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-875326-1 |pages=102–108 }}</ref> IEA Research Fellow Christopher Snowdon disclosed alcohol industry funding in a response to a ''British Medical Journal'' article in 2014.<ref name=":0" /> In October 2018, an investigation by [[Greenpeace]] found that the IEA was also receiving funding from the oil giant [[BP]], which was "[using] this access to press ministers on issues ranging from environmental and safety standards to British tax rates."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2018/07/30/bp-funding-institute-of-economic-affairs-gambling/ |title=BP and gambling interests fund secretive free market think tank the IEA |last1=Carter |first1=Lawrence |last2=Ross |first2=Alice |date=30 July 2018 |website=Unearthed |publisher=[[Greenpeace]] |access-date=9 June 2019 |archive-date=18 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518005951/https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2018/07/30/bp-funding-institute-of-economic-affairs-gambling/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2019, the ''[[British Medical Journal]]'' revealed that British American Tobacco was continuing to fund the IEA.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gornall |first=Jonathan |date=15 May 2019 |title=Big tobacco, the new politics, and the threat to public health |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l2164 |journal=[[British Medical Journal]] |volume=365 |article-number=l2164 |doi=10.1136/bmj.l2164 |issn=0959-8138 |pmid=31092403 |doi-access= |s2cid=155102371 |access-date=16 May 2019 |archive-date=16 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516233707/https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l2164 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/big-tobacco-funding-conservatives-nhs-hancock-raab-davis-a8916561.html |title=Big tobacco secretly bankrolling anti-NHS think tank whose bosses donate thousands to Tory leadership contenders, investigation reveals |last=Matthews-King |first=Alex |date=16 May 2019 |website=[[The Independent]] |access-date=16 May 2019 |archive-date=16 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516222421/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/big-tobacco-funding-conservatives-nhs-hancock-raab-davis-a8916561.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In November 2022, the funding transparency website [[Who Funds You?]] rated the institute as E, the lowest transparency rating (rating goes from A to E). This was updated to a D rating in December 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/who-funds-you/iea/|title=Institute of Economic Affairs|work=opendemocracy.net}}</ref>

==Reception==
In early 2019, on national radio station [[LBC]], [[James O'Brien (broadcaster)|James O'Brien]] called the IEA a politically motivated lobbying organisation funded by "dark money" of "questionable provenance, with dubious ideas and validity", staffed by people who are not proper experts on their topic. The IEA complained to the UK media regulator [[Ofcom]] that those remarks were inaccurate and unfair. In August 2021, Ofcom rejected the complaint.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/aug/09/lbcs-james-obrien-wins-ofcom-battle-with-institute-of-economic-affairs |title=LBC's James O'Brien wins Ofcom battle with Institute of Economic Affairs |first=Jim |last=Waterson |author-link=Jim Waterson |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=9 August 2021 |access-date=9 August 2021 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924024601/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/aug/09/lbcs-james-obrien-wins-ofcom-battle-with-institute-of-economic-affairs |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-10 |title=Ofcom rules in favour of LBC's James O'Brien over Institute of Economic Affairs 'dark money' comments |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/lbc-james-obrien-ofcom-lobby-b1899881.html |access-date=2023-07-09 |website=The Independent |language=en |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709114638/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/lbc-james-obrien-ofcom-lobby-b1899881.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Publications==
{{Multiple issues|section=yes|
{{Primary sources section|date=August 2023}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2021}}
}}
Arthur Seldon proposed a series of Papers for economists to explore the neoliberal approach to the issues of the day.<ref name="ieachronology"/> Eventually, these emerged as the Hobart Papers; 154 had been published by August 2006. In addition, 32 Hobart Paperbacks had been released along with 139 Occasional Papers, 61 Readings and 61 Research Monographs.<ref name="ieachronology"/> They published ''[[The Denationalization of Money]]'' by Hayek in 1977.

===Research===
According to the IEA, although not an academic body, the institute's research activities are aided by an international Academic Advisory Council and a panel of Honorary Fellows. The IEA's work is generally more theoretical than political, and has a refereeing process for all its publications.<ref name=":2" /> They note that their papers are subjected to the same refereeing process used by academic journals,<ref name="peer review" /> and that the views expressed in IEA papers are those of the authors and not of the IEA, its trustees, directors, or advisors. The IEA has also published research in areas including business ethics, economic development, education, pensions, regulation, taxation, and transport.

==Notable people==
===Honorary Fellows===
{{Div col|colwidth=14em}}
* [[Armen Alchian]]
* [[Samuel Brittan]]
* [[James M. Buchanan]]
* [[Ronald Coase]]
* [[Terence Wilmot Hutchison|Terence W. Hutchison]]
* [[David Laidler]]
* [[Alan T. Peacock]]
* [[Anna Schwartz]]
* [[Vernon L. Smith]]
* [[Gordon Tullock]]
* [[Alan Walters]]
* [[Basil Yamey]]
{{Div col end}}

===Personnel and Fellows===
As of 2024, the IEA had full and part-time 26 employees, 9 trustees (unpaid volunteers), and 3 former chairmen who serve as life vice presidents;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Staff |url=https://iea.org.uk/staff/ |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=Institute of Economic Affairs |language=en-GB |archive-date=1 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801154651/https://iea.org.uk/staff/ |url-status=live }}</ref> additionally, the IEA has an Academic Advisory Council with dozens of professors and other academics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Academic Advisory Council |url=https://iea.org.uk/academic-advisory-council/ |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=Institute of Economic Affairs |language=en-GB |archive-date=1 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801154944/https://iea.org.uk/academic-advisory-council |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Matthew Sinclair (political adviser)|Matthew Sinclair]]
{{Div col|colwidth=28em}}
{{Div col end}}

===Directors===
* [[Ralph Harris, Baron Harris of High Cross|Ralph Harris]] 1957–1988
* [[Graham Mather]] 1988–1993
* [[John Blundell (economist)|John Blundell]] 1993–2009
* [[Mark Littlewood]] 2009–2023
* [[Tom Clougherty]] 2023–

===Chairmen of the Board of Trustees===
{{Div col|colwidth=28em}}
* [[Antony Fisher]] 1955–1988
* [[Nigel Vinson, Baron Vinson|Nigel Vinson]] 1988–1995
* [[Harold Rose (economist)|Harold Rose]] 1995–1998
* [[Peter Walters|Sir Peter Walters]] 1998–2001
* Professor D.R. Myddelton 2001–2015
* [[Neil Record]] 2015–2023
* Linda Edwards 2023–
{{div col end}}

===Members of the Board of Trustees (current and former)===
{{Div col|colwidth=14em}}
* Kevin Bell
* Christian Bjornskov
* Robert Boyd
* [[Tim Congdon]]
* Linda Edwards
* Robin Edwards
* [[Antony Fisher]]
* Mike Fisher
* Tom Harris
* [[Michael Hintze, Baron Hintze|Michael Hintze]]
* Malcolm McAlpine
* [[Patrick Minford]]
* David Myddelton
* [[Mark Pennington]]
* Bruno Prior
* [[Neil Record]]
* Sir Michael Richardson
* Martin Ricketts
* [[Harold Rose (economist)|Harold Rose]]
* Len Shackelton
* [[Nigel Vinson, Baron Vinson|Nigel Vinson]]
* [[Linda Whetstone]]
* Geoffrey Wood
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* [[Economists for Free Trade]]
* [[Hayek Lecture]]
* [[List of think tanks in the United Kingdom]]

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<!--
<ref name=iea1>{{cite web|title=Climate Alarmism Reconsidered |url=http://accessible.iea.org.uk/files/upld-publication218pdf?.pdf |publisher=IEA |access-date=18 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509183418/http://accessible.iea.org.uk/files/upld-publication218pdf?.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2006 }}</ref>

<ref name=iea2>{{cite web|title=The Road to Economic Freedom|url=http://www.iea.org.uk/publications/co-published-books/the-road-to-economic-freedom|publisher=IEA|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref>
-->
<ref name=t2015>{{cite web|title=How Transparent are Think Tanks about Who Funds Them 2015?|url=http://static1.squarespace.com/static/52e1f399e4b06a94c0cdaa41/t/54e2c94ee4b0b72929ca8518/1424148814454/Transparify+2015+Think+Tanks+-+Report.pdf|publisher=Transparify|access-date=19 March 2015|archive-date=24 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924025608/http://static1.squarespace.com/static/52e1f399e4b06a94c0cdaa41/t/54e2c94ee4b0b72929ca8518/1424148814454/Transparify+2015+Think+Tanks+-+Report.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
<!--
<ref name=who-pdf>{{cite web|last1=Scruton|first1=Roger|title=WHO, WHAT and WHY? Trans-national Government, Legitimacy and the World Health Organisation|url=http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ddc03c00/pdf|publisher=IEA|access-date=19 March 2015}}</ref>
-->
}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |first=Nick |last=Bosanquet |title=Economics: After the New Right |location=Boston |publisher=Kluwer-Nijhoff |year=1983 |isbn=0-89838-135-5 |pages=79–87|ref=none }}
* {{cite book |author-link=Richard Cockett |first=Richard |last=Cockett |title=Thinking the unthinkable: think-tanks and the economic counter-revolution, 1931–1983 |publisher=Fontana Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-00-637586-3|ref=none }}

==External links==
* [http://www.iea.org.uk/ Institute of Economic Affairs]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100309001817/http://blog.iea.org.uk/ IEA Blog]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Institute Of Economic Affairs}}
[[Category:Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Economic research institutes]]
[[Category:Non-profit organisations based in London]]
[[Category:1955 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Organisations based in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Think tanks established in 1955]]
[[Category:Advocacy groups in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Libertarian think tanks]]
[[Category:Neoliberal organizations]]