Patrick Basham comments on calorie counts on restaurant menus in the Sunday Times (UK)
Patrick Basham22 August 2010
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Patrick Basham's essay on Australia's Seinfeld election
Patrick Basham20 August 2010
Patrick Basham writes that Australia's cautious, carefully choreographed election campaign has left undecided voters without a single moment or theme to capture their imagination. Some call it the Seinfeld campaign, i.e. a campaign about nothing. But this 'nothing campaign' will produce a government that will mean something quite tangible for both Australians and Western policymakers. Download PDF »
Patrick Basham discusses US troops leaving Iraq on Canada's CTV News
19 August 2010Watch the CTV clip »
Gambling – A Healthy Bet
Patrick BashamGambling – A Healthy Bet
Book launch
Institute of Economic Affairs London
27 October 2010
Gambling is good for us, according to Patrick Basham and John Luik’s provocative new book. The authors argue gambling is a net contributor to public health, economic life, and an important component of a liberal society. Gambling has become a widespread pastime for a simple, single, and unassailable reason: gambling adds to the sum of human happiness. Based upon their rigourous examination of gambling’s many faces and many sides, the authors conclude that policymakers should leave gamblers – and the gambling industry – alone. Read More »
A Kenyan Yes vote should be met with cautious pessimism
Patrick Basham4 August 2010
Commenting on Kenya's referendum on a new constitution, Patrick Basham states that, while a peaceful aftermath to the referendum will give Kenyans grounds for optimism, 'a tribally-riven society that a mere 30 months ago slaughtered 1,500 of its own people will need to demonstrate repeatedly its willingness to abide by both the letter and the spirit of the new constitution, if Kenya is not to become a “lost democracy” in the eyes of the international community’.Download PDF » Read More »
Patrick Basham & John in the Philadelphia Inquirer explain why BMI is a lousy health rating
2 August 2010Body Mass Index has acquired unwarranted authority. And the new federal regulation, telling us to accept a correlation of "high" BMI scores with shorter lives, is contrary to the available evidence. It's too bad the fat police aren't as interested in the weight of the scientific evidence as they are in that of Americans.
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David Cameron Misread UK Public on BP-Libya 'Deal'
Patrick Basham31 July 2010
Patrick Basham writes that only one thing’s missing from coverage of the transatlantic tug-of-war between UK and US politicians over BP’s alleged role in last year’s release of convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan spook. The coverage’s fundamental premise – the politicians are reflecting public opinion in their respective countries – is wrong. New polling finds there’s comparatively little difference in popular sentiment on either side of the Atlantic. Both Americans and Britons smell a large rat when it comes to BP’s role in the Scottish Government’s decision to release Megrahi..
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Pssst! Wanna boost kids’ smoking? Have a display ban!
15 July 2010Patrick Basham blogs about smoking on the Institute of Economic Affairs web site.
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Anti-smoking law may be overturned in UK government review
14 July 2010Guardian article cites Patrick Basham's IEA display ban paper as key evidence.
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Adjunct scholar Christopher Snowdon critiques "The Spirit Level" in the Wall Street Journal
9 July 2010A year after its publication, The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always do Better is a regular feature on the bookshelves of left-wing intellectuals. This book purports to offer strong support for the claim that income redistribution creates social good. Unfortunately, this conclusion doesn't stand up to serious scrutiny.
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Rather than being written in the stars, a nation's soccer fortune is written in the stats
Patrick BashamJuly 6, 2010
Rather than being written in the stars (human or celestial), a nation's soccer fortune is written in the stats - the economic stats. My analysis of each World Cup nation's level of economic freedom provides a fairly reliable guide to their performance in South Africa.
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London's Institute of Economic Affairs publishes Patrick Basham's tobacco display ban study
Patrick BashamJuly 1, 2010
Despite UK display ban advocates’ repeated assertions, the empirical evidence does not demonstrate that tobacco display bans have reduced smoking prevalence or consumption in the four countries where they have been instituted: Canada, Iceland, Ireland, and Thailand. In this sense, display bans appear to be - like so many other tobacco control policies - highly ineffective. A powerful and growing body of research evidence suggests that each country that implements a new tobacco display ban risks significant economic damage and a deterioration in public health.
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Patrick Basham quoted in Correio Braziliense on Obama's Afghanistan strategy
Patrick BashamJune 27, 2010
Patrick Basham quoted in Correio Braziliense on Obama's Afghanistan strategy .
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Kicking The Soda Can: Hard Truths About Soft Drink Taxes
June 4, 2010
Before the nation's food police begin fantasizing about a thinner population, coupled with sizeable new streams of government revenue, a closer look at five key problems with soft drink taxes is warranted.
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Democracy Institute adjunct scholar Christopher Snowdon's new book:
The Spirit Level Delusion: Fact-Checking the Left's Theory of Everything
May 28, 2010
Here, the author of The Spirit Level Delusion explains why Britain’s chattering classes were so wrong to embrace The Spirit Level and its argument that all of society’s problems are caused by inequality.
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David Cameron Misread UK Public on BP-Libya 'Deal'
Patrick Basham31 July 2010
Patrick Basham writes that only one thing’s missing from coverage of the transatlantic tug-of-war between UK and US politicians over BP’s alleged role in last year’s release of convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan spook. The coverage’s fundamental premise – the politicians are reflecting public opinion in their respective countries – is wrong. New polling finds there’s comparatively little difference in popular sentiment on either side of the Atlantic. Both Americans and Britons smell a large rat when it comes to BP’s role in the Scottish Government’s decision to release Megrahi..Download PDF » Read More »