“Of course you want to rip down regulations, of course you don’t care about the natural world because you’re from the IEA which is funded by oligarchs & corporations…"
The Institute of Economic Affairs, which has long been accused of a lack of transparency over its funding, was taken apart on BBC Politics Live by environmental campaigner and journalist George Monbiot.
Monbiot was engaged in a heated debate with the IEA’s Reem Ibrahim on economic growth and overall well-being. He criticised the government’s approach to growth which showed no regard for the environment and said that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should not be synonymous with “actual human well-being”.
Many have highlighted over the years how GDP doesn’t capture a full picture of a country’s economic state or well-being as it misses out ‘bad’ factors such as pollution, and nor does it tell you how resources are distributed in the economy, meaning you can have high levels of inequality and deprivation as well as strong GDP.
Ibrahim asserted that growth is a ‘very positive thing’ and said: “Ultimately, if we’re actively implementing policies that are not going to be supporting the way in which the economy is growing, we’ve got to stop talking about growth in that way.”
Monbiot replied: “Of course you want to rip down regulations, of course you don’t care about the natural world because you’re from the IEA which is funded by oligarchs & corporations… The IEA refuses to reveal who funds it”.
Last year, transparency campaigners called for thinktanks to be more open about their funding sources, after it emerged that some of Britain’s most influential ones received more than $1m (£787,000) from donations in the US in 2021, among which was the IEA, which was behind many of the policies adopted by the Liz Truss government.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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