Mr Gove, Build This Orb!
If there was hope, it must lie in the Poasters
The Mayor of London has attempted to block the construction of the MSG Sphere in Stratford, East London (hereafter referred to as ‘The Orb’). However, there may yet be hope for The Orb as Michael Gove is considering overruling the Mayor and allowing The Orb to be built. This is good news.
The Orb would bring more investment to London, create jobs, and attract tourists. All of this is incredibly important. The UK economy is in the doldrums and is pretty much only still staggering along thanks to the success of London. The government needs to do everything it can to ensure that London continues to attract investment and create jobs. Allowing an iconic and visually striking music venue such as The Orb is a great way to ensure this happens. The building of The Orb is an important signal that London – and the rest of the UK – is open for business.
The Orb would be a good thing for music fans. It would create an immersive musical experience making gigs even better. Not only would it make going to gigs even more enjoyable, it could make it more affordable as well. One of the reasons why watching live music is so expensive is because organisers can only fit so many people into their venues. As with everything in life, if demand outsrips supply then prices shoot up. The large capacity of The Orb means that more people can safely attend which means more tickets are available, thereby lowering prices.
Moreover, The Orb will create more competition in live music. It is hardly surprising that one of the main opponents of The Orb is the company that operates the O2 Arena in South East London. It has claimed it is concerned about congestion but this is straight from the rent-seeking NIMBY playbook. In reality it is scared of losing custom to a rival. Competition is a great thing as it drives innovation, ensures that firms pick up their game, and helps to keep prices low for consumers. The Orb will mean that the O2 Arena will need to invest in the venue to increase its capacity and improve its equipment in order to attract the world’s greatest musicians and fans. This in turn will attract more investment and create jobs in Greenwich and the surrounding area as well as benefiting fans.
The Orb will also help to revive London’s nightlife. Music venues, pubs, bars, and clubs in London are closing at an alarming rate and are hindered by NIMBYs who prevent them from operating late at night and oppose measures to increase capacity such as pedestrianisation. The Orb will not only mean there is another venue for fans to enjoy music but will also lead to the building of more restaurants and bars for people who don't want to be tucked up in bed by 9 to enjoy.
Finally, building The Orb is important because of what it represents. One of the main arguments made by opponents of The Orb is that there is a housing crisis in that area of London and so housing would be a more suitable use of the space. While it is certainly true that there is a housing crisis and that this is driven by a lack of supply, the people making this argument are often being disingenuous. The fact is these houses have not been built and will not be built because they are opposed by many of the same people who oppose the building of The Orb. Our dysfunctional planning system is often gamed by NIMBYs and other rent-seekers which means that homes, wind turbines, solar panels, nuclear power plants, transport infrastructure, and music venues cannot be built. We are all poorer as a result. Building The Orb will be a victory for YIMBYism and galvanise the movement to get building. YIMBYs of the world, unite!
As an online weirdo myself
I enjoyed reading Duncan Robinson’s column in the Economist yesterday. He points to the importance of poasting and how it has influenced public policy in the UK. The examples he cites are: YIMBYism; improving transport infrastructure outside of London; making full expensing permanent; and banning Bully XL dogs. All great things!
I got my job advising Liz Truss mainly through poasting. I first came to her attention after writing an article for CapX which is an offshoot of the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS). Her economic adviser (the excellent Shabbir Merali) got in touch with me when she was at HM Treasury. We met up and had a conversation about public policy. She was later promoted to International Trade Secretary and over a year later I got approached by her with a job offer, partly because she thought that I was ‘sound and a funny Twitter person’. The jury is out on whether I am either of those things and I’m not saying it is a great way to run a government department, but it does go to show the impact that poasting can have.
Hayek was right. Antony Fisher was disillusioned with the state of post-war Britain and so went to see Hayek to see how he could make the case for freedom in the UK. He told Hayek that he would do this by going into politics and becoming an MP. Hayek told him this was a waste of time and that he needed to change ideas instead. Fisher took Hayek’s advice and used the fortune he made as a pioneer of Big Chicken to set up the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). You might not agree with the IEA (who funds them etc etc) but you cannot deny its impact on the UK and the rest of the world. Likewise the CPS and the Adam Smith Institute which were set up at a similar time by eccentric and wonderful people helped pave the way for Thatcherism in the UK and have had a huge impact on public policy. If Hayek was around today he would surely be telling people to get poasting.
Hopefully we can poast our way to getting The Orb built.
Don’t cry for Milei, Argentina
On the topic of weirdos and poasting, this week I wrote an article for CapX on why Argentina’s President-Elect is right to consider adopting the US Dollar. It is a drastic move but dollarisation is probably the only way for Argentina to tackle its inflation problem and bring about long-term sustainable economic growth. You can read it here.
The Chancellor we needed
I was sad to hear of the death of Alistair Darling on Thursday. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer during the Global Financial Crisis and we are incredibly fortunate for the fact that he was in that position. It would have been incredibly easy and a very popular move to have not bailed out the banks when the crisis hit. He was criticised by the media, the opposition, and many in his own party for doing so but it was the right thing to do.
The focus of my academic work is on recessions and financial crises. If there had been no rescue for the banks then the Great Recession would almost certainly have been another depression. It is no exaggeration to say that the UK – and the world – owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Alistair Darling.
In my student days I was a member of the Labour Club and was lucky enough to briefly meet the man after Labour had lost the 2010 General Election. I got the impression that he was an incredibly clever, humble, and thoroughly decent man which is no doubt why there has been an outpouring of sadness and affection on the news of his passing.
I love this anecdote from his obituary in the Financial Times. Keynesianism in action!
Thanks as ever for reading. If you’d like to support my work then feel free to buy me a pint here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/opportunitylost
Have a great weekend and keep warm!