Tim raises some very good questions surrounding the future of the Institute for Economic Affairs. As someone heavily involved in running a think tank that is all about free markets over here in Washington DC, I hope that these observations will prove helpful to those who are to decide its future direction.
First, we must recognize that one of the founding principles of the IEA - Hayek's advice to win the war of ideas without engaging in politics - has been rendered moot by technology. Today, the war of ideas is not fought between dons in Senior Common Rooms, in the lounges of Pall Mall clubs or in the bars of the House of Commons, but between web-based organizations that involve thousands or in some cases millions of people. As a result, the war of ideas and politics have merged together. This site is a great example, with many people - all experts in their way - contributing ideas on complex aspects of economic policy. A good guide to the way the web is transforming politics all over the world is available for free at The Webster's Dictionary. I hope the IEA's Trustees will read it. None of this is to say that the IEA must merge with the Conservative Party - far from it - but it must recognize that it is part of the conservative movement and act accordingly.
Secondly, this means that the IEA must communicate and advocate. Its old business model of producing worthy economic papers proved of great value to the conservative movement, but it is no longer enough (although it must continue in some form). A good free-market think tank must actively proselytise the value of the free market in a political atmosphere that is increasingly hostile to the concept, for various bogus reasons. That means embracing the tools we now have available - video, chat, social networks, twitter and so on - and finding creative ways to use them that will engage people in realising the value of the free market. Guido Fawkes and Tory Bear (to take two random examples) between them have probably done more to defend the free market than the IEA over the past two years, and without ever explicitly saying so. The tools that they use and their messages reinforce the free market (anti-politician = anti-control = pro-market, for instance). Google shows us 20,000,000 ways to skin a cat.
Thirdly, the IEA must raise funds in accordance with these tactics. That doesn't mean looking for large donors and buying buildings. Instead, it should take advantage of its charitable status and raise funds far and wide in small amounts. This will help the conservative movement in ways the the Conservative Party is completely unable to do. Look at the amount of money raised by MoveOn.org over here, for instance, something that it does with a very small staff and no Washington DC presence to speak of. Now Britons are, sadly, less charitable than Americans and targets should be pitched accordingly, but fundraising for small-p political causes simply hasn't been tried in the UK, at least not on the conservative side (the environmental organizations seem to do very well, and trade unions too). The IEA might be in a position to completely transform small-p political funding in Britain, in a way that the Taxpayers Alliance has done for campaigning. All it would take is a leader with the vision and brass neck to pull it off. I'm sure there are such paragons in the UK. It is the IEA Trustees' role to find one.
The IEA is too good a brand, and this is too good an opportunity, to waste.
UPDATE: There seems to be some confusion as to what I mean by small-p politics. By that I do not mean campaigning for the Conservative Party, or for Conservative Party candidates. As I say above, far from it. I do mean engaging with the political process when the free market is under attack, or campaigning for it when it can improve the way things are done, by active advocacy in favor of the market. Moreover, the way politics works is changing. What is happening here, on this site, is politics, for example. It is essential that the IEA engages with this new politics, or it has quite simply outlived its time.
