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The IEA’s Head of Health and Welfare Dr Kristian Niemietz discusses the UK’s national treasure- also known as the National Health Service. In the wake of yet another winter crisis, Kristian explains how other countries manage to avoid system shutdowns every year, mainly through the use of market mechanisms that lead to better efficiencies, and in turn, better patient outcomes. Interviewed by the IEA’s News Editor Kate Andrews, Kristian also addresses the issue of funding, noting that more cash can lead to a more generous healthcare system, but it is not obvious that it would help to solve the bread-and-butter issues facing the NHS, like A&E waiting times and cancer survival rates. Kristian lays out his ideal healthcare system, which he thinks could be a legitimate contender for ‘envy of the world’.

Rachel Laurence and Annie Quick join Laurie Macfarlane to discuss inequality, democracy and the North/South divide in this episode of the New Economics Foundation podcast from the archive.

Adrian Bua is a researcher at the Centre for Urban Research on Austerity. The Centre develops research into austerity and related concepts and practices, such as crisis, resistance, resilience, renaissance and transformation. It brings together activists, students and academics working on these issues to develop new networks and projects. Wolfgang Streeck is Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies. He is a sociologist working on political economy who analyses the trajectory and future of capitalism, democracy and the state in his recent books "Buying Time" (2013) and "How Will Capitalism End" (2016). This podcast discusses the main arguments he develops in these works.

In this week’s episode of Inside Business, we tackle corruption issues in Australia. Economist Dr Cameron K. Murray released a book last year entitled a Game of Mates, which uncovers the endemic corruption culture in Australian business. Matthew Cook speaks with Australian-born, British-based economist Steve Keen, the author of Debunking Economics, to find out more.

How do we combat hate and racism in British society? Marc Stears is joined by Nazek Ramadan of Migrant Voice and John Page from Hope Not Hate to discuss. This is an archive episode of NEF asking how we can create a new economy where people can really take control of their lives.

In our first podcast of 2018, we look at one of the most critical areas in public policy – housing. The Institute of Economic Affairs’s Kristian Niemietz and former Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute Ben Southwood discuss the housing shortage, its supply-side nature and the politics which underpin it. Interviewed by the IEA’s Kate Andrews, the pair examine the historical origins of the housing crisis, which date back to legislation introduced under Clement Attlee’s government in the 1940s. They also look at the well-organised NIMBY movement (short for “Not In My Back Yard”), and its influence on government policy.

From savings rates, to property prices and the prospects for the UK economy, this week we take a look at what will (might) happen to our finances in 2018. Predictions – as we all know – are a mug’s game, but as it is the start of a new year, it’s time to have a look at what could happen in 2018 in the world of money. Inflation is forecast to subside, while interest rates are only tipped to rise very gently. That would be a boost to people’s finances if wage inflation can get back up above the rising cost of living. A further boon could come from savings rates, which it is suggested could continue to rise. In the property market, house prices are predicted to be flat across the UK, but that will mask a continuing divergence in fortunes between regional cities, where sales are buoyant, and London and the commuter belt, where the market has suffered. Elsewhere in the economy, car sales are falling, consumer borrowing is rising but at a slower pace, and there will continue to be worries we aren’t saving enough for retirement. That’s what’s meant to happen. But will it? Simon Lambert, Sarah Davidson and Georgie Frost gaze into their crystal balls.

What more does the environment have to do to become an election issue? Joining our host Ayeisha Thomas-Smith this week are Dave Powell, Subject Lead on Environment at the New Economics Foundation, Fernanda Balata, who leads NEF’s work on coastal economies and Andrew Pendleton, Principal Director of Policy and Advocacy at NEF to discuss the environment, the election and the prospects for saving our planet.

What do Momentum and Moggmentum have in common? Find out in our round-up of 2017, featuring the IEA’s Director General Mark Littlewood and Communications Director Stephanie Lis. Interviewed by the IEA’s News Editor Kate Andrews, the three discuss the state of the Brexit negotiations, the problems in Parliament, Donald Trump’s America, and predictions for 2018.

Facts are either right or wrong, right?...wrong? In this special episode of the This is Money podcast Tim Harford, presenter of the BBC series More or Less and all-round Undercover Economist makes a second guest appearance. We talk about facts and stats - checking them, debunking them, reporting them, baffling with them, battling over them. Tim argues that we think of facts as being either the truth or lies, but that actually factual claims can form part of our identity. We also discuss the impact of social media on the way in which we consume news and facts. And whether we're too dependent on numbers altogether. Don't believe us? You'll have to listen and see.