Waging the War of Ideas

This paper dicusses how 'wars of ideas' can be waged, using the author's extensive experience, both as general director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and at other classical liberal think tanks.

John Blundell begins his stimulating collection of published essays, reviews and introductions by showing how the founders of the IEA successfully fought the conventional 'planning' wisdom of the 1960s and 1970s, providing the ideas which, by the 1980s and 1990s, had bought about increased freedom and a revival in the use of markets. He draws lessons form those days and then surveys the contemporary scene, showing how the anti-liberal ideas emerging now are different from those which prevailed in the early years of the IEA. As well as giving a valuable view of the IEA's development in the past, these essays also offer advice on how to continue winning in the new circumstances of the present.

This unique collection is introduced by Professor Walter Williams, chairman of the Economics Department at George Mason University