Minford and Sons: How one economist mesmerised the Tories

Patrick Minford faded from view in the 2000s – but since Brexit, he’s returned to the fore of Tory economic policy. So who is this Arch-Thatcherite economist and what does he stand for? UCL policy fellow Laurie Macfarlane talks to Andrew Harrison about how he became an icon of the IEA set, and what his cult worship means for Liz Truss’ government, and the cost of living crisis. “Most economists like markets but Minford is extreme.” “The mini-budget was an experiment of Minford in practice.”  “There's a risk that we lunge to the other extreme and a return to Osbornite austerity.” “Minford claims to care about government budgets, but he's fine with tax cuts for the wealthy.” www.patreon.com/bunkercast  Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio production by Alex Rees. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices