In this conversation from 2024, Alex speaks with Eric Schliesser about the growing declarations of the end of liberalism and what this means for the socio-political future in general.

Episode Notes:

1. Eric Schliesser’s page at the University of Amsterdam https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/s/c/e.s.schliesser/e.s.schliesser.html#Publications
2. Kevin Vallier’s episode of this podcast discussing religious anti-liberalism: https://thecurioustask.podbean.com/e/197-kevin-vallier-what-are-the-new-religious-threats-to-liberalism/
3. Adrian Vermeulen’s publications https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/adrian-vermeule/
4. Tom Pink’s page at King’s College London: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/thomas-pink
5. Yoram Hazony’s book on conservatism: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/thomas-pink
6. Jacob Levy on borders and liberalism: https://www.niskanencenter.org/law-and-border/

In this episode, Matt speaks with Reem Ibrahim about whether Brexit can be considered a success six years after the UK left the European Union. They examine the classical-liberal case for Brexit (focused on sovereignty, deregulation, and free trade) and contrast it with a post-Brexit reality in which many EU-era regulations, trade barriers, and interventionist policies remain. While the most catastrophic “Project Fear” predictions did not come true, Ibrahim argues that Brexit’s promised freedoms have largely gone unused, leaving its long-term success still unresolved.

References

Brexit Referendum (2016) — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_referendum/results

Project Fear — https://ukandeu.ac.uk/why-take-back-control-trumped-project-fear/

Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)’s Analysis of Brexit’s impact on trade — https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Perspectives_5_Has-Brexit-really-harmed-UK-trade__web-1.pdf

Brexit: The Movie — https://www.youtube.com/c/brexitthemovie

UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement — https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/relations-united-kingdom/eu-uk-trade-and-cooperation-agreement_en

CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) — https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-uk-and-the-comprehensive-and-progressive-agreement-for-trans-pacific-partnershipcptpp

Working Time Directive — https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/rights-work/labour-law/working-conditions/working-time-directive_en

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Thanks to our patrons, including Kris Rondolo, Amy Willis, and Christopher McDonald.

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In this episode, Alex speaks with Franco Terrazano about government spending, taxation, and fiscal accountability in Canada, with a focus on how deficits, debt, and expanding bureaucracy effect affordability for ordinary Canadians. Franco outlines where federal spending has grown most rapidly, critiques the lack of clear priorities and performance measurement, and explains how interest payments on the debt increasingly crowd out core public services.

References

Canadian Taxpayers Federation https://www.taxpayer.com/

Federal Budget of Canada (most recent edition) https://budget.canada.ca/home-accueil-en.html

Public Accounts of Canada https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/payments-accounting/public-accounts.html

Canada’s Debt and Interest Charges https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/2025-08/federal-and-provincial-debt-interest-costs-for-canadians-2025.pdf

Government Program Spending Growth Since 2015 https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/explaining-growth-federal-program-spending-2015

Thanks to Our Patrons

Thanks to our patrons, including Kris Rondolo, Amy Willis, and Christopher McDonald. To support The Curious Task, visit: https://patreon.com/curioustask