Invisible Hands: 1. The Chicken Farmer

Summary

Summary of "Invisible Hands: Episode 1 - The Chicken Farmer"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The History Podcast
• Host: BBC Radio 4 (David Dimbleby)
• Episode: Invisible Hands: 1. The Chicken Farmer
• Release Date: March 26, 2025
• Description: David Dimbleby explores the history of the free market revolution in Britain, uncovering the hidden forces and individuals that shaped this transformative era.

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Introduction

In the inaugural episode of Invisible Hands, titled "The Chicken Farmer," David Dimbleby delves into the origins of Britain's free market revolution. This episode intricately weaves personal narratives with historical analysis to illustrate how individual experiences and ideological confrontations catalyzed a significant economic and political shift in post-war Britain.

Post-War Britain: A Nation in Transition

The episode sets the stage in post-World War II Britain, a nation emerging from the devastation of war but grappling with economic austerity and societal upheaval. David Dimbleby paints a vivid picture of the late 1940s, describing Britain as "dark, austere, impoverished, gloomy, pretty depressing" (08:37).

Key Points:

• Economic Struggles: Despite victory in the war, Britain faced severe shortages, rationing, and economic instability.
• Political Shift: The Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee, won a landslide victory in the 1945 election, replacing Winston Churchill's Conservative government.

Clement Attlee and the Rise of the Welfare State

Attlee's administration embarked on ambitious socialist reforms aimed at rebuilding Britain. These included nationalizing key industries, implementing extensive welfare programs, and instituting significant public spending.

Notable Quotes:

• Richard Cockett: “Britain emerged from the Second World War in a perilous…pretty depressing place.” (08:37)
• Anthony Fisher: “Nazis…giving their country back.” (04:10)

Key Points:

• Nationalization: Key industries such as coal, railways, electricity, gas, and steel were brought under state control.
• Welfare State: Introduction of comprehensive social services guaranteeing minimum standards of living, health, and employment.
• Public Sentiment: While many supported these changes, a significant faction, particularly within the business community, opposed increased government intervention.

Anthony Fisher: From Banker to Farmer

Anthony Fisher, a former banker and World War II veteran, becomes the focal point of the narrative. Disillusioned by government regulations and inspired by his wartime experiences, Fisher seeks to assert individual freedom through entrepreneurship.

Key Points:

• Personal Loss: Fisher's brother Basil was killed in an air battle, deepening his commitment to freedom and personal liberty.
• Agricultural Ventures: Frustrated with stringent government controls like the Milk Marketing Board and Egg Marketing Board, Fisher purchased a farm in Sussex to pursue free-market principles.

Notable Quotes:

• Anthony Fisher: “We were almost feral as children…God only knows.” (13:23)
• Mike Fisher: “I don't believe anybody's ever discovered one single case when that interference did anything but harm.” (15:03)

The Catalyst: Reading "Road to Serfdom"

A pivotal moment occurs when Anthony Fisher reads Friedrich Hayek's essay "The Road to Serfdom" in Reader's Digest. Hayek's arguments against government intervention and his advocacy for free-market capitalism resonate deeply with Fisher.

Key Points:

• Hayek's Influence: Hayek warned that extensive government control could lead to totalitarianism, drawing parallels between British collectivism and Nazi Germany.
• Ideological Awakening: Fisher becomes convinced that the free market is essential for preserving individual freedom and preventing state overreach.

Notable Quotes:

• Hayek: “Once you decide that government is entitled to take from some people in order to give it to others, this is automatically discrimination.” (19:10)
• Anthony Fisher: “My father must have thought that the road to serfdom encapsulated everything.” (20:55)

Founding the Institute of Economic Affairs

Motivated by his newfound ideology, Fisher establishes the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a think tank dedicated to promoting free-market principles. Despite initial resistance and being dismissed as fringe thinkers, the IEA persistently advocated for economic liberalization.

Key Points:

• Early Struggles: The IEA faced significant challenges, including government regulations that hampered Fisher's farming business and initial disregard from mainstream politics.
• Strategic Focus: The IEA concentrated on influencing public opinion and policymakers through research, publications, and networking with influential figures.

Notable Quotes:

• Richard Cockett: “They were considered to be, you know, this bunch of kind of weird eccentrics on the fringe of politics.” (27:53)
• Anthony Fisher: “I was going to say, most ingenious, but ingenious without having been designed.” (20:25)

The Chicken of Tomorrow: A Symbol of Free Market Success

Fisher's foray into innovative chicken farming becomes a testament to his free-market ideals. By exploiting the United States' Chicken of Tomorrow competition, Fisher introduces highly efficient farming techniques to Britain, leading to substantial profits that fund the IEA.

Key Points:

• Innovation and Efficiency: The competition encouraged the development of faster-growing chicken breeds, which Fisher successfully integrated into his farming practices.
• Economic Impact: The resulting agribusiness model not only revolutionized British farming but also provided the financial backbone for the IEA's activities.

Notable Quotes:

• Mike Fisher: “The market is…ingenious without having been designed.” (20:25)
• Anthony Fisher: “There was quite a smell of ammonia and a terrible noise.” (26:10)

The Path to Mainstream Influence

Despite early marginalization, the IEA gradually gained traction, especially with the emergence of politicians like Keith Joseph who championed free-market policies. This shift laid the groundwork for the eventual rise of Thatcherism in the 1980s.

Key Points:

• Political Alignment: Figures like Keith Joseph recognized the potential of the IEA's ideas and worked to integrate them into mainstream political discourse.
• Long-Term Impact: The persistence of the IEA's advocacy for free markets contributed significantly to the transformation of British economic policy.

Notable Quotes:

• Mike Fisher: “And he stayed like that for the rest of the meal.” (28:29)
• Richard Cockett: “They kept going, even when they were almost entirely ignored by everyone in British politics.” (27:53)

Conclusion

"Invisible Hands: The Chicken Farmer" intricately narrates the intersection of personal conviction and broader economic shifts that fueled Britain’s free market revolution. Through Anthony Fisher's journey from wartime pilot to pioneering farmer and think tank founder, the episode underscores the profound impact of individual agency in shaping national policy. By highlighting the establishment and evolution of the Institute of Economic Affairs, David Dimbleby illustrates how grassroots efforts can culminate in transformative political movements.

Notable Quotes

1. Anthony Fisher on Government Intervention:

   “I don't believe anybody's ever discovered one single case when that interference did anything but harm.” (15:03)

2. Friedrich Hayek on Government Power:

   “Once you decide that government is entitled to take from some people in order to give it to others, this is automatically discrimination.” (19:10)

3. Mike Fisher on the Free Market:

   “The market is… ingenious without having been designed.” (20:25)

4. Richard Cockett on the IEA's Early Days:

   “They were considered to be…a bunch of kind of weird eccentrics on the fringe of politics.” (27:53)

Final Thoughts

This episode effectively intertwines the personal narrative of Anthony Fisher with the broader historical context of post-war Britain, illustrating how individual experiences and ideologies can drive significant societal change. By focusing on the establishment of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Invisible Hands highlights the critical role of think tanks and intellectual movements in shaping national policies and ideologies.

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Note: Timestamps are provided in brackets and correspond to the points within the transcript for reference.

Transcript

[David Dimbleby]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.

[Paul McGann]

Titanic Ship of Dreams, the new podcast from the award winning Noiser Network. Join me, Paul McGann, as we explore life and death on Titanic. I'll delve into my own family story following my great uncle Jimmy as he tries to escape the engine room. We'll hear the harrowing tales of the victims and the testimonies of the lucky survivors.

[Mike Fisher]

I saw that ship sink and I saw that ship break in half.

[Paul McGann]

Titanic Ship of Dreams. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[David Dimbleby]

BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts it's the 15th of August 1940 and Britain is at war with Nazi Germany.

[Mike Fisher]

In daylight raids, between 350 and 400 enemy aircraft were launched in two attacks against London and Southeast.

[David Dimbleby]

Two brothers, Anthony and Basil Fisher, are fighter pilots in the 101st Hurricane Squadron.

[Anthony Fisher]

They tell you that the Germans are crossing the Channel and would you get in your airplanes as quickly as you can and would you take off?

[David Dimbleby]

That's Anthony Fisher's son, Mike.

[Anthony Fisher]

You put on your jacket and your boots and you run to the airplanes and your armorers there and your engineers are there and you get put in your Hurricane. Then you're on your own in that little area and you're racing up to the altitude.

[David Dimbleby]

On that August day in 1940, Anthony and Basil's squadron receive information that hundreds of German planes are crossing the Channel, heading to bomb London. Anthony and Basil run to their planes. They take off, two planes, side by side.

[Anthony Fisher]

I'm in. You just can't imagine the anguish of two close brothers. I mean, fear. The adrenaline would be incredible.

[David Dimbleby]

Anthony Fisher soars up, tightening his grip on the control stick, his body shaking from the vibrations. The sound of the engines deafening, the sky teeming with planes. And then out of the corner of his eye, Anthony notices a plane on fire. He swoops down to get a closer look. The plane's out of control. Spinning through his windscreen, he catches sight of the pilot. His stomach churns. It's Basil, his brother.

[Anthony Fisher]

Uncle Basil got shot down and his plane was crashing.

[David Dimbleby]

Anthony watches as the plane spirals down and his brother jumps. His parachute opens and for a moment, Anthony must have felt sweet relief. But then he sees flames engulfing the parachute and his brother starts falling.

[Anthony Fisher]

So my father watched as his brother spiraled down in a burning parachute and then he came back down. And I imagine he was told then that his brother hadn't survived.

[David Dimbleby]

Five days later, Anthony was burying his brother.

[Anthony Fisher]

He'd watched his brother have his life wasted, all in the cause of freedom.

[David Dimbleby]

Anthony and Basil had signed up to protect Britain from the tyranny of the.

[Anthony Fisher]

Nazis, as he would have lowered his brother into that grave. I like to imagine that it was there and then at that moment that dad thought I must do something with my to make sure that freedom for individuals is guaranteed.

[David Dimbleby]

Anthony Fisher didn't know it then, but the death of his brother set him on a journey that would sow the seeds of an economic and political revolution.

[Mike Fisher]

This government has rolled back the frontiers.

[David Dimbleby]

Of the states from Malaysia to Mexico.

[Mike Fisher]

From Sri Lanka to Singapore. The policies we have pioneered are catching on in country after country.

[David Dimbleby]

It will transform the old order. I'll tell you what that is right there is loads and money and remake Britain into what it is today. I'm David Dimbleby and from the history podcast and BBC Radio 4, this is invisible Hands, the story of the free market revolution. A hidden force that changed Britain forever and the invisible hands that shaped it. Episode 1 the Chicken Farmer 1 way or another. I've been a reporter for a long time. I've reported on wars. It's still early days in the war in Iraq, only a week since it began. I've reported on elections. And what we're saying is the Conservatives are the largest party and referendum. The British people have spoken and the answer is we're out. But one of the most significant stories I've worked on is one that affects the lives of all of us. It's actually the story of an idea.

[Mike Fisher]

Popular capitalism is a crusade, a crusade.

[David Dimbleby]

To enfranchise the many in the economic life of Britain. An idea that people are constantly debating. The free market isn't solving the problem of homelessness. The free market isn't allowing people to lead reasonable lives. Classic liberal value of free speech, free enterprise, free markets.

[Mike Fisher]

Jeff Bezos made a startling announcement. The opinion pages of his newspaper will adopt a new editorial mission of defending, quote, personal liberties and free markets.

[David Dimbleby]

Free market capitalism is the theory that the best way to run our economy is not through government control, but instead by handing power to the free market. It's the big idea that reshaped our world. The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, I'm from the government and I'm here to help. But we're coming to a time where that idea itself might be in crisis.

[Richard Cockett]

Risk assets tumble. As Donald Trump threatens more tariffs on.

[David Dimbleby]

China, where the global free market might be under threat. Those tariffs are going to make us rich as hell. It's going to bring our country's businesses back. And so now is A better time than any to ask, how did we get here? How did free market capitalism become the dominant idea in Britain? It turns out it's a much stranger story than you probably imagine. Because while it seems as though it's always been this way, this theory was once seen as radical. It came from the fringes of politics, from people who were seen as extremists, as revolutionaries. In this series, I want to understand where this idea came from. Who were the people behind it? What did they want? How did they put their ideas into practice? Because by understanding the invisible hands who made this happen, we might be able to better understand the world we're living in now. The story of how the free market revolution came to Britain actually begins 80 years ago, just after the end of the Second World War, just after Anthony Fisher saw his brother spiralling to his death in a ball of flames.

[Mike Fisher]

This is the BBC Home Service. Here is the news.

[David Dimbleby]

It's May 8, 1945.

[Mike Fisher]

The end of the war in Europe was officially announced by Mr. Churchill at 3 o'clock this afternoon.

[David Dimbleby]

Men, women, children swarm out onto the streets.

[Mike Fisher]

The color here is tremendous. Everywhere, rosettes, everywhere, gay red, white and blue hats.

[Richard Cockett]

There was, of course, great rejoicing at the victory in 1945, but Britain emerged from the Second World War in a perilous.

[David Dimbleby]

That's Richard Cockett. He's a journalist at the Economist and the author of a book about how the free market revolution took root in Britain.

[Richard Cockett]

Britain of the late 1940s after the war was a dark, austere, impoverished, gloomy, pretty depressing place.

[David Dimbleby]

I was 7 years old when the war ended and I have a mixture of memories. I remember seeing a crashed bomber in a field. I remember hearing a German doodle bug rocket overhead and, oddly, of having mashed Swede on my fifth birthday party because, of course, butter and sugar were in short supply. But for many people, the end of the war brought little relief. It was still a struggle to make ends meet. And it's no surprise that on the heels of victory, a new vision of society began to emerge in Britain, a consensus on how the country should be run. At the end of the war in 1945, there was an election and to some people's surprise, Winston Churchill, the wartime leader, was ousted and the Labour Party came into office, a party led by Clement Attlee. Now, Attlee was a quiet politician, very understated. Churchill mocked him, saying that a taxi drove up to number 10 empty and Clement Attlee got out. But Churchill underestimated him. Attlee's politics were radical.

[Mike Fisher]

It is the glory of our movement that men and women in every rank of society place human rights and social justice before their individual interests. Labour's appeal is not to the lower, but to the highest instincts of the human race.

[David Dimbleby]

Attlee and Labour captured the country's mood and won the election by a landslide.

[Mike Fisher]

The electors have thought deeply on the fundamental questions of the future. And they realize that labor is the party of the future and that Labour's policy is the only policy that can lead us to peace abroad and social justice at home.

[Richard Cockett]

So an end of unemployment, an end of poverty, an end of insecurity. The state would now guarantee minimum standard of living. The welfare state would guarantee minimum standards of health. People would be guaranteed jobs.

[David Dimbleby]

But how is Atle going to deliver?

[Richard Cockett]

Instead of leaving national economies to the rigours of the market, governments could intervene, which in effect meant massive government intervention in the economy and huge public spending.

[Mike Fisher]

There can be no return to the past. There must be a partnership between industry and the state. We must have a planned economy.

[David Dimbleby]

And Attlee's government didn't just talk the talk. They nationalized the coal industry. Railways, electricity, gas, steel. They put controls on prices, they taxed the rich. A top rate of 97% for the wealthiest. And much of the country was behind all this. We'd come out of the war feeling that the state was a force for good in our lives, that it could help bind the nation together. But there was one group of people who hated everything Attlee stood for.

[Richard Cockett]

Business people. Free enterprise saw itself as being penalised and stopped from working by the socialist policies of the Attlee government.

[David Dimbleby]

People who ran businesses were often not so keen on Attlee. They didn't like being taxed. They didn't like the government owning entire industries or getting involved in how they ran their companies. One of those business people was Anthony Fisher, the man who'd fought in World War II and had lost his brother in that air battle. Before the war, Anthony had worked as a banker, but now that he was back from it, he wanted to get out of London. Perhaps, I don't know, it reminded him of the bombs and of his brother. But he also had an idea. Food was in short supply after the war. I mean, meat was rationed until 1954. So he thought it was a good moment to get into the market. So he went out and bought a farm in Sussex.

[Anthony Fisher]

We were almost feral as children. We lived on a 400 acre farm which dad farmed.

[David Dimbleby]

This is where Anthony's son Mike grew.

[Anthony Fisher]

Up, we'd fall in the lake, we get covered in mud. God only knows. I'm surprised my mother didn't have us put down.

[David Dimbleby]

And while Mike and the other children were having fun, Anthony Fisher was working. Working at building his farming business, looking over the accounts, ordering feed and supplies, finding places to sell his produce and keeping up with the latest technology. And it was at this moment, as he was trying to make his farm a success, that he came up against the heavy hand of the state government bodies with dreary bureaucratic names like the Milk Marketing Board and the Egg Marketing Board. Here's Anthony Fisher himself talking about it.

[Mike Fisher]

We have an agricultural Egg Marketing Board to solve the problems of the egg producer. There is an egg subsidy and there is a monopolistic organization which was supposed to produce all the answers.

[David Dimbleby]

They imposed regulation after regulation on Fisher, dictating more and more how he should run his own farm.

[Mike Fisher]

There is a tremendous amount of information available on government interference.

[David Dimbleby]

Throughout history, the government set his prices, imposed quotas, issued permits. Stacks of paperwork were needed to try anything different. If a potato wasn't the right shape, it had to be left in the fields rotting.

[Mike Fisher]

I don't believe anybody's ever discovered one single case when that interference did anything but harm.

[David Dimbleby]

Fisher would rant about this at the dinner table.

[Richard Cockett]

In his view, his friends had died. He'd survived war, but he'd been fighting for freedom.

[David Dimbleby]

He'd seen his brother killed, and now here he was arguing with the Egg Marketing Board about what price he could sell his eggs at.

[Richard Cockett]

So it seemed to him that all the values that he'd fought for in the war were not going to be preserved after the war. That the freedoms that they'd been fighting for were being betrayed by socialism at home.

[David Dimbleby]

He felt betrayed by his own country, betrayed by this interfering government that people as a force for good, but which left individuals like him out in the cold. He wanted to fight back, but he didn't know where to start. And then one day, some say it was just before the end of the war, others just after, he picked up a copy of a magazine, a magazine that would change the course of his life and the history of this country forever.

[Paul McGann]

Titanic Ship of dreams, the new podcast from the award winning Noiser Network. Join me, Paul McGann, as we explore life and death on Titanic. I'll delve into my own family story following my great uncle Jimmy as he tries to escape the engine room. We'll hear the harrowing tales of the victims and the testimonies of the lucky Survivors.

[Mike Fisher]

I saw that ship sink. And I saw that ship break in half.

[Paul McGann]

Titanic ship of dreams. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[David Dimbleby]

The magazine Anthony Fisher picked up that day was called Reader's Digest. It serialized writing from all over the world. The edition that Fisher saw had articles on strange animal friendships, the beard of Joseph Palmer, an American eccentric of the 19th century, and shepherds of the underground. Well, Fisher may or may not have browsed these, but there was one long essay in this edition which we know he certainly did read, an essay that struck him like a bolt of lightning. Its title was the Road to Serfdom, and it was by a man called Friedrich Hayek. Hayek was an Austrian economist who'd been living and working in London since 1931 and was now a British citizen. He'd watched the rise of Nazi totalitarianism, of total state control, with horror.

[Mike Fisher]

The army that Germany has built up in four years, the young men of the new German Reich welded into a mighty war machine.

[David Dimbleby]

And then he noticed something else. He saw how in other European countries like Britain, the government was getting bigger and bigger.

[Mike Fisher]

The tanks from the factories are ready for action, going out in a mass that seems to have no end. We're often being told about the tremendous increase in the volume of our war production. This is the visible proof of it.

[David Dimbleby]

And as he watched, he came up with an idea.

[Richard Cockett]

Hayek's very, very arresting thesis was what Britain was proposing. Post war collectivism, government intervention, the micromanagement of the economy amounted to pretty well exactly what the Nazis had proposed in Nazi Germany.

[David Dimbleby]

It might seem a bit crazy to us to compare Britain to Nazi Germany, but for people like Hayek, it was a real fear that if you give the government too much power, they'll go on taking as much as they can get, and the individual will become just a cog in the machine.

[Mike Fisher]

Once you decide that government is entitled to take from some people in order to give it to others, this is automatically discrimination.

[David Dimbleby]

That's Hayek himself.

[Richard Cockett]

I mean, he basically said that you'd end up in a totalitarian state of minute government control.

[David Dimbleby]

You can picture Anthony Fisher sitting there absorbing the Reader's Digest article, perhaps nodding his head in agreement, getting more and more excited as he went on, realizing that government regulations weren't just stopping him making money, they were actually turning his country into something like Nazi Germany, the country his brother had given his life to defeat. And then Fischer would have reached the passage Hayek is most famous for, his solution for dealing with the threat, a solution that would transform politics and economics as we know it. Hayek said there was one thing that could protect us against becoming a totalitarian state, one thing that could preserve individual liberty. The free market.

[Mike Fisher]

The market is, I was going to say, most ingenious, but ingenious without having been designed, which enables us to utilize knowledge which is distributed among hundreds and thousands of people.

[David Dimbleby]

He said people needed to make their own choices in what to buy, where to work, how to spend, what to save of the money they earned. The market wasn't just an economic system. It was the only way of ensuring freedom.

[Anthony Fisher]

My father must have thought that the road to serfdom encapsulated everything. He believed that you don't follow the path of government and interference if you want people to be free.

[Richard Cockett]

So Anthony Fisher has a light bulb moment. So he seeks out the Austrian professor.

[David Dimbleby]

He walks through the impressive arched entrance of the London School of Economics, heads up the stairs and knocks on the door of Professor Friedrich Hayek.

[Richard Cockett]

Hayek didn't know who he was at all. To him he was just a sort of young idealist. For Fischer, though, Hayek now seemed to embody all wisdom on political economy.

[David Dimbleby]

Hayek opens the door to Fischer. Fischer goes in and shakes the hand of a man who for him is like a rock. Hayek invites Fischer to sit down, asks him why he's come, and Fischer replies in a flash, he's come to the LSE with a very specific question.

[Richard Cockett]

And he asked Hayek, I believe in your cause, I believe in what you say. What should I do?

[David Dimbleby]

What should I do to actually change things? And here's Fisher's own written account of that meeting.

[Richard Cockett]

Hayek first warned against wasting time, as I was then tempted by taking up a political career. He explained his view that the decisive influence in the battle of ideas and policy was wielded by intellectuals whom he characterized as the second hand dealers in ideas. And what he meant by that was basically the politicians for journalists, for commentators, the teachers for professors who mold public opinion.

[David Dimbleby]

Hayek explained that politics isn't really done in parliament or at party conferences, at least not at first. It starts in journals, in newspapers, in lecture halls.

[Richard Cockett]

His theory was that politics, all politics, takes place within that environment which was molded by those secondhand dealers of opinions.

[David Dimbleby]

It's the thinkers, the writers, the voices behind the scenes that really matter. By the time politicians get involved, the groundwork has already been laid.

[Richard Cockett]

So if you can get to the people who shape opinion, then you can begin to bring about long term change. That was the model. So high was Fischer's regard for Hayek that he left that meeting fired with basically his life's work.

[David Dimbleby]

Fisher walked back along the Strand with a new vision of his life. He would set up an organization. It would commission new research. He'd wine and dine the great and the good. He'd produce books and pamphlets, all with one very clear aim. To make a convincing case for the free market. It was what today we call a think tank. We're used to them now. Groups of like minded people trying to influence events. It doesn't sound so exciting now, but in Fisher's mind it was something radical. Something that would persuade politicians to embrace ideas that they thought were impossible and then radically change the country, create a new world. But building a new world doesn't come cheap. And the timing was bad, because something was about to happen that would threaten Fisher's entire livelihood.

[Anthony Fisher]

My dad's farm got foot and mouth. It was a ghastly situation. They dug a hole in one of the fields and simply shot the cows and buried them.

[David Dimbleby]

This was the final straw for Fisher. Government restrictions had been holding him back and now this. He realized he wasn't going to make enough money for this new venture in Britain. And so he did what all aspiring capitalists do when they're looking for a new way forward. He boarded a plane to America. Now, it just so happened that at this moment in the United States, a competition was taking place that would change the face of of chicken farming.

[Mike Fisher]

The 1951 Chicken of Tomorrow contest will provide the answer.

[David Dimbleby]

The Chicken of Tomorrow competition challenged farmers to come up with ideas to make chicken farming more efficient, more productive, more profitable.

[Mike Fisher]

A broad breasted bird with bigger drumsticks, plumper thighs and layers of white meat. Say, that makes me hungry.

[David Dimbleby]

The winning idea was revolutionary. A new kind of chicken made by cross breeding that would grow to eating size in weeks rather than months. It was Anthony Fisher's beloved free market in action.

[Mike Fisher]

They sure make wonderful eat. Yes, sir. Make mine chicken. Chicken of tomorrow, that is.

[David Dimbleby]

Fisher saw it as a tantalizing opportunity, one that could revolutionize the farming industry in the United Kingdom. He would put a chicken on every dinner table and make his fortune in the process. Enough cash to help him build his new world. All from chickens.

[Anthony Fisher]

There was quite a smell of ammonia and a terrible noise. You know, we would have dived into the shavings and had the little chicks run all over us.

[David Dimbleby]

To keep costs down, there must be a constant stream of chickens from the sheds. Fisher soon had more than a million birds in production at any one time. With these new methods, there Comes a new breed of farmer, the agribusinessman, dealing sometimes in thousands or even millions of animals. He had brought factory farming to Britain. The profits rolled in and finally he had the cash he needed to fund his real mission. Not chickens, but a think tank to change the political landscape of the country. He'd rented a shabby office in the City of London and he officially started his think tank. He gave it the grand name, the Institute of Economic Affairs.

[Richard Cockett]

That was the beginning of the Thatcherite's most important think tank, probably the most important think tank in British history.

[David Dimbleby]

But that wouldn't happen until much, much later.

[Richard Cockett]

They were considered way, way out of the mainstream of British politics. I mean, they were considered to be, you know, this bunch of kind of weird eccentrics on the fringe of politics, peddling these free market doctrines, which were considered by the vast majority of the economics profession to be thoroughly outdated and extremely discredited. So very, very few people paid any attention to them. And they kept going, even when they were almost entirely ignored by everyone in British politics.

[David Dimbleby]

Until, that is, one day or other unusual, almost weird politician knocked on their door and then he suddenly put his head on the table, including a bit.

[Mike Fisher]

Of it in his soup.

[David Dimbleby]

And he stayed like that for the rest of the meal. His name was Keith Joseph and he would battle to get these fringe ideas into the mainstream. How he did it is next time on Invisible Hand.

[Richard Cockett]

He was agonized and passionate.

[Mike Fisher]

There was this kind of vein on.

[David Dimbleby]

His temple that was throbbing. Invisible Hands is from The History Podcast, Radio 4's home for story driven history documentaries. Subscribe on BBC Sounds and switch on push notifications and we'll tell you as soon as new episodes of the series become available. Invisible Hands is a samizdat audio production for BBC Radio 4 and the History podcast. It's hosted by me, David Dimbleby. The producer is Joe Barrett. The executive producers and story editors are Joe Sykes and Dasha Licitsina. Sound design by Peregrine Andrews. The commissioning editor at Radio 4 is Dan Clark. And our thanks thanks to Phil Tinline, Peggy Sutton and Leo Schick. I'm Natalia Melman Petruzella and from the BBC. This is Extreme Peak Danger, the most beautiful mountain in the world. If you die on the mountain, you.

[Mike Fisher]

Stay on the mountain.

[David Dimbleby]

This is the story of what happened when 11 climbers died on one of the world's deadliest mountains, K2, and of the risks we'll take to feel truly alive.

[Mike Fisher]

If I tell all the details, you won't believe it anymore.

[David Dimbleby]

Extreme Peak danger. Listen first on BBC Sounds.

[Paul McGann]

Titanic Ship of Dreams, the new podcast from the award winning Noiser Network. Join me, Paul McGann, as we explore life and death on Titanic. I'll delve into my own family story following my great Uncle Jimmy as he tries to escape the engine room. We'll hear the harrowing tales of the victims and the testimonies of the lucky survivors.

[Mike Fisher]

I saw that ship sink and I saw that ship break in half.

[Paul McGann]

Titanic Ship of Dreams. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.