Excuse Me, Professor

Lawrence Reed   FEE - Foundation for ECONOMIC EDUCATION

USA

Lawrence Reed: Excuse me Professor- Says Poland and its history has affected him significantly. Says Czech protests in ‘60’s were his first exposure to the freedom movement and then a few years later met Polish people who supported freedom and surreptitiously published works forbidden by the communist government. Says intellectual environment at Polish universities is very similar to the climate at American universities. His book of title above addresses leftist fallacies about capitalism and freedom. Speaks of the myth that depressions are inevitable in capitalist economies. Focus is on analogy of money supply to being a drunk. Says in mid-1930, there was still only a recession but at that time, the Smoot-Hawley law choked off international trade. 1/3 of agricultural production in US was for export and the farm sector collapsed p Smoot-Hawley went into effect. He emphasizes that Hoover was a very activist interventionist President. FDR however was even more interventionist. At one point, FDR proposed a 99% top marginal income tax rate.

Second myth is about Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle. Sinclair was a socialist and the publication was sponsored by socialist organizations. The book asserted workers fell into vats and were processed into meat products. However this is apocryphal. Ultimately meat inspection law was supported by industry. One reason was that prior to the law, meat packers paid for inspectors but the law shifted the cost to the federal government.

Third myth is “Jesus was a socialist.” He refers to a story in Luke. In that story, Jesus rebuked a man who appealed for help in getting larger share of an inheritance. Also refers to the voluntary nature of actions by the Good Samaritan and that this isn’t analogous to an involuntary government welfare program.

He suggests that some Scandinavian countries don’t have a minimum wage law. He speaks of loss of opportunity for people who don’t provide sufficient economic value at a given wage rate. Says the book addresses a total of 52 myths of which the above are part.

Question about fractional reserve banking in absence of a central bank. He refers to the ~30 year span in American history referred to as ‘the free banking period’. Says more conservative banks would discipline overly expansive banks by demanding redemption of notes for gold. This period was from Andrew Jackson to the mid-1860’s.

Excuse Me, Professor: Challenging the Myths of Progressivism Paperback

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Does Liberty Have a Future in Brazil?

Pedro Mutzig

Brasil

210M population that is very diverse ethnic mix. Says 2nd largest community of polish descendants after the US. Patrimonialism is his term for Latin American habit of looking for a ‘great leader’ who will fix all problems. Pernambucana Revolution was by province of that name. Portuguese troops eventually ended this rebellion against the central authorities. Current democracy was established in 1988 and this is the longest period of stable democracy in Brazil’s history. Currently the “Car Wash” scandal that exposed $10B of Congressional corruption has ongoing reverberated through society resulting in growth of liberty movement. Says SFL has sponsored a lot of the initial groups. The president, Dima, was impeached in 2016. Lula an ex-president was arrested this year. He says political parties in Brazil are jokingly called “Fifty Shades of Red” but that parties focused on freedom are appearing. FEE.com will publish interviews of Brazilian libertarian candidates later this week.

Does Liberty Have a Future in Brazil? - Presentation

LIBERAL MOVEMENT IN BRAZIL: GRUPO DOMINGOS MARTINS CASE - Presentation

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Panel: Liberty and Politics in Poland

Grzegorz Piątkowski Poland	Jakub Kulesza Poland	Robert Iwanicki Poland

Kulesza is a member of parliament and identifies himself as the only complete libertarian an/cap in parliament. He speaks of ways to use his position to promote liberty. Says he was recently only person in parliament to vote against strengthening copyright laws. Piatkowski is a human rights commissioner for the government. He often sees his most important role is ‘to prevent passage of the most stupid laws and regulations.’ Iwanicki works for a group of mixed views that are both conservative and libertarian. They advocate for desired policies. Poland characterized as having one of the most centralized governments in Europe. They speak of need to persuade public that libertarian policies are good for them and good for society. The panelists express different feelings about the rise of nationalism in general and in the specific feelings in Poland. Kulesza seems most sympathetic to nationalists as they sometimes support economic freedom. He thinks the European Union is very statist and thus nationalism is a counterweight to the statist trend of membership in the European Union. They say the Catholic Church is relatively favorable towards economic freedom. This is in contrast to attitudes in Catholic Church in other parts of the world. People ask about Poland’s progress away from socialism. Large companies remain government owned but farms and small businesses are private. Farms were never extensively collectivized in Poland.

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Giants of Galicia as an example of cooperation

Ken Schoolland

Glenn Cripe

USA

Starts c presentation about advantages of freedom culture in Phoenix and Arizona. He runs the Language of Liberty Institute. Brings students from many places to Phoenix to participate in his Project Arizona. Mrs. Schoolland describes her Shanghai Austrian Summit which just finished its 9th year. Dr. Schoolland describes his book “The Travels of Jonathan Gullible” to teach individual choice in economics to children. It has been widely translated into other languages. Various people relate their experiences of using this book to teach young in many different cultures. He says an anonymous donor is sponsoring production of an animated movie of the book. Trailer of “Mises the Movie” is shown.

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Right to discriminate

Frank Karsten

Netherlands

The Right to Discriminate - Karsten has written a short book in which he debunks 14 myths on discrimination. He also points out that several prominent economists acknowledge the importance of the right to free association. This includes Walter Block, Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell. He explains why discrimination, to act on prejudice, is a basic function in our decision making. Karsten also argues that outlawing discrimination is counterproductive.

Frank's presentation - The Right to Discriminate.pdf

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Should we switch the liberal argument?

Karol Zdybel

Poland

Feels that liberals keep losing the political arguments and thinks a change in the arguments used is indicated. He refers to the Nolan chart classification of freedom as primarily either economic or personal. He sees a shifting of the issues that define freedom. He sees “Identity” as a new axis defining freedom. The rapid pace of change is a component that increases the desire/need for identity. He says that the other axes remain to be defined. An axis of integration may be a very important counterbalance to the axis of identity. He feels liberal values are being rejected due to need to preserve identity. He thinks conservative institutions are moving more toward “Identity” orientation and thus libertarians should reassess prior alliances c conservative institutions.

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Panel: Entrepreneurship in Poland

Jan Kuban Poland	Krzysztof Haładus Poland	Karol Skorek Poland

Kubań started his company p living in Switzerland. He now has about 30 employees. His IT company provides software to aid management of small companies. He’s pessimistic in that government subsidies are making true competition difficult. Thinks young entrepreneurs will be hard pressed to succeed in this environment. Haładus says Kubań represents a group of returnees who could use their accumulated foreign capital to start their businesses. He says he’s part of a second group that formed businesses by trading private goods sometimes beginning c their own possessions. Third group were managers of state businesses who used their connections to start businesses sometimes by taking over formerly state owned companies. Final 4th group were foreigners who came to take advantage of new opportunities in formerly communist Poland. Haładus is mostly optimistic but says tax laws are a hindrance and understands how the mindset of government employees is counterproductive. Skorek starts c definitions of several terms especially WRT Polish situation. He also uses the French Revolution to illustrate some of his points. He speaks of nationalism, national liberalism and liberalism (classical). Moderator (Spendel) started a business simply to learn business as a practical matter instead of theory from Austrian economics. He owned and ran a pizzeria for four years. He says worker dishonesty and indifference was a big problem that he didn’t anticipate. Poland has some perceived problems of ‘too much’ immigration. Says there may be a million Ukrainians in Poland plus people from Asia. Haładus is somewhat open to immigrates that want to work. Skorek talks about ‘the gray economy’ I.e. off the books activities. Government imposed costs on businesses are said to drive the gray economy. They talk about the 500+ program in which the government is paying 500 zlotych per child per month. Estimate is that 200K women have dropped out of work force and thus encouraging more immigrants.

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From soda to digital commerce, how global institutions are taxing our freedoms

Scott Hodge

USA

Starts c Oxfam video whose tagline is “Make companies pay their fair share”. The follow up line is that taxes support medical care in poor countries. Says EU President stated that welfare is the main element of social cohesion. His Tax Foundation has subsequently formed a branch to advocate for global tax reform. Tax and Economic Growth is study published by OECD in 2008. It looked to find the most growth retarding tax. The corporate tax was found to have the most negative effects on growth. Mobility of capital is a big reason for growth retarding effect of the corporate tax. The EU total revenues are about 9% from corporate taxes. Hodge says corporations pay other forms of tax and additionally act as collectors of multiple taxes. EU is trying to ‘harmonize ‘ corporate taxes across its entire jurisdiction. They also want a special tax on digital companies. They want to tax based on where the value is located. He says estimated that 60% of people in US receive more from the government than they pay in taxes.

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Reinventing Moral Science

David Schmidtz

USA

Rediscovering the Moral Sciences- There will be an open discussion of Dr. Schmidtz’s book at 6pm ok Thursday August 16. Today he will focus on the Scottish Enlightenment. 18th century was a very optimistic time in Europe and for western civilization. Principles of Political Economy by John Stuart Mill in 1848. He stated production and distribution are separate. He thought further improvement would be distributions much change in productivity. He speaks of the separation of philosophy from the practical world as a process beginning in the 18th C and attributes Mills’ insights above as being a realization of this separation. He emphasizes that philosophy now addresses ‘the product’ while ‘the process’ is considered social sciences. Hume and Adam Smith saw social justice as outcome of a process. Hume might ask the question wrt individuals while Smith concerned himself more c empirical results observable for society or a country. Utilitarianism comes apart from self-interest is discussed by Henry Sidgwick in Methods of Ethics (1874). Peter Singer’s “Famine Affluence & Morality (1972) Held utilitarianism as separate from consequences. He advocated that any excess you have should morally be given to anyone who has more need. Re-emphasizes that Justice to Hume is about process. He saw property rights as central to a process resulting in justice. G. E. Moore c Principia Ethica (1903) posed the question “Is” comes apart from “Ought”. Returns to Hume speaking of science as empirical and not proof in the sense of geometry. Speaks of Hobbs views of man. He maintains that people are egocentric as compared to Adam Smith’s principal of enlightened self-interest. Schmidtz sees Hobbs as the inventor of liberalism by posing the question “Why follow the king’s commands?” Ultimately result is to see society as a game and citizens as players and rulers as referees. In reply to question about process vs outcome and wealth creation versus destruction; he speaks of universal unconditional cooperation versus universal reciprocity. Points out unconditional cooperation can’t become universal but universal reciprocity is achievable.

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Freedom vs. Power and Solution

Jan Kubań

Poland

Opens c example of watching Putin on Russian TV dismissing concerns of Russian entrepreneurs as ‘impractical.’ He then shows the most recent Economic Freedom Index and repeats the principle “The higher the economic freedom the higher a society’s wealth.” Power is the ultimate resource. If one has power, then they don’t need money is true. Untrue is the idea that one c money doesn’t need power. Typical instruments of governance: Constant striving to gather more power. Avoid systemic solutions. Regulate everything by law and procedures. Increase taxes. Pass contradictory laws open to discretionary interpretation c different standards for different groups. Make justice complex. Make people dependent on the state (they enslave people). They do not teach, they lie. Disregard social costs of decisions made. They restrict freedom. They create state monopolies. One sentence: If private businesses kept their books the way most governments keep books, the jails would be full of CEO’s. Principle of subsidiarity. The idea is that people should do what they can for themselves and it’s ‘a grave evil’ to have a higher organization take over functioning that individuals or smaller groups can do. ‘power should be centralized only as much as necessary.” This is principle of subsidiarity. Federalism, veto referendum, initiative referendum. These are the 3 principles of subsidiarity. Says he also wrote a four page pamphlet “How the Swiss Deal with Foreigners”. There are different levels of acceptance into Swiss citizenship.

"Freedom vs. Power and Solution" - presentation

Free copy of "Do you know why you don't know who the president of Switzerland is?" - Joanna Lampka

John's scientific blog devoted to The Physics of Life

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Forgotten. History of Kraków School of Economics

Marcin Chmielowski

Poland

This is a forgotten group of economists who advocated free markets. He reminds that Murray Rothbard’s parents came from the area around Warsaw. Rothbard visited Poland once and wrote an article about it: “My Visit to Poland”. He characterizes Austria-Hungary as ‘a liberal empire.’ Says in 19th C ‘Poles were famous as terrorists.’ Points out that Carl Menger obtained his PhD in Kraków. He refers especially to 3 particular economists all c somewhat different views. A view in common is that a poor society is morally weak and poor voters are bad voters. Kraków School advocated production based on a ‘free market.’ The School published 105books plus many articles. They wanted a Central European free-trade zone. They predicted the Great Depression but were not able to alter the outcome. Recommends the book The Magic Mountain . On You Tube there is Zapomniani. It’s in Polish but has English subtitles.

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How to get more efficient and responsive local government?

Oliver Porter

USA

Implemented Sandy Springs, Georgia private city. This happened in 2005. Libertarians should focus more on local government. Combined budget of all local governments is larger than the federal budget (minus transfer payments). Advocates reduced costs as a means of reducing taxes. Local governments have immediate effects. Local governments can be more easily changed than large central governments. Incorporation of Sandy Springs was blocked for many years in the Georgia legislature. Mr. Porter headed a committee to study structure of the city if/when it should be formed. He constructed a Flow Chart of critical functions for a newly formed city. He was appointed ‘Interim City Manager’ and given authority to act autonomously. Problematic for him was need to come into full operational existence at instant that city becomes real. He started by sending out RFP’s to companies. There has been zero increases in taxes since then. Lack of unfounded liabilities has been a factor. On founding, the city borrowed $10M which was repaid within one month. Second debt since then was to build a community center. This debt is $200M but c a very interest rate so that interest payment is less than the prior rent payments. There are now 10 cities in Atlanta area using this model. Total population of these cities is ~1/2 million. Sandy Springs owns no equipment because all functions are contracted. Public safety departments and courts are not contracted. Those employees are totally on defined contribution pension plans. He has published a very short ebook titled simply Contract Cities. Has consulted internationally. Corporate cities such Celebration owned by Disney use a contract between residents and the corporation. In response to question about education, he points out that Georgia state law precludes cities forming new public education entities. Initial operating costs of Sandy Springs were $25M plus startup costs. Operating costs are now down to $17M.

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How to be a millionaire? It’s very simple: Move to Zimbabwe.

Terry Easton

USA

The Real Philosophy of life - search for TRUTH & LOVE. (That's why we're here...) Happiness is satisfaction of your need & goals. Think of Maslow’s Bottom-to-Top Hierarchy of Needs: Physical/Safety/Belonging/Esteem/Self-actualization. There are 2 Fundamental Laws in the World: 1-Do everything you agree to do, and 2-Don’t infringe on other persons or their property. But what is Property? The 3 property levels are: you, yourself (primal property), your thoughts & ideas (primary property), your stuff (secondary property). Wealth is a metaphysical concept! It’s not a fixed pie but can be INFINITELY expanded. Wealth is an invention of your mind. Google made hundreds of millionaires - and billionaires. It didn't exist 20 years ago. Socialists and Communists don't understand this. They don't understand economics. They think that when you take a piece of the pie, you are taking it out of someone else's mouth. They think, like Marx, that it comes from the physical labor of people. Not true! It comes from the ideas of our minds.

Terry refers to Harry Brown’s book, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. Harry Brown defines profits as increases in happiness by substituting one situation for a better one. We get monetarily rewarded in life when we help another person achieve their needs (or wants). Your profit depends on your ability to satisfy the needs of someone else. 99% of what anyone uses is made by someone else, therefore we’re all 99% consumers. We all want stuff. We all have needs and desires. Thus profit is your reward for satisfying the needs or wants of someone else. The slogans "find a need and fill it" and "build a better mousetrap" are true.

Harry Brown said all life is selling, and gave 5 steps: Listen to others needs, Summarize (figure out) their motivation, Present your solution, Answer their questions (needs) then Close the sale (provide them what they want). Examples? Think iPhones, Google, the Internet. 7 future technologies that can provide people's needs: supercomputer, biotech, nanotechnology, robotics, 3D printing, communications, cheap energy. Figure out what people want/need - then offer it (the solution) to them. They will reward you with money.

Applied strategies: Always tell the story/hub-spoke company structure/virtual business/hire contractors instead of employees/get a partner/sell time not THINGS: (Time is forever renewable. For example, renting an automobile is a form of selling time, so is selling minutes of mobile telephone usage.)

AmericanMediaCouncil: a US non-profit. 'Propaganda' for Freedom. AMC approach: partner with non-profits, media, & funding sources to get their freedom-oriented messages on the air. Works everywhere, in any country with ad-supported radio. Use free air time (unsold commercial air time) to broadcast to everyone (instead of narrowcasting via the Internet). The AMC WhiteBoard Presentation. See: americanmediacouncil.org/video/.

Applied strategies: Always tell the story/hub-spoke company structure/virtual business/hire contractors instead of employees/get a partner/sell time not THINGS. For example renting an automobile is a form of selling time.

AMC: Propaganda for Freedom. AMC approach is to partner c non-profits, media, funding sources. Works everywhere. Free air time to broadcast instead of narrow cast. The AMC WhiteBoard Presentation. AMC=American Media Council. Their point is to fill unsold ad space. This is the implicit road to riches....

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Warrior Women, Freedom Fighters, Ladies of Liberty and Goddesses of the Gaps

Susan Easton

USA

She starts by giving FH of immigrating from Poland. Mary Wollenstonecraft wrote in 1792 a book on feminism. Women Warriors four part TV series: Scythians, Japanese, African, ? She says there were women gladiators. Vicki León wrote 2 books about “Uppity Women”. There was Pope Joan who was elected pope as a male imposter. She recounts her process of becoming an entrepreneur. Initially joined a women entrepreneurs group as a way to meet others. The group grew into other functions leading to her writing columns about other women entrepreneurs, then partnering c a similar interest person in NY. Wrote Equal to the Task c her partner. It was also about women entrepreneurs. They started a magazine: Enterprising Women which didn’t ultimately succeed. 11.6M women owned companies in US now. 1/3 of all businesses in the world are owned by women. Eleanor Roosevelt quote “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” She says there is a world bank statistic showing women owned farms are much above average in productivity.

Warrior Women - the whole text

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My Stockholm Syndrome

Andy Eyschen

Australia

He’s associated c the Language of Liberty Institute. This is an unrecorded presentation (?). He’s appealing to this audience to solve a personal problem. FBI thinks 8% of hostages develop Stockholm Syndrome. He says 70% of his revenue is from helping governments be more efficient but he works hard to minimize his taxes which are involuntary. This despite he considers himself a hostage of government. He realizes that only the government can waive your requirement to pay taxes. Only the government waives work permit requirements. Governments always pay well and on time. Working within government yields much inside information of ‘how to work the system.’ There are only 21 countries that don’t have an income tax. If you’re stateless, then the UN has to issue official paperwork for you. Libertarian CV: Joined LP of Australia in 1975. Self-employed since 1987. Became a “Permanent Tourist” on January 1, 1994. Co-founded Language of Liberty Institute in May, 2005. US is one of only handful of countries that taxes citizens while vast majority of countries tax residents. He never stays more than 180 days a year in a country so that he will not be considered a resident by that country’s government. 1992-2002 “best years” c most freedom. 2002 slide towards oppression. Mentality from public servant to public masters. From financial freedom to compliance. From individual sovereignty to surveillance. Watch on Netflix the “Nosedive” episode from “Black Mirror”. This shows a world c China’s social credit scoring system. Recently read: Libertarians only have words became of NAP. “Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty” -Henry David Thoreau.

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Panel: Entrepreneurship Around the World

Venkatesh Geriti India	Daban Najmadeen Kurdistan

Venkatesh praises his mother for her entrepreneurial spirit. She would say to him: It’s not the most important, the person who will help but the person who will stop you. He attributes at least some of this to British rule. States India’s share of world GDP shrank significantly during British rule. Speaks of authoritarian mindset of requiring licensing for everything but this has improved significantly. Says his experience in India is that the private sector always provides better services than the public sector. India is still at 100 in Ease of Doing Business Index but this is a rise of 30 places from not long ago. Property rights were in the initial Indian Constitution however this was deleted subsequently. He says this is very deleterious to the poor. He also feels India’s bureaucracy remains very bad but is making some slight progress. Bottom line to him is that the state holds back Entrepreneurship. He makes point that more open market evolution has been accompanied by increasing social mobility for lower castes that in past were limited by legal and cultural hindrances. He says Indian economy has a very large informal sector that operates solely on cash. Modi’s demonetization caused a lot of harm to the poor in the informal economy but didn’t probably find much of the “Black money” from government corruption.

Geriti says that Kurdistan initially had rules and laws that were very out of date because they were written when Iraq was first formed. The rules that were relevant were usually excessive. Kurdistan’s progress has been slowed because of poor funding. Business development could proceed better if government rules and funding were on a steadier basis. Government dysfunction causes very low confidence in the banking system. This constricts money circulating because banks can’t make it available to others. Online capability is inadequate and some banks have subsidized improvements to online functionality. He says US sanctions against Iran are a hardship for many Kurdistan businesses because trading c Iran for them is not only a large source of business but also is in other ways transactions c Iran are reliable and easy.

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Are you ready to rumble? Preparing yourself Intellectually for the Battle

James Lark

USA

Preparing Yourself for the Battle- Gave this talk the 1st time in 2016 at YAL meeting. “There’s the will to win but is there the will to prepare?” - Bobby Knight. Upholding high standards of intellectual integrity is essential for effective advocacy of libertarianism. Libertarian policies are often counter intuitive. Same applies for minimum wage laws. Same c ill effects of FDA regulation. Important to treat others c respect and courtesy. It’s important to overcome caricature views of libertarians by showing respect and being intellectually honest. Must know economics to effectively advocate for libertarianism. E.g. understand the notion of opportunity costs, time value of money, seen vs unseen, concentrated benefits vs diffused costs and finally trade-offs not solutions. Learn history so you can correct incomplete knowledge and misconceptions of history. Learn statistics and data analysis. Understand the importance of rhetoric. Properly defined it’s the study of constructing an argument well. He gives many examples of how rhetoric changes the terms of the argument. Always take a long term view and don’t be discouraged by initial poor receptions. “I like strawberries. When I go fishing, I use worms” - Marshall Fritz

He recommended watching “Life of Brian” by Monty Python. Consider libertarian as both an adjective and a noun.

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The Rise of Medical Tourism in Eastern Europe: Free Markets Win Again

David Vequist

USA

Free Markets Win Again- Founded the Center for Medical Tourism Research (CMTR) which is focused on spreading accurate knowledge about medical tourism. Says he has consulted 5 political candidates one of whom was Libertarian. Consider Globalization, Technology and Consumerism as the elements of Medical Tourism. MT is health seeking behavior and isn’t necessarily only about going International for care. Says he saw examples of MT on temple walls from ancient Egypt in which ancients would come to Egypt for treatment. Email is the biggest single use of the internet followed by social media as second use. Medical information is third most common use of the internet. He mentions that cell phones are particularly widely used to look up health information. MT estimated at $40-60B worldwide. There is a much larger category of ‘wellness tourism’. Health Consumerism May include patient experience, rating sites, blogs, alternative medicine, nutritional supplements, googling, hospital marketing, Groupon!?, Spas, employee health, wellness and longevity, sports health, facility & procedure convergence. A hospital found free yoga classes was their best marketing strategy. 1 in 4 Google searches are health related. 60% of Groupon are in some way health or wellness related. Increased desire for ‘Supra Health’ or rather enhancing baseline. In Asian countries, almost 20% of patients will travel within their own country for health services. Legal arbitrage in EU the first reason was local non availability. Cost is several places down on the list. Estimated that 5% of Jordan’s GDP is based on Dead Sea related Spa’s. He says Methodist Hospital in SA had an ‘anchor baby’ program for Mexican women when he worked there. India has a special visa for medical tourism. Some American corporations have bundled contracts for medical tourism. Estimated that 1M American retirees live at least part time in Mexico. Book Redefining Health Care written by Michael Porter. Emphasis is on understanding quality dimensions of healthcare. John Oliver bought $15M for only $60K. Poles tend to use private dollars in preference to their government programs more than in many other countries. Prior Soviet bloc countries appear to have a trade surplus in medical tourism.

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The "house of politics" as a possibility to structure political thinking and debating.

Thomas Jacob

Switzerland

His house is an organizational tool to arrange his understanding of the political world. Most basic observation is that any use of force ultimately leads to conflict and oppression. Reminds that state has a monopoly on the use of violence against others. Less force correlates more peace and prosperity. Maximum force correlates with conflict and poverty. 3 categories: Competition, regulated industries, state ownership. Each has different goals. Profit is goal of competition. Cronyism enters into regulated industry. There’s no cost/benefit analysis in the state enterprises. Calculations based on administration and budgets c state ownership. Price inflation much higher as move from first to third categories. Moral actions are only possible in circumstances of self-determination. Says Marx had society’s progression totally backwards. Prussia as first 19th C welfare state was explicit in its goal to make its population dependent on the government. The Germaine’s, The Korea’s and China/Hong Kong are experiments in free choice vs socialism. The prosperity differences are stark in all cases. Libertarian ideas are more widely known now than ever in past. People can only take actions that they can conceive of. Thus the importance of spreading libertarianism as a future framework for societal actions.

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My Story

Li Schoolland

China

This is her survival of the horrors of communism. She is not a victim. She’s a survivor. Her family was part of “the 1%” before the communist victory. Her family was labeled ‘black’ due to their history. The others were labeled red families. There were 5 different types of black families. Says she was called an SOB in school due to her FH. she shows posters that glorify public humiliation of black family people. Yin-yang haircuts were public humiliations for black families. Her father went to prison because he told a joke. He shaved his hair to prevent it being grabbed or cut Yin-yang. Many people committed suicide to prevent harassment by Red Guards. She says 16 people in her family committed suicide. Recounts students dragging her mother into their house and demanding that her children betray her. She says there were daily public executions. Says a friend of her mother was executed solely for being half white and studying English. Her family was sent to country to farm. They had to plant rice in an area where it couldn’t grow. Peasants could barely afford any food and were starving. She considers her ‘life calling’ the promotion of human dignity for all. Today communism remains the ruling ideology of China. Her film recounts the slaughter of all birds to save more of the harvest for humans. However plagues of insects totally destroyed the harvest in the following years. Mao said “God didn’t make the world perfect, so man must improve it.” Feng later said “The people will win over God.”

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Death by Regulation

Mary Ruwart

USA

Stanley Gross studied state regulations expecting to find tighter regulations resulted in more safety and better quality. He found the opposite effect. This included dentists, optometrists and electricians. Certification versus regulations is more effective method of quality promotion. 50% of all medical research happens in the US. Thus restrictions in US affect people in other countries. The 1962 amendments gave the FDA limitless power and discretion over US pharmaceutical industry. Shifted medical paradigm from prevention to treatment of disease. Time to drug approval has risen from 4 years to 14 years since 1962. Delays have cost 15M American lives. R value of prescription drug cost c development cost is 0.94! Studies show loss of innovation of =>50% since 1962. Estimates are that prescribed drugs are 5th leading cause of death in the US. Amendments encouraged shift to developing drugs for chronic use which increases risk of SE’s and interactions. They also decreased the incentives for developing preventive drugs. SCOTUS has ruled that people c terminal illness don’t have the right to take unapproved drugs. FDA also holds that drug advertisements are ‘commercial speech’ and that it therefore has no 1st amendment protection. She calls folate ‘the American thalidomide.’ “Manipulated stem cells” have now been classified as drugs driving stem cell research overseas. Codex is project of the UN. Heartland Institute has a “Free to Choose” initiative for alternative drug approval.

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Limits of Government Driven Growth and the Importance of the Entrepreneur

Patrick Mardini

Lebanon

Limits of Government Driven Growth and the Importance of the Entrepreneur- (Winning the Freedom Battle in Lebanon)- Poor infrastructure services are a very significant problem for Lebanon. 1943 is year that Lebanon became free (from French colonialism). Was free market oriented in the beginning. Initially a very prosperous country. Nasser’s pan-Arabism encouraged growth of government in Lebanon. Civil War lasted 15 years (2975-1990). He attributes this to big government making it worth fighting to capture government benefits. He maintains peace happened when warlords found it more profitable to be government ministers. Lebanon is 3rd most indebted country in the world after japan and Greece. Very bad rankings everywhere it’s under government control. However measures that are private sector in Lebanon have very high relative rankings. His Institute publishes studies demonstrating how competition improves services. Presently, 50% of government debt is for electric production. Despite this 12 hour per day blackouts are common. Lebanonese ex-pat’s from US and Canada are his biggest source of financial support for his Institute. As a think tank, he spreads his ideas through competing political parties. For example, they developed a ‘zero dollar ‘ solution for electricity meaning having government spend zero dollars on electricity. Political parties claim this concept widely now.

The Endangered Classical Liberal Tradition in Lebanon: A General Description and Survey Results by Patrick Mardini

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Kyle Varner

USA

Says a progressive admitted to him that minimum wage laws decrease employment but maintained that since there’s a welfare state, unemployment is not much of a problem. Says he’s medically uninsured by choice. Says medical tourism is a form of escaping statist control. Says urge to create a cartel is only second to urge to reproduce in life.

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Nationalism on the March Again: The Re-emergence of European Right-wing Collectivism

Nicolai Heering

Denmark / United Kingdom

The Reemergence of European Right-wing Collectivism - Cites polls on attitudes to immigration. The fewer immigrants and more rural an area, the higher the rejection of immigration. IMF says a 1% rise in immigration results in 2% rise in national income. He cites a significant number of deaths during the migration process. Maybe 15,000 people died in transit in 2016. He speaks of immigration being disfavored in Europe due to fears of collapse of the welfare state from unrestricted immigration. Mr. Heering doesn’t support the welfare state concept and thus doesn’t support its preservation as a justification for excluding immigration. He speaks of a group called ‘Defend Europe’ that chartered a ship specifically to prevent rescue efforts of immigrants in Mediterranean who were in distress. Refers to xenophobic and protectionist policies of the new Italian government. Says more extreme views on immigration have become more accepted throughout Europe during this decade. If libertarianism combines the best of the left and right, nationalist ideology combine the worst of the left and right. People do not think much about politics. Jim Messina, an Obama consultant, calculated the average American only devoted 4 minutes a week to politics. 68% of electorate in Hungary are anti-immigration. The Austrian Chancellor has proposed an new “Axis Alliance” to oppose immigration. This despite the fact that this same term used for the WW II Alliance. People are born to a nationality and cannot determine this characteristic. Thus is this a just criteria for judging anyone? Nationalism always contains an element that holds an individual as secondary to the need of the state.

NATIONALISM ON THE MARCH AGAIN: THE RE-EMERGENCE OF EUROPEAN RIGHT-WING COLLECTIVISM - full text

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Free market and national solidarism

Mariusz Patey

Poland

With regard to Polish nationalism which he characterizes it more as recognition and celebration of a person’s or group’s cultural identity. He says prior speaker is mischaracterizing “Chauvinism” as nationalism. Says an African can become a Pole if he learns and adopts the history and culture of Polish culture. The nationalist movement that rose against Soviet domination of Poland recognized the advantages of a free market economy. Overall he gives examples in which he feels nationalist parties in different European countries supported free market policies. Also says nationalist parties have at times been significant partners in coalitions against socialists. He points out that the early Polish monarchy had elements of an aristocratic republic and that this shone considered an element of polish nationalism. He states protectionism can help develop industry that will be fully competitive. (Not sure if he totally supports this or is repeating what some nationalists maintain but he seems to think it works in some situations.) In response to question about current situation, he says Poland is currently over regulated and less government and less taxation would benefit the Polish economy.

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Introduction to the Liberty Hub

Jacek Spendel

Poland

Terry Easton makes a brief proposal of a two legislative structure. First house earns $25K/year to pass laws c 2/3 majority. Second house smaller but members paid $1M/year to repeal laws c a simple majority. The Liberty Hub is an online clearinghouse proposal to bring all liberty related events/opportunities to one place. Would incorporate a social media component as well as self-submission capability for information. Also want a space for bloggers and videographers. Would like to develop a game scenario in which participants collect points for activities through the Liberty Hub This might include also use of businesses associated c the Liberty Hub.

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How to combat leftism on campus and organize student libertarians?

Laura Nicolae

USA

Long time libertarian that is partly attributed to fact that her parents are Romanians. Her father actually fled Romanian communism. She is president of the Harvard Libertarian Club. Says there are many leftists at Harvard. She hasn’t seen physical intimidation but says libertarians can be made uncomfortable by the strong opposition to their views. She says there is widespread rhetoric that is at times tongue in cheek that she calls cultural communism. Her family’s personal experience c communism makes it personal experience that she can’t see as a theory or a light hearted matter. She sees a lot of communist rhetoric as just a way to express dissatisfaction c their personal life. A poll last year revealed millennials think Bush killed more people than communism in total. She points out that many leftists see a black/white choice wrt opposing communism. Emphasis in persuading should be on simple common sense core of libertarianism. Defines capitalism as the sum of a multitude of voluntary interactions. Her essay in the Harvard Crimson was only 800 words and published in November but nevertheless was 2nd most read article for all of 2017. She holds that the starting point is the misconception that ‘capitalism is immoral.’ Liberty’s core philosophy is respect for others. The ‘radical’ aspect of libertarian that we want the NAP applied to government employees. She seconds Dr. Lark’s recommendation to have others study economics. She emphasizes to friends the difference between personal values and political values. Organizing debates is a favorite vehicle for her. The Libertarian Club was for the first time ever included in the annual Republican-Democratic Debate at Harvard. She says they were very well received and that many people joined the Libertarian Club as a result of this. Ned to recognize that turn to socialism is a turn to an idealistic theory against the imperfections of the actual world. Points out that complaints against government programs are working against the bias for the status quo.

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Market vs. Government

Hiroshi Yoshida

Japan

Trade vs Plunder and Market vs Government. Accounting is considered to be about calculating. He shows the Chinese origins of accounting long ago. The Chinese symbol is to a combination of symbols that can be interpreted as finding the right person for the right job. Adam Smith “Give me what I want and you will receive what you want.” Smith attributed wealth to division of labor, private property and accounting. Shennong was the divine farmer who developed agriculture that provided surplus for trade. He taught markets to open at noon and return home p trading. Thus people learned to live by the produce of others. He graphically shows the beneficial utility of trading surplus potatoes (products) for apples (products). More surplus equals more net benefit. Self-sufficiency is a balance sheet. Trade is using other’s success. People say thank you with trade. Plunder results in people saying “damnit!” Government=Plunder. Government plunders your actions in past , present and future. He graphically shows how a tax rate of any given percentage results in a higher loss of net utility than the actual tax rate. Quarter curve is the tax rate versus tax revenue curve. He says the maximum rate to yield maximum revenues is 25%. Japan am has 24 National tax system and 30 local tax systems. He calculates the tax day for Japan to open people’s eyes. Children’s day calculates the debt being accumulated to the next generation? Children’s day is coming progressively longer after taxpayer day each year. Graphically shows how in US prosperity increased when government spending fell under Coolidge and fell under Roosevelt. Coolidge basically said taxation is theft but Roosevelt’s Treasury Secretary said he never kept those kinds of promises. In a democratic society people pay tax by consent to laws. Conclusion “Never Shift Our Deficit onto Our Children”. Current pattern in Japan is resulting in shrinking net assets because of future liabilities. ‘Good accounting makes bad mayors suffer and makes good mayors prosper.”

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Immigration in an Age of Fear and Courage

Ken Scholland

USA

Next Conference is to be June 6-8, 2019 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Presentation begins c the Mongolian team introducing their plans for next year. Mr. Schoolland welcomes and acknowledges the controversial nature of immigration. Lebanon has 4M population but an estimated 12M ex-pats. Yet they welcome ~2M Syrian refugees. Fraser Institute uses 5 factors to measure their World Index of Economic Freedom. Wealth and growth rate strongly correlate c the economic freedom index rating. He contrasts the wealth effects of China’s large internal migration from less free to more free provinces. This refers to economic freedom only since there is little political freedom in China. Openness to migration is a strong predicts of economic success. 3% of US is cities. Immigrants founded 51% of new US “Billion Dollar” startups. Migration is a central phenomenon in history. Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. He asks that we treat others as we would want them to treat us if we were in their situation. He says that there are people who wanted to attend this conference who were denied visas to come. Also, all of the 9/11 terrorists had legal student visas to be in the US. 2 of the terrorists had their student visas approved 2 months aft they died in the attacks.

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