The Free Market Road Show brings together a most impressive group of speakers. From leading business people, outstanding scholars and academics to opinion leaders, policy experts, elected officials, and diplomats. The Austrian Economics Center (AEC) –in cooperation with more than 60 leading international institutions– is proud to gather some of the world’s keenest minds for the 2015 Free Market Road Show.
is President of CEPOS. He is an economist and an economic historian from Bristol University and the University of Exeter. Ågerup is the author of several books on economy and societal issues. Furthermore, he is a frequent debater in Danish radio, TV and newspapers and has been named one of the most influential debaters in Denmark. Under his leadership, CEPOS has been highlighted for its work by the American Atlas Foundation amongst others.
At present he is Director of Institute of Economics and Chairman of Economic Policy Department at Corvinus University of Budapest, and Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences since 2014.
A graduate of Budapest University of Economics (1975), he first worked for the Budapest Institute of Planning as research economist, taught economics in Hungary and as visitor lecturer in the US. After the democratic changes, he became Cabinet Minister for Industry and Trade (1990-1991), was elected governor of the Hungarian National Bank (1991-1994), and later served as board member at EBRD, London (1995-1998). Since his return from EBRD, Dr. Bod has been teaching at Corvinus University and elsewhere (inc. Marburg University, University Viadrina (Frankfurt/Oder), ESSCA-Budapest, Karoli Gaspar Calvinist University – Budapest).
Professor Bod is a vice chairman of the Hungarian Economic Society, sits in editorial boards of professional journals and in supervisory boards of major companies in Hungary. He is chairman of Budapest Economy Club.
As Chairman of The Anker Consulting Group, Inc., Mr. Anker has served as an advisor and owner in several small concerns including the retail, wholesale distribution and service industries as well as the public sector. Presently, Mr. Anker spends much of his time advising small business throughout Indiana on the acquisition of capital from public and private sources. His business interests include Moody Meats, Flat 12 Bierwerks, a Midwestern-based call center and the Anker Receivership Group. Also, Mr. Anker is the Associate Editor and Partner of Current Publishing, LLC. Its holdings include 11 local newspapers youarecurrent. He is one of the founders of Monument Advisors, LLC (www.monumentadv.com), a mezzanine bank serving the capital and financial services needs of business concerns throughout the Midwest and preferred partner INC a reseller of computer software and services. And, he has served as a Director on the Board of Symons International Group (formerly NASDAC: SIGC), an insurance holding company and IGF, a large multi-state crop insurance concern.
Additionally, he is a member of Mont Pellerin Society, numerous professional training and education seminars and an alumnus of the Stanley K. Lacy Leadership Development and a weekly newspaper columnist.
Board Member of Deloitte Consulting since 2008. Master of Arts in economics at Warsaw University Department of Economics (1994). In 2006-08, managing director and chief economist at PZU Group, vice-chairman of Supervisory Board PZU Asset Management, member of the Investment Committee of the PZU Group, chairman of the Supervisory Boards of PZU Ukraine Life Insurance and PZU Ukraine.
In 1995-2006, senior economist at Centre for Social and Economic Research (CASE) Foundation. Co-author of the Polish Economic Outlook – Quarterly Forecasts by CASE. On-site macroeconomic advisor to: Ukraine to the Cabinet of Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine (1994-97), Kyrgyzstan to the Ministry of Finance and Chairman of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan (1994-96), Kazakhstan to President (1995), Moldova to the Ministry of Economics (1999). Economic consultant to the Polish Parliament (1998-2001), World Bank on Belarus (2002), the European Union on Bosnia and Herzegovina (2006). In 2006-08, adjunct professor of economics, University of Warsaw MBA Program. Author of papers and economic commentaries in Poland and abroad. Member of the Audit Committee of Academy for the Development of Philanthropy, expert of the Union of Big Families 3+, and member of Board of Experts of ThinkTank.
is an associate professor of economics at Gaziantep University. He did his Phd thesis on corruption in the Framework of institutional economics. He is interested in institutional economics and political economy, economic growth and social capital. He focused his academic research on the relationship between property rights and economic growth with particular analysis on EU countries. He published articles on energy resources; structure of natural gas markets, regional development. He has received awards with his PhD thesis, and analysis on economics of Adana city. Ata teaches history of economics and on Turkish economy.
is president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a U.S. libertarian research and advocacy organization. Its mission is to reduce government-created barriers to economic liberty, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Unique among free market groups, CEI pursues a full-service approach to advancing public policy; publishing original scholarly analysis; crafting and deploying media advocacy campaigns; working directly with federal and state policymakers; leading coalitions with grassroots activists; and litigating against dubious statutes, laws, and regulations.
Now in his third year as president, Bader leads a rejuvenated CEI as it enters its fourth decade. Under Bader’s leadership CEI has expanded its outreach, launching RealClear Radio Hour with Bill Frezza in January 2014. RealClear Radio Hour airs weekly on Bloomberg Radio in Boston and San Francisco, and is syndicated in several markets across the country. Bader has also streamlined CEI’s policy efforts and focused its legal and litigation work to demand government transparency and rein in executive branch overreach. Currently CEI is focused on energy, environment, business and finance, technology, telecommunications, and consumer choice issues. A highlight of its current litigation efforts is King v. Burwell, CEI’s regulatory challenge to the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Before joining CEI, Bader served as vice president of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University for 16 years; manager of government relations at SRI International; legislative analyst with Pierson, Semmes and Finley; and a special assistant at the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.
Bader, a long-time Washington resident, grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and earned degrees from Wheaton College in Illinois and The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He brings his unique experience to bear in his weekly Human Events columns, where he discusses everything from social justice and education to deciphering the Washington political and regulatory world.
Entrepreneur. Between May and September 2013 – Director of the courier division (PrioriPost) in Posta Romana.
Founder & CVO/CBDO of a several business projects, focused on national and regional development of few brands/companies in service sector:
Lokko mobile application for courier industry.
Sameday Courier & Field Expert (acting also as Managing Partner from 2007 to 2009)
Retailplus Eastern Europe (acting also as CEO from June 2008 to December 2011)
Other projects – Gift Express, Expert Flowers.
Co-founder and Secretary General of AOCR (Romanian Courier Operators Association).
born in 1947, economist, professor at the Warsaw School of Economics, MBA graduate of St. John`s University in New York, author of the economic reforms in the post-communist Poland after 1989, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the first non-communist government of Poland after the World War II, President of the National Bank of Poland (2001-2007), laureate of over 20 honorary doctorates from universities all around the world; author of more than 100 publications on economic topics issued in Poland and abroad, laureate of many prestigious Polish and international prizes and distinctions. In 2005 Leszek Balcerowicz was awarded the Order of the White Eagle – Poland’s highest distinction for his contribution in the economic and political transformation in Poland. In 2007 Leszek Balcerowicz founded The Civil Development Forum Foundation – FOR, think tank based in Warsaw. Since then he has been serving as the Board Chairman. In May 2014, in New York, Leszek Balcerowicz received one of the most internationally renowned merit Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, granted by CATO Institute.
Dr. Bartulica received his doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He currently teaches political philosophy at the Catholic University of Croatia in Zagreb. Prior to his academic work, he served for 12 years as a diplomat in the Croatian foreign service where he was able to witness first-hand the country’s struggle for independence. Dr. Bartulica is Founder and President of the Center for Renewal of Culture, a non-profit focused on forming future leaders in Croatia. He also serves as Special advisor for religious affairs to the President of Croatia Ivo Josipović. He is a native of St. Joseph, Missouri.
Founder and CEO of GREATNESS/Secretary General of Red-Floridablanca.
Isabel (Madrid 1982) studied Law and International Relations at ICADE (Universidad Pontificia de Comillas) in Madrid; she has also taken post graduate courses at Georgetown University and The London School of Economics.
In 2005 became one of the youngest consultants for the World Bank Institute in Washington Dc where she worked for three years implementing anticorruption and transparency programs for local governments in Latin America. In 2009 returns to Spain and joins the international relations department of FAES Foundation, a think tank committed to nurturing the political ideas and activities of the liberal and reformist centre.
In November 2011 she started up her own company, GREATNESS, a leading company on the promotion of the Spanish tourism and Cultural Heritage.
Since January 2015 Isabel Is the Secretary General of Red-Floridablanca a new young association that works in the promotion of the classic liberal ideas and principles among the new generations and in the Spanish politics.
Editor-in-chief and CEO at the Danish business newspaper Børsen. He holds an M.A. in political science from the University of Copenhagen, and an M.Sc. in journalism from Columbia University.
Professor at Aarhus University, MSc (Economics), Aarhus University, 2001, PhD (Economics), Aarhus School of Business Primary research areas Social Trust and Informal Institutions Public Choice / New Institutional Economics Subjective Well-Being and Life Satisfaction Trade Theory / International Economics Job experience (academic)
received a BA in Economics from the University of Montenegro, and MA in Economics and Econometrics, from the University of Belgrade.
Presently he is the Minister of Education at the Government of Montenegro.
Some of the previously held positions include: President of the Board of Directors at the Coalmine “Pljevlja”, Minister for Economy at the Government of Montenegro, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs at the Government of Serbia and Montenegro, Member of the Montenegrin Parliament, Professor Assistant at the Faculty of Economics, University of Montenegro, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare at the Government of Montenegro.
He is the president of the Women’s Handball Club Buducnost as well as the president of the Montenegrin Handball Federation and Member of the Executive Committee of the European Handball Federation.
is the head of Academic Affairs at the Centre for the New Europe, Brussels, and Stand-In-Professor at the University Duisburg-Essen, and recently has been engaged in academic work at the University of Trier. His guest professorships took him to Prague, Salzburg, Vienna and Zagreb. Professor Bouillon is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, and is cooperating with the Hayek Institut, Vienna.
Degree in Economics, Business Administration and Law, PhD in Business Administration. Honorary General Consul of Austria for Catalonia and Aragón. Statutory Auditor, Economist, Lawyer, Founding partner and President of Bové Montero y Asociados (1978). He is member and holds various positions in institutions related to accounting and auditing.
Various articles and interviews about auditing, accountancy, internal control and taxes have been published in the following medias: El País, La Vanguardia, Actualidad Económica, Radio Economía, La Gaceta de los Negocios, Expansión, Revista Técnica del Instituto de Censores Jurados de Cuentas de España, Alta Dirección, Recht der Internationalen Wirtschaf.
laywer and economic commentator (Rzeczpospolita, wprost.pl).
Former proseuctor, now legal counsel. Advocate for limited governement and economic freedom. Expert at Adam Smith Centre, President of the Board of the Polish-American Foundation for Economic Research and Education.
is the Executive Manager of the Libertarian Club – Libek. He is a member of the Executive Board of the organization and has been involved in design implementation and evaluation of the organization’s educational and grassroots advocacy programs for almost five years.
He holds a Bachelor degree in International Relations, a Master degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Belgrade.In addition to his studies at the University of Belgrade, he has studied Scandinavian and International Politics at the University in Oslo, in Norway.
He speaks Serbian, English, and Norwegian and has understanding of Russian language.
is an economist specializing in banking and finance. He also works as a supervisor at one of the big banks of Turkey. Cetin is currently writing his detailed study on “Monetary Policy’s Role in 2008 Financial Crisis: A Norm Based Approach”. He has written articles on the origins of global economic crisis, and translated many articles into Turkish written by notable scholars such as Hayek, Friedman, and Rothbard. In addition to the book translation of The Great Austrian Economists of (Ed.) Randall G. Holcombe, he has edited the special issues of quarterly journal Liberal Thought on Austrian and Chicago Schools of Economics; and 2008 Crisis. He edits the forthcoming book “Great Crash of 2008: First Great Government Failure of New Millennium” in which it is argued that the crisis is the result of discretionary management of government policies rather than free market’s inherent fragility. Cetin is an alumnus of the Cato University and the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). He lectures on free markets, and free trade. Cetin holds a column on economic affairs at a Turkish national Daily.
Shmuel Chafets is a Funder and General Partner at Sela Venture Partners. Sela is a Berlin based Investment Management company focused on early stage technology companies. Prior to his work at Sela, Shmuel was a Partner at HPV, a Berlin-based venture capital fund with over EUR 150 million under management founded by Prof. Hasso Plattner, Founder & Chairman of SAP. Shmuel managed HPV’s investments in iZettle (FinTech), Hansoft (Software), DreamLines (Travel), Rebuy (re-commerce) and MyHeritage (Internet).
Prior to HPV, Shmuel was a Founding partner of GPV, a pioneer venture capital firm focused on the Polish Market. Prior to the founding of GPV, Shmuel was a director of business development at Giza Venture Capital, where he later became a partner in Giza 5, one of Israel’s best- performing venture funds post 2000.
Prior to Giza, Shmuel was a consultant at GCS, a strategic consultancy, where he worked with corporations, NGOs and governments.
Before GCS, Shmuel worked as an aide to a Member of the Israeli Parliament and as a senior advisor to the Deputy Minister of the Interior.
Shmuel is also co-founder of LocaLoco, a developer of social games for emerging markets. Shmuel is a member of the board of directors of the Tel Aviv Opera, the Rabinovich Foundation (Israel’s biggest film foundation), and Presentence Israel (NGO promoting social entrepreneurship) and a member of the steering committee of NazTech, an acceleration program targeting Israeli Arab entrepreneurs. He is a member of the advisory board of Innovation: Africa, as well as a member in the World Economic Forum’s “Global Shaper” community.
is the Chief Economist for the Blacksummit Financial Group Inc., in the United States. He has studied economics and finance in Greece, the U.S., and the United Kingdom. He has consulted with numerous organizations, corporations, non-profit groups, as well as government entities in several countries.
Dr. Charalambakis has been teaching economics and finance in the US for the last twenty years. Currently he teaches economics at the Patterson School of Diplomacy & International Commerce at the University of Kentucky. He is the recipient of many awards, the author and editor of three books and of numerous articles, has served on corporate boards, has appeared on economic and financial TV shows, and is a frequent conference and seminar speaker. Recently he assisted the Congressional Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) in their research regarding the causes of the financial crisis. Dr. Charalambakis interests are in the area of international financial markets, forecasting, asset allocation, and the development of viable policies that advanced economic wellbeing among nations.
has three decades of experience as entrepreneur, CEO, and investor. In 1997 he founded and served as CEO/Chairman of CustomerSat (now part of Confirmit), a leading provider in enterprise feedback management. A pioneer in online marketing research, he earlier founded and served as CEO/Chairman of Decisive Technology (now part of Google), publisher of the first desktop and client-server software for online surveys. Earlier he worked at GE, HP, and Xerox. He is a member of the Development Committee of the MIT Corporation (board of trustees), and a trustee of the Santa Fe Institute and of the Seasteading Institute. He holds BS & MS degrees in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
is an internationally recognized Cluster Development Expert and one of the leading experts in cluster development of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Her company LIGNA GROUP deals with Contract Furniture and Hotel Refurbishment, works with more than 30 suppliers and currently has 28 employees. Together with her business partner Ms Anelia Kassabova during the past 10 years she has managed to position LIGNA among the top 50 leading companies in the economy of Bulgaria (ranking of Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2013 for the fastest growing companies in the country). In 2010 Genoveva received the recognition Entrepreneur of the Year, during the Small and Medium Enperprises(SME) Week in Brussels – presentation of successful practices for entrepreneurship in the EU.
Genoveva Christova-Murray obtained a Master’s Degree in International Economics, covering International Trade, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management in the University of National and World Economy – Sofia.
Since 2005, Mrs. Christova-Murray has been actively involved in the cluster life in Bulgaria. She became the first elected president of one of the first pilot clusters in Bulgaria – Troyan Furniture Cluster. In 2006, Genoveva started her active international activity and has been involved in several projects for the development of SMEs in South-East Europe: Greece, Romania, Turkey and Serbia.
She is one of the initiators of the Association of Business Clusters (ABC) established in Bulgaria in 2009. At present Mrs.Christova-Murray is a chairman of the Bulgarian furniture cluster, as well as Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Directors of the Association of Business Clusters (ABC) in charge of International Relations.
Mrs. Christova-Murray participated in several national and international events, where she is often invited to present topics such as entrepreneurship, small and medium enterprises, clusters and cluster policies. Author of numerous studies and articles on competitiveness and cluster development.
is the Head of the Brussels office of Open Europe, an independent think tank, with offices in London and Brussels and a sister organisation in Berlin. Open Europe is committed to European co-operation, but believes that the EU should be made more democratic, transparent and accountable to citizens, while it should return powers to member states and more encourage free trade, internally and globally.
A trained lawyer, he has been practicing law in Belgium and has worked as a cabinet advisor and speechwriter to the Belgian State Secretary for Administrative Reform and as an analyst at the Belgian Itinera Institute, which he helped establish. Pieter received his legal training at the Catholic University of Leuven, and also studied law and economics at the universities of Hamburg, Bologna and Vienna.
(1954) is a professor of economics at the University of Turin, where he teaches Foundations of Policymaking, International Economics, and Growth and Development. He is the director of one of Italy’s leading research institutes, the International Centre for Economic Research, and the Director of research at IREF (Institut de Recherches Économiques et Fiscales). His present research interests cover the economics of growth and development, law and economics, and Austrian economics. His last book is titled Markets, Morals and Policy Making: A New Defense of Free-Market Economics (Routledge, 2011).
is a world citizen in our small planet in a big unknown universe. He was born in Latin America, from European parents, was educated in Europe and North America, and has worked extensively in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. He is a tireless traveler and has studied, visited and worked in over 130 countries around the world. He combines his experience in economics and engineering to promote a better world with more freedom and more technology.
He studied science at Universidad Simón Bolívar, Venezuela, engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, economics at Georgetown University, Washington, and management at INSEAD, France. He is chair of the Venezuela Node of The Millennium Project, founding faculty and energy advisor in Singularity University at NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley, California, visiting research fellow at IDE-JETRO, Japan, and adjunct professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia, and former director of the World Transhumanist Association and the Extropy Institute in the USA.
He has authored a dozen books in four languages, and has also written and has been interviewed in major media (press, radio and TV) including ABC, BBC,CNN, Chosun Ilbo (Korean Daily), El Comercio (Ecuador), El Comercio (Peru), El Tiempo (Colombia), El Universal (Mexico), El Universal (Venezuela), Los Andes (Argentina),O Estado de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Mainichi Shimbun (Japan Daily News), La Tribune (France), The New York Times, Univision and The Washington Times (USA). He has also filmed documentaries with Discovery Channel and the History Channel.
Vladimír Dlouhý is a current president of Czech Chamber of Commerce. After completing his studies at the University of Economics in Prague, he was engaged at the university as an assistant lecturer in the Department of Econometrics. In 1984 he became a founding member of the Institute of Forecasting of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, where at first he worked as a researcher, later assuming the post of Deputy Director. From 1989-1992 he served as Minister of the Economy of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic, and from 1992 to June 1997 as Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. He was a member and later Vice-Chairman of the Civic Democratic Alliance and a Member of Parliament. From September 1997 until the present he has been working as an International Adviser to the investment bank Goldman Sachs, and from 1998 to 2010 he was also engaged as an adviser for ABB. Since 2000 he has taught at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague, and from 2004 to 2010 he was also engaged at the University of Economics in Prague as a teacher and as a member of the Scientific Board of the Faculty of Economics and Public Administration. He is the author of numerous scientific papers and popular articles.
is an associate professor and the Dean of the Faculty for International Economics, Finance and Business of the University UDG, Podgorica, Montenegro. She is also a senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses (Podgorica, Montenegro). From 2006 she holds a doctorate in economics from graduate program „Entrepreneurial Economics” of University of Montenegro (The program “Entrepreneurial Economics” is now organized at University UDG). Her current research focuses on macroeconomic issues, property rights, privatization, and economic transition. As her PhD was in the field of financial econometrics, Maja is also interested in issues related to finance, econometrics and applied quantitative economic analysis. She participated on many international conferences and published several papers in relevant journals. Maja spent school year 2004/2005 at the Department of Economics of George Washington University, Washington DC, USA. In 2005 she was a visiting fellow at the Mercator Center of George Mason University, Virginia, USA.
is the lecturer on banking and finance at the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna. He is an expert in the fields of business models of banks, global bank management, capital market strategies and liquidity management. He has an extensive experience in the field of implementing consulting projects on the topics of Treasury and ALM.
Dr. Enthofer has been coaching board members of well-known banks in the field of Treasury as well as in Asset & Liability Management. In 1987 he established the annual Alpbach Finance Symposium . Founding partner of Finance Trainer International, he established their areas of expertise treasury and asset liability management and sales activities into Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, CEE and Italy.
born in Linz, Austria, Chairman of ETR, Europeans for Tax reform, a pro – Flat Tax Advocacy group, has studied international trade at WU Vienna, Gunther served as Chairman of EDS from 1996 to 1998 and worked 6 years in Brussels, 4 of them as Secretary General of SME UNION, the small business advocacy group of the EPP, Gunther is working in the Balkans since 2005 as development consultant with focus on economic development and strategy for public entities.
is National Affairs Columnist for and an on-air analyst on the Fox News Channel. He has lived in and reported from Europe and is currently working on a book entitled “The Non-Euro Nations: How Some Countries Dodged a Bullet.”
He previously served as a columnist and editorial board member for The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of several books, including Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy (Encounter Books, 2012) and The Dangers of Regulation Through Litigation (ATRA Press, 2008). He worked as a research analyst for the California Legislature in Sacramento before beginning his journalism career as a reporter for the syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak.
Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, called him “the Tom Paine of the modern Congressional reform movement.” He has won awards from the Institute for Justice, The School Choice Aliance and the Warren Brooks award for journalistic excellence from the American Legislative Exchange Council.
He is majored in Electrical Engineering and Physics at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). He also holds and Executive MBA by IESE (Spain)
Joined Gas Natural Fenosa more than 7 years ago where he has held several positions in Strategy and Development.
Previous to joining Gas Natural Fenosa, he worked 2 years in Bosch Siemens Hausgeräte (Spain) and for more than eight years at AT Kearney and Deloitte (management consulting) where he worked in several industries including energy, pharma and financial institutions.
received a MA in Economics and a BS in Applied Mathematics from the University of Aix-Marseille, and a PhD in Economics from New York University where he was member of the Austrian School Programme. He is presently Professor at the University of Aix-Marseille where he is also directing the C.A.E. (Centre d’Analyse Economique). Since 1995, he isacting as director of the Institute for Economic Studies-Europe.
One of the founding directors of the White House Writers Group, Joshua Gilder served President Reagan as a senior speechwriter from early 1985 until mid-1988. His first speech for the President won acclaim for the line “Go Ahead, Make My Day!” He co-authored two State of the Union addresses and contributed to many of the President’s televised speeches from the Oval Office. He wrote Mr. Reagan’s highly regarded 1988 Moscow Summit address to students at Moscow State University.
In 1989, Mr. Gilder was appointed by President George Bush to be Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, leaving in 1991 to help David Rockefeller write his autobiography. Mr. Gilder has served as a consultant and advisor on numerous Presidential primary and general campaigns, including Reagan ’84; Bush ’88; Forbes ’96; Dole ’96; Forbes 2000 and Giuliani 2008.
Mr. Gilder has edited and/or written for numerous periodicals, including The Wall Street Journal, National Review, The New York Post, The Washington Times, The American Spectator, Saturday Review and many others. His novel, Ghost Image, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2002 and his scientific history of the dramatic collaboration of Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe, Heavenly Intrigue, (co-authored with his wife, Anne-Lee Gilder) was published by Random House in 2004.
Mr. Gilder lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with his wife Anne Lee and their young son, Max.
born (10 September 1940) and educated in Poland (M.Sc in physics and PhD in economics, both from University of Warsaw), he was a member of the Economics Department at the London School of Economics since 1970 until 2005. During this period he also held senior professorial and research fellowship appointments at a number of academic institutions, including Columbia, Harvard, Pennsylvania and Stanford Universities in the USA , the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities in Wassenaar, the Central European University in Budapest and the College of Europe in Warsaw. In June 2013 elected a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Most of his research and teaching has been in the areas of economic growth, macroeconomics, the economics of transition and comparative economic systems.
In the 1980s, Stanislaw Gomulka served also as a consultant to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the OECD and the European Commission. In1989 he became adviser to the Polish Government, and was a member of the team which designed Poland’s reform plans and policies during the crucial phase of transformation. In 1989- 1995 and 1998-2002 he served as a senior adviser to Poland’s Finance Ministers, and during 1995-98 he was senior adviser to the Governor of the National Bank of Poland. In the years 1989-95, he was Poland’s official negotiator with the IMF on all macroeconomic programmes and, in the years 1990-1992, with the Paris and London Clubs on Poland’s debt reduction. In late 1991 he was also advising Yegor Gajdar and his team on reforms for Russia.
In the period January-April 2008 he served in Donald Tusk’s government as deputy finance minister, and since July 2008 has been the Chief Economist of the BCC, an organization of enterprises and businessmen in Poland.
Has a Degree in Industrial Engineering by UPC Barcelona. Speciality in Energy Engineering (1999). She has taken a course in Finance in IESE business school (2011).
Virginia has fifteen years of experience in energy consultancy on energy markets, legal frameworks, and business development at international level (Spain, Portugal, UK, Belgian, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Iran, Pakistan, Madagascar, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Argentina).
In 2006 she co-founded ENERGIA LOCAL a consultancy and project development firm in Barcelona.
She is member of Spanish Energy Regulation Committee since 2008.
She is President of Energy Commission at Foment del Treball, trade organisation in Catalonia.
She is Technical Director of Spanish Cogeneration Association since 2006.
was born in Luxembourg, the fourth child of Otto von Habsburg. After graduating in 1976, Gabriela von Habsburg studied philosophy for two years at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. From 1978 to 1982, she studied art at the Munich Academy of Arts with Robert Jacobsen and Eduardo Paolozzi. Since 2001, she has been an art professor at the Academy of Arts of Tbilisi, Georgia while also teaching at the Summer Academy of Arts in Neuburg an der Donau, Germany until 2005. She found the creativity and cheerfulness of her students in the face of the adversity then prevalent in Georgia inspiring. In November 2009, Georgia appointed Gabriela von Habsburg as its ambassador to Germany. Since March 2010 Gabriela von Habsburg represents Georgia at the International Council of the Austrian Service Abroad.
Ambassador von Habsburg is also a prolific abstract sculptor, working mainly in stainless steel as well as stone-printed lithography.
is Professor in International Business at the Department of Business Administration, University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece. Professor Hajidimitriou served as Rector of the University of Macedonia from September 2010 to August 2014. He also served as Chairman of the MBA Program, as Chairman of the Department of Marketing and Operations Management, and as Vice Chairman of the Department of Business Administration. Recently he was appointed Director of the Master’s Program in International Business. Professor Hajidimitriou holds a M.A. and a Ph.D. in Economics from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook, USA. His research interests focus on strategies of international expansion, international joint ventures and international strategic alliances. Recent research articles appear in international academic journals and in the proceedings of several international conferences. Professor Hajidimitriou served as Visiting Lecturer in International Business at the Sheffield University Management School, U.K. (1995-97), Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, USA (1984-86) and Adjunct Professor in the MBA programs of Fairleigh Dickinson University and Seton Hall University in New Jersey (1989-91), USA. He also worked for the American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), USA, in the Market Analysis and Forecasting Department (1986-92). Since 2000, Professor Hajidimitriou is an honorary member of the Board of Directors of the Greek International Business Association (SEVE).
Kerry Halferty Hardy is currently the Chief Development Officer at the American Hospital of Paris and has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, more particularly in development, nonprofit metrics, fundraising, and strategic planning. She was previously Director of Development at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) at the Johns Hopkins University, and worked at the startup phase as the managing director of Altermind, a strategic consulting company with a classical liberal orientation. Prior to her work at AICGS, Kerry was employed at the Cato Institute, and has worked in various positions that included an electrical power project in South America, a stint as an assistant in the Texas Legislature, as well as in a patent law firm.
Kerry serves on the board of directors of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), where she chairs the planning committee; the board of advisors of the Institut de Formation Politique (IFP); the board of the Institute for Economic Studies Europe (IESE); and the pastoral council of St. Joseph’s church. She is an invited member of the Comité Paris-Chicago and served on the planning committee for the Liberty Ball (formerly known as the Capitalist Ball) in Brussels. She participates in the Women’s Working Group at the American Chamber of Commerce in Paris, and is a member of both the Association Française des Fundraisers and the American Healthcare Philanthropy association. She is often invited to speak on topics related to the nonprofit sector, including as a guest lecturer at the Université Paris-Dauphine.
Kerry received her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and obtained her Master of Science in Management, with an emphasis on Nonprofit and Association Management, from the University of Maryland University College. She speaks French, German, and Spanish, as well as Texan.
is chief economist of the Federation of Austrian Industries and coordinator of the Cognion Research Network. He served as Deputy Chair of the BusinessEurope EcoFin-Committee. He has recently been appointed to chair the BusinessEurope Regional Policy Working Group and the EU Expert Group XG ECO. He published more than sixty journal articles and contributions to collective volumes, with a focus on finance, macroeconomics, and structural change. Furthermore, he has been responsible for a portfolio of about 800 research projects so far.
is a member of the Bavarian State Parliament since 2003, chairman of the CSU parliamentary working committee for military policy and a State Secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry of Finance, Regional Development and Regional Identity since 2013.
Mr. Hintersberger holds a Master degree in political science. He is a member of Christian Social Union in Bavaria for more than four decades.
He served as a chairman of the CSU in Lechhausen and vice-chairman of the CSU district chapter in Augsburg until 2011. He serves as a chairman of the CSU district chapter in Augsburg and a member of the CSU executive committee.
He is also a member of the board of directors of the sports club FC Augsburg, member of the board of trustees of the University of Augsburg, a member of the foundation board of the Catholic Kolping Foundation Augsburg, a member of the diocesan council of the Diocese of Augsburg , a vice-chairman of the Catholic Welfare Center Augsburg-Lechhausen and a chairman of the Tourismus Regio Augsburg company.
Founder and CEO at Xoco Fine Cocoa Company; Xoco is a first mover in the emerging market for supplying fine cocoa to gourmet chocolate makers. We have reinvented the industry by planting millions of new trees with outgrowers in Central America. Our beans have been used for making award winning chocolate worldwide.
is an economist, graduated two universities in Georgia; he worked at the State Audit Office, Central Election Commission, the Parliament of Georgia and the Anti-Corruption Agency. In 2001 Mr. Jandieri co-founded and since that time has been the Vice-president of New Economic School – Georgia, a free market think-tank; he currently lectures also at the Georgian-American University in Tbilisi and is a member of the Board of the National Statistics Office of Georgia.
Gia is an active member of Economic Freedom, Atlas and many other free market networks.
is a senior analyst in Estonian Centre for Applied Research CentAR. He has worked at the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication as Head of the Economic Analysis Division and subsequently in the ministry of Social Affairs as Deputy Secretary General on Labour Policy. Janno has led and participated in several important labour market related initiatives, most importantly the forecast of workforce demand and the development of new Employment Contracts Act. Janno Järve has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Tartu.
Jilch is a journalist, writing for the economics section of Austrias leading broadsheet newspaper “Die Presse”. He covers central-bank-politics, macroeconomics and markets but his main interest lies in all aspects of the monetary system. This is why he is also wrinting a rather popular blog titled “Goldjournal” on the Website of the “Presse”. Jilch is known for covering economics with an “Austrian Perspective” and he advocates low taxes and a small state.
is an entrepreneur and researcher. He holds MSci degree from Entrepreneurial Economy Postgraduate Studies and is PhD candidate at the International Economy Postgraduate Studies at the UDG.
He has been working at the Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses since 2005 ( www.issp.me ). During the time he has been involved in and led numerous projects. His fields of interest are entrepreneurship, EU, NATO, cyber defense, defense economy etc.
Ivan Jovetic is also Executive Director of Centre for European Education and Studies – CE²S – a research center dedicated to the European research, education and entrepreneurship. CE²S is member of ECSA World (European Community Studies Association). He is also member of the Working Groups for negotiations with the European Union (chapters 31 and 21).
He is co-founder of MSI INVEST Ltd. through which he has been executing his own and his partners’ entrepreneurial ideas. Company has been involved in several business sectors.
Since 2007 Ivan Jovetic has been working at the UDG – Faculty for International Economy, Finance and Business as a teaching assistant. He has also been acting since 2013 as manager and Vice-Dean at the UDG – Faculty for Sports Management.
Chairman of Peter Jungen Holding GmbH, is co-founder resp. investor in numerous start-ups in Europe and in the US like Idealo GmbH, the leading German comparison shopping platform. He is Founding President of Business Angels Netzwerk Deutschland (BAND) resp. Co-Founder and President (2001-2004) of the European Business Angels Network (EBAN), a founding Board Member of the China Business Angels Network (CBAN), Beijing and a member of the New York Angels. He is a member of the Advisory Council, Deutsche Bank AG, and Board member of the New York Philharmonic. He is Honorary Chairman, “Center on Capitalism and Society”, Columbia University and Advisory Board Member of the Columbia Center for Global Economic Governance, Columbia University. He is a Member of the Board of the Friedrich von Hayek Institute, Vienna, a member of the International Josef Schumpeter Society and of the Mont Pelerin Society. He is Governing Board Member of the “Institute for New Economic Thinking” (INET). He is a former member of the Presidency of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).
The leading German business magazine „Wirtschaftswoche“ named Peter Jungen one of the 100 most important personalities who shape the future of the „New Economy“. In 1999 Peter Jungen was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz) by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
He was vice chairman of the German Machinery and Plant Manufacturers‘ Association (VDMA) and a member of the presidency of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).
He is Founder President of Business Angels Netzwerk Deutschland (BAND) and President of European Business Angels Network (EBAN) (2001-2004).
He is a Partner of the Halo Fund, Palo Alto.
He is a chairman or board member of several companies and institutions, i. e. New York Philharmonic New York City, International Angelinvestors.org, Palo Alto, Idealo Internet GmbH, Berlin (Chairman), Flossbach & von Storch, Vermögensmanagement AG, Köln.
He is chairman or member of several advisory councils: i. e. Deutsche Bank AG, Ost, Frankfurt / Berlin (Chairman); AXA Colonia Konzern AG, Köln; Pipeline Engineering Consulting GmbH, Berlin; New Atlantic Initiative, Washington.
He is a member of the International Advisory Board, Columbia University, New York and a member of the International Josef Schumpeter Society.
In September 2000 the leading German business magazine „Wirtschaftswoche“ named Peter Jungen one of the 100 most important personalities who shape the future of the „New Economy“ in Germany (New Economy Top 100).
In August 1999 Peter Jungen was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
is Director of the Southeast Europe office of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, a non-profit organisation that promotes liberal values, rule of law, and economic freedom. Providing policy consultations and educational programs, the Foundation is active in more than 60 countries.
Having worked previously for the Foundation in Germany, India, and Russia, Daniel Kaddik is actively involved promoting entrepreneurship and personal and political responsibility. His main interest lay in the field of liberal policy solutions, economics and social sciences as well as entrepreneurship and citizen participation in governance.
He received degrees in Governmental Studies from the University of Erfurt, European Studies from the University of Hamburg, and International Studies from the University of Birmingham.
is the program director at Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses (ISSP), first economic think tank in Montenegro. She is also assistant professor at Faculty for International Economics, Finance and Business of the University UDG, Podgorica, Montenegro. From 2010 she holds a doctorate in economics. She managed implementation of more then 50 projects in the area of macroeconomic, statistics, econometrics, economic and social policy analyses and sectorial policies.
Othmar Karas is the former Secretary General of the ÖVP (Austrian’s People Party) and former member of the Austrian National Parliament. He is a member of the European Parliament since 1999 and from 2012 to 2014 he was the Vice President of the European Parliament. Since July 2014 he is Chair of the inter- parliamentary Delegation on the Relations between the European Union and Russia. Karas studied Political Science at the University of Vienna and European and International Business Law at the University of St. Gallen. Since 2013 he is a Honorary Professor at the Danube University Krems.
After studies of law, economics and sport science Axel Kassegger started his carreer as a consultant and lecturer. Besides several political engagements – he is a member of the Austrian Parliament and member of the board of the Freedom Party – his entrepreneurial activities are various, e.g. managing partner at bloomix GmbH and he serves as a member of advisory boards e.g. Steirischer Verkehrsbund Gesellschaft m.b.H, Holding Graz – Kommunale Dienstleistungen GmbH.
Manfred Kastner is founder and President of Vision Microfinance Fund which started 2005 and has become one of the 10 largest microfinance funds worldwide. Manfred Kastner served as the Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of C.A.T. Oil AG of Vienna, Austria, 2005-2015 and managed inter alia the very successful IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2006. He is an active investor and partner in Pipeline Sales (CRM) and various start-ups such as Xarion ( disruptive laser technology) Phase6 (education technology for languages), Alphary (adaptive learning technology for English), Production Paradise (leading high end photographers` website).
is professor at University of Donja Gorica and President of the Board of Directors of the Societe Generale Montenegro Bank. After 4 years that he worked in first economic think thank in Montenegro – The Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses, he served as Deputy Minister of Finance (2004-2010), Minister of Finance (2010-2012), and Advisor of the Prime Minister for Economy and Finance (2012 – 2014). During his career he was a member of the Board of Directors od the Podgoricka Bank (2005), a member of the Administrative Council of the Development Bank of the Council of Europe (2006-2008), Governor at World Bank and EBRD and member of the Council for financial stability of Montenegro (2010-2012).
Mr. Katnic was involved in the design and implementation of numerous important national and international projects and he is the author of numerous publications and papers. He was lecturer at prestigious foreign universities such as George Washington, Elliot School of International Affair and Harvard. He is member of the Mont Pelerin Society.
served in the White House as speechwriter to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and as Assistant Director of the White House Outreach Working Group on Central America.
A presidential commissioner for the Honduran “ZEDE” development zones initiative, Mr. Klugmann is Co-Chairman of the international board that is the governing authority for the zones, having been appointed by the President of Honduras and confirmed by the National Congress.
Mr. Klugmann has advised seven democratically-elected Presidents outside the United States and has helped governments to design and win approval of multiple financial, regulatory and infrastructure reforms. He has given expert testimony before legislative committees of four countries, including the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.
An innovator in reform zones, in 1999-2000 Mr. Klugmann originated the LEAP Zones policy framework (see, www.leapzones.org) that uses “institutional leapfrogging” to create highly competitive special Legal, Economic, Administrative, Political jurisdictions. He first proposed this reform in Honduras to Porfirio Lobo, six years before helping him to be elected president. He was a co-drafter of the Organic Law for the Honduran special zones, and advised the government of former Soviet Georgia on the creation of special zones.
An expert advisor on helping governments achieve difficult reforms, Mr. Klugmann is the creator of unique methodologies that accelerate the successful implementation of change and deliver effective public/political communications to resolve obstacles. He counsels governments on strategy and advises candidates and enterprises on their public campaigns.
He served as founding Director of Jose Pinera’s International Center for Pension Reform, and collaborated with former President of Spain Jose Maria Aznar as Strategic Advisor in the creation of the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index. He is Visiting Professor at Universidad Francisco Marroquin.
He has lectured on public policy in over 30 countries and at numerous institutions, including Harvard University’s Kennedy School, the World Bank, the Camara de Comercio de Lima, the American-Swiss Foundation, the Global Financial Summit (Nassau), the Antigua Forum, the Free University of Tbilisi, the Catholic University of Chile, the World Congress of the International Public Relations Association, FEDEPRICAP, the Consejo Empresarial de America Latina, Mont Pelerin Society (Hong Kong) and events in more than twenty European cities on the Free Market Road Show.
Mr. Klugmann has appeared in many international media, including the BBC, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, Time magazine, CNN en Espanol, and been cited in several books including “Inside the National Security Council” (Simon & Schuster) and the business bestseller “The New Maxi-Marketing” (McGraw-Hill). A former television producer and editorial writer, he has been invited to join Forbes.com as an opinion columnist.
Gaspard Koenig was born in 1982. After graduating in philosophy (Ecole Normale Supérieure, Agrégation) he went on to teach at the University of Lille III. Gaspard then became Christine Lagarde’s speechwriter when she was France’s Finance Minister. In 2009, he joined an international development Bank in London. He launched GenerationLibre in april 2013. He is a published author and appears regularly in the media.
President of the Friedrich A. v. Hayek Institute in Vienna, Austria and Director of the Austrian Economics Center. Being a worldwide networker she uses these abilities to promote free market policies; in addition she is a frequent speaker on public policy related issues, especially on deregulation and competition topics, the Future of Europe and Austrian Economics.
Barbara Kolm is an Associate Professor of Austrian Economics at the University of Donja Gorica, Montenegro and a member of the Board of Business Consultants of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and a Member of the Mont Pélerin Society. She is President of the European Center for Economic Growth.
Chief Economist at Roklen Financial Group, Lecturer at Prague University of Economics and CEVRO Institute, Member of the Management Board of Prague Twenty. Since 2007, he has been cooperating with the Czech magazine ‘Tyden’, firstly as an economic correspondent, later on as an economic analyst. In 2012, he was the Chief Editor of another economic magazine ‘Profit’. He also cooperated with the newspaper ‘Lidove noviny’ as a main analyst and commentator. Since 2014, he has assumed the post of an Economic Expert at the ‘Platform for Internet Economy’. He is an author of numerous economic books and articles. He has published, since 2007, more than one hundred personal interviews with leading global financiers and economists, including a number of Nobel laureates in economics. Mr. Kovanda currently belongs amongst the most frequently quoted economists in Czech media.
assistant professor in Institute of Political Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences, political scientist, historian, columnist, expert on eastern policy, co-founder of the Museum of the Warsaw Rising in Warsaw. 2009-2014 – member of the European Parliament, Chairman of UE delegation to EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Commission and of Foreign Affairs Committee. He was a member of National Security Council, 2007-2009 – member of Parliament (Sejm), 2006-2007 – Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Author of numerous publications on the transformation processes in Central Europe. He is a member of the editorial board of the bi-monthly “New Eastern Europe” and member of the board of Platform of European Memory and Conscience and the Board of the Jan Nowak-Jeziorański’s College of Eastern Europe (Kolegium Europy Wschodniej) in Wroclaw.
Now he is working on Wojciech Jaruzelski biography and on monograph on the role of the oligarchy in Ukraine.
is entrepreneur, politican and vice president of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. He is member of several advisary and executive boards. Since 1980 he is managing the hotel business of his family in Bad Kleinkirchheim where he also serves as a mayor since 1997. During his career Krenn served in several political functions (e.g. member of the Austrian Federal Council, of the regional Parliament of Carinthia), multiple functions at the Chamber of Commerce and also served as president and member of the board for e.g. Bergbahnen Bad Kleinkirchheim GmbH and airport Klagenfurt. Since 2014 Krenn is the chairman of the RfW Austria (association of libertarian entrepreneurs).
Dr. Ruperta Lichtenecker is spokeswoman for economics, scientific research, technology, and innovation of the Austrian Green Party. Since 2006 she is a member of the Austrian Parliament and chairwoman of the committee for scientific research, innovation, and technology.
Her main concerns are economic and location policy, as well as research and innovation policy. As an experienced economist, Dr. Lichtenecker is also involved in the investigative committee on the Hypo Alpe Adria-affair.
Cryptoanarchist and voluntaryist focused on technology and society hacking. Owner of IT security company Nethemba s.r.o. , cofounder of Progressbar in Bratislava and Parallel Polis hackerspace in Prague. He gained his BSc. at the FEI-STU in Bratislava and MSc in Computer Science at the Czech Technical University with master thesis focused on ultra-secure systems. He holds many prestigious security certifications including CISSP and CEH, he is Slovak OWASP chapter leader, co-founder of Progressbar and SOIT organizations where he is responsible for IT security.Pavol uses to have regular presentations at various worldwide security conferences (in Netherlands, Luxembourg, Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow, Prague). He has 14 years experience in IT security, penetration testing and security auditing including social engineering and digital forensic analysis.
Is a Senior Fellow at the KPF. He received his Doctor of the Science of Law (JSD) from Stanford Law School in July 2008, and is currently Assistant Professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy and Head of Political Development at the International Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT), The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
Between May 2009 and May 2011 Dr. Magen was Director of the Institute for Democracy, Law and Diplomacy, and Associate Fellow at the Shalem Center, Jerusalem. Between 2005 and 2009, He was a Lecturer in Law, Stanford Law School, and a Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), Freeman-Spogli Institute (FSI), Stanford University.
In 2008 Amichai Magen became the first Israeli to win the prestigious National Fellow Award at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. In 2002 he received the Yitzhak Rabin Fulbright Award.
Dr. Magen has published extensively in leading journals in the fields of Law, International Relations, and Comparative Politics. His current academic work focuses on democracy, the rule of law, and responsible sovereignty; political, legal, and institutional challenges in asymmetric warfare; as well as the growing challenge of weak and failed states in the Middle East, and their implications for Israel’s security.
Amichai Magen is a Lieutenant in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and lives in Jerusalem. In 2010 he was elected Member of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Executive Committee in recognition of his outstanding public diplomacy work on behalf of Israel and the Jewish People. He is a regular commentator for Israeli and international newspapers, radio, and television.
Ron Manners is the Managing Director of the Mannwest Group. He is also Emeritus Chairman of the Australian Mining Hall of Fame Ltd. He is a Fellow of both the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and his contributions to industry and Australia have been marked by several awards including being elected as a “Mining Legend” at the 2005 Excellence in Mining & Exploration Conference in Sydney. In 2010 Ron was appointed to the Board of Overseers for the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Washington, DC.
Ron was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, to a family that had a long association with the mining town. A fourth generation prospector, Manners studied electrical engineering at the Kalgoorlie School of Mines before he assumed management of the family mining/engineering business, W.G. Manners & Co. (originally established in 1895) in 1955. He expanded and diversified the company which has evolved to become the Mannwest Group.
Between 1972 and 1995 Ron floated several Australian listed mining companies, one of which became Australia’s third largest gold producer, before joining the board of a Canadian company with operations in Mexico, Brazil and Turkey. In addition to his mining interests, Ron has pursued an interest in economic education, establishing the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation in 1997. He is an life member of the Mont Pelerin Society and is on the coordinating Committee for the Commonwealth Study Conference. Ron is also the author and editor of four books – So I Headed West, Kanowna’s Barrowman – James Balzano, Never a Dull Moment and Heroic Misadventures: Australia; Four Decades – Full Circle – as well as numerous papers and addresses.
Dr. Adam Martin is an Assistant Professor of Economics in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University. Prior to joining Texas Tech University, he was a Lecturer in Political Economy at King’s College London. Adam has also served as a post-doctoral fellow at the Development Research Institute at New York University . Dr. Martin’s research interests focus on the intersection of philosophy, politics and economics and include Austrian economics, economic methodology, economic development and public choice. In addition to advancing his scholarly research program, Dr. Martin serves as a member of the Board of Scholars for the Foundation for Economic Education, and is a judge for the Carl Menger Essay Contest for the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, an undergraduate essay competition he co-founded.
born on 8 June 1959 in Vienna, is member of the Austrian Parliament. Since 2000 Dr. Matznetter is Party Cashier and board member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). Furthermore, he is chartered accountant and director of Merkur-Treuhand Wirtschaftstreuhand- und Steuerberatungsges.m.b.H since 1985.
From November 2002 to January 2007 he was a member of Parliament and speaker for Financial and Budget Affairs of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Fraction. Since June 2005 he is president of the Social Democratic Association for Enterprises and Entrepreneurs. His service in parliament was interrupted by a brief tenure from 2007 to 2008 as State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance during government of Alfred Gusenbauer as Federal Chancellor of Austria. Christoph Matznetter returned as member and speaker for Economic Affairs of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Fraction in the Austrian Parliament. Since January 2009 he is also vice-president of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber.
teaches economics, history, English, and communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A well-known economist and historian and rhetorician, she has written sixteen books and around 400 scholarly pieces on topics ranging from technical economics and statistics to transgender advocacy and the ethics of the bourgeois virtues. Her latest book, Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World (University of Chicago Press, 2010), is the second in a series of four on The Bourgeois Era. With Stephen Ziliak she wrote in 2008, The Cult of Statistical Significance (2008), which criticizes the proliferation of tests of “significance.”
Dan Mitchell is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. He is one of the nation’s experts on fiscal policy, particularly tax reform, the economic burden of government spending, and tax competition. He’s been published in dozens of outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Journal of Regulation and Social Cost, Emory Law Journal, Forbes, USA Today, Offshore Investment, and Playboy and has appeared on all the major networks, including CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and C-SPAN. Dan earned a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University and undergraduate and Masters degrees from the University of Georgia.
is international programs manager at Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) and Executive Director of Property Rights Alliance (PRA) an advocacy group affiliated to ATR for the protection of physical and intellectual property rights, both domestically and internationally. As international programs manager works to promote the coalition building among international free-market and taxpayer groups. While as Property Rights Alliance, he is in charge of publishing the International Property Rights Index, an international comparative study focus on intellectual and physical property rights. Previously, he worked for a public affairs firm in Washington, DC and as a political analyst and electoral observer in Latin America. Lorenzo holds an BA in Political Science and in International Relations from the University of Bologna and MA in Political Management from the George Washington University.
Industrial engineer in ETSEIB (Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyers Industrials de Barcelona (1972)), has developed his career in several manager position in different companies in the field of logistic, iron and steel distribution, building materials and industrial production.
Had been president of Tecnifuego-Aespi a professional association and consultant of the Barcelona chamber of commerce and active member of European technical institutions. Actually is technical and business consultant in many companies and institutions.
In 1989 Manfred Moschner founded „ACS Moschner & Co GmbH“, an independent and qualified counsulting-company specialized in Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A).
He studied Law at the University of Vienna and Commercial Science at the “Wirtschaftsuniversität” in Vienna. Moschner worked at the “Genossenschaftliche Zentralbank” where build up the sector “International Bank Guarantees” and the department for Merchant Banking. He also build up the M&A-department at the “CA-3 Banken Beteiligungsfonds AG”.
Since 1986 he is the author of the official report on the Austrian M&A-market which is published in the Austrian Bank-Archive.
was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1983. In 2009 graduated in history and philosophy (University of Ljubljana). Continued studies at Central European University (Budapest) earning the degree Master of Arts in Comparative History of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe in 2010. Currently enrolled at the Central European University as a PhD student in History. His research interests include (but are not limited to) late 19th, early 20th century political and intellectual history of Central Europe, especially in regard to the organized liberalism.
is an associate professor in the Department of International Business and Economics, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest. He teaches Business-Government Relations, Corporate Governance and International Relations. He is interested in law and economics, both at business level but also at policy level, and in what could be termed comparative political entrepreneurship (and its impact on national wealth creation and the international redistribution of prosperity). He is also focused on the study of war and conflict, with a particular interest in insurgency and intelligence.
17 years ago Marko Musulin established DALE as a multiple client family office. Today DALE advises and manages approx.. EUR 1,5 billion, mostly for Austrian families. In 2009 the Oetker family, represented through its banking arm, Bankhaus Lampe, took a majority stake in DALE.
Marko Musulin graduated from the University of Vienna with a Doctorate in Law. In 1973, he joined Creditanstalt-Bankverein. In the late 70ies he was seconded to European Banking Company in London. In the early 80ies he established Creditanstalt ́s US Operations, which he managed until 1988.
From 1988 to 1995 he was responsible for Creditanstalt ́s worldwide securities and investment banking operations, and finally became CEO of Creditanstalt Investment Bank, the largest investment banking operation in Central and Eastern Europe during his tenure. When Bank Austria took over Creditanstalt in 1997, Musulin founded DALE, which he runs today with his two partners Anton Fink and Josef Reiter.
After many failed tries to reincarnate as a child of a caring family, he finally succeeded, and was born in ’87, in Thessaloniki, Greece. During his early age, he was a student in the American School of Thessaloniki, Anatolia. Later on, he studied in the University of Macedonia, and got his bachelor degree in the department of Business Administration, which he was able to put to good use, due to the fact that the family was already running a business, Alumil Group, a worldwide system supplier for doors and windows. He’s been working in that company ever since, and in the recent past, he’s been leading a sales’ team that coordinates the sales’ activities of the whole Group.
Co-founder and co-CEO of “Freebee” – the largest digital loyalty platform in Poland, with Grupa Cyfrowy Polsat as main investor. Also CEO and founder of “Voda Naturalna”, Poland’s first bottled water brand in the super premium and functional water segments. Supervisory board member of several businesses within the family-owned Curtis Group (real estate, pharmaceutical, aviation and hospitality industries).
Polish-American national, born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Studied Theater Directing at the UCLA School of Film, Theater & Television. Also studied Film Directing at the North Carolina School of Filmmaking and Business Administration at Ohio University.
“Meet your future self” is the motto of his EdTech company, which allows thousands of students make conscious once-in-a-lifetime career & academic decisions. Yiorgos is the founder and CEO of 100mentors. With 100mentors he won the London Business School Founder Award, the Deloitte Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Prize in London, two Startup Weekend competitions and many other distinctions, but first and foremost, rewarding service reviews by hundreds of satisfied young users. Before Education & Entrepreneurship, Yiorgos worked in Mergers & Acquisitions for energy and infrastructure projects in the US, Spain, UK and in Finance and Logistics positions in the US, China and Greece. He studied in AUEB, Ohio State University and Columbia University, where he served as a fellow at the Columbia European Institute. While studying in the US, he founded and run NHSA (the National Hellenic Student Association) an academic association with 4000 members in 70 chapters across US & Canada. Yiorgos is the recipient of scholarships and fellowships from10 institutions, like the Propondis Foundation, the State Scholarships Foundation and the Fulbright Foundation.
Born in 1985, he started his carrier in Hamé, giant food group in South Moravia that was owned by his father at that time. He studied University of Warwick and holds degree in Economics and Finance. Leoš Novotný subsequently worked in investment banking – accepted an offer to work in a team Financial Sponsors led by Peter Köhler in Vienna Raiffeisen Investment. Here he worked on transactions with major European and global private equity funds and institutional investors in Central and Eastern Europe. He founded the company Aakon Capital and in the first two years of existence the company has invested nearly 2 billion CZK in several private equity projects. In 2010 he founded the new railway carrier LEO Express, most visible public investment of the Aakon Capital in the Czech Republic. LEO Express is part of LEO TRANSPORT, which now consists of a group of companies operating in the rail industry and transportation.
holds the position of Vice President at the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) as well as he manages public affairs’ and lobbing activities of the organization. ZPP is an employers’ organization representing the interests of SMEs in Poland. Marcin is also a director for international relations at the Warsaw Enterprise Institute (WEI). Apart of his work for ZPP and WEI, Marcin is an entrepreneur involved in various sectors. For last few years he was very active in healthcare services being focused on development of teleradiology business and new investments in the fields of radiology.
Before joining the ZPP and WEI, Marcin was working in the area of attracting and managing direct investments. As an investment development director at Lodz Special Economic Zone as well as an enterprise director in the Region of Lodz, he has been involved in the management of more than 40 investment projects.
Marcin Nowacki graduated with the master degree in international relations at the University of Lodz, Poland.
Co-founder of Liberal Institute for Policy Research. He Has served as an economic adviser to different politicians in Albania and Kosovo. He is currently serving as an advisor in the cabinet of the Prime Minister of Kosovo and a PhD candidate at University College London.
Adisa Omerbegovic Arapovic, holds a Ph.D. from University Malaya, Malaysia in the field of international macroeconomics and finance. Currently she holds the position of the Dean of the Economics Faculty at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology. Current resarch and publications of Dr. Omerbegovic are in the field of international macroeconomics and finance. Her interest extends to political economy, economic systems and political party profilation according to economic ideology.
is a lawyer, LLM. He currently holds the position of the International Relations Manager of the Greek political party “Drassi” and he is the local coordinator of “Students for Liberty-Greece.
began her entrepreneurial career at the age of 23 by building a large-scale operations consulting firm which she sold to a Fortune 1000 firm. Currently she is CEO of BFG Management Company LLC, a management investment firm. Ms. Pejovich serves on several boards, including Friends of the Austrian Economics Center Inc., and has chaired numerous events for nonprofit organizations.
Ms. Pejovich has received four gubernatorial appointments and currently serves on the Board of Regents of the University of Texas System, one of the largest public university systems in the United States. With nine academic universities, six health institutions and a fall 2012 enrollment of roughly 216,000, the UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public universities in Texas. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $13.9 billion (FY 2013) including $3.1 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources, and with more than 87,000 employees, is one of the largest employers in the state.
is a serial entrepreneur. He has founded and is actively involved in a number of companies – Walltopia, Auxionize, Adventure Facility Concept and Management, Extrapack, HRT, CompositeX, Quantacea, Civilia Properties. The best-known among them is Walltopia – world number one manufacturer of artificial climbing walls and example of a Bulgarian company that sets the standards for an entire industry. The company has been founded in 1998 an to date has successfully build projects in 50 countries on 6 continents.
The corporate culture Ivaylo stands for is very entrepreneurial, striving at developing his management team of decision makers to have high level of responsibility and proactiveness.
Ivaylo has studied Physics at the Sofia University “Kliment Ohridski”. He speaks Russian and English.
studied at the University of Economics of Vienna and at the University of St. Gallen. Since 1992 Meinhard Platzer is working in the banking industry in the fields of Wealth Management and Corporate Finance: Salomon Brothers Ltd., Investmentbank Austria AG, UBS AG. Since 2006 he is the chairman of the LGT Bank (Austria) AG.
Julio Pomés is president and founder of Civismo, a Spanish think tank dedicated to the analysis of public policies and promotion of economic and individual freedom. Head of Expectativas’ Magazine, a quarterly publication focused on the analysis of socioeconomic trends, he is also a columnist for ABC, other twelve regional newspapers from Vocento Group and Diario de Navarra newspaper. Until 2002 he was Chemistry Professor at the Public University of Navarra and between 2002 and 2011 he was a weekly columnist at Expansión. PhD in Science and Economics, he also has a Senior Management degree by the IESE Business School.
is the Director of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University and a Visiting Professor in the Rawls College of Business. He is the North American Editor of the Review of Austrian Economics, past President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education, and a senior fellow with the Independent Institute. He earned his B.S. in economics and finance from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.
Professor Powell is the editor of Making Poor Nations Rich: Entrepreneurship and the Process of Development (Stanford University Press: 2008) and co-editor of Housing America: Building Out of a Crisis (Transaction: 2009). He is author of more than 50 scholarly articles and policy studies. His primary fields of research are economic development, Austrian economics, and public choice. Dr. Powell’s research findings have been reported in more than 100 popular press outlets including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He also writes frequently for the popular press. His popular writing has appeared in the Investor’s Business Daily, the Financial Times (London), the Christian Science Monitor, and many regional outlets. He has appeared on numerous radio and television shows including, CNN, MSNBC, Showtime, CNBC, and he was a regular guest commentator on Fox Business’s Freedom Watch.
HSH Prince Michael of Liechtenstein studied commerce at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and consolidated his studies by assignments for the banking and industrial sectors in Belgium, Canada and the USA. From 1978 to 1987 he worked for Nestlé SA in the fields of controlling, management and marketing on various markets in Europe and Africa. In 1987 he took over the management of Industrie- und Finanzkontor in Vaduz, Liechtenstein an international advisory and fiduciary trust company, where he now holds the position of president. He is founder and chairman of Geopolitical Information Service AG, as well as president of the think tank ECAEF (European Centre of Austrian Economics Foundation), based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
is a consultant, specialized in Corporate Finance, enhancement of productivity and restructuring. He has developed a crowdinvesting tool for small and medium-sized enterprises, has worked on optimizing participation right models and is member of the board of several Austrian foundations. 20 years of experience in accounting, controlling and revision of stock-listed industry are basis for his engagement in several committees and commissions. Pröglhöf also is supporting entrepreneural education by involving students to general shareholders meetings of stock-listed companies.
Richard W. Rahn is a senior fellow of the Cato Institute, the Chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth, and a syndicated economic columnist. He serves on the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review. Previously, Dr. Rahn was a member of the Board of the Cayman Island Monetary Authority and Vice President and Chief Economist of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. He was the founder of the Novecon companies, including Sterling Semiconductor. Dr. Rahn testified before the U.S. Congress on economic issues more than seventy-five times, and is a frequent commentator on radio and TV. He served as an economic advisor to numerous high-level government officials around the world, including former President George H.W. Bush, and as the co-chairman of the Bulgarian Economic Growth and Transition Project. He holds Ph.D. from Columbia University, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by Pepperdine University.
Professor Rallo holds a Ph.D. in Economics, a law degree from Universidad de Valencia, and a master’s degree in Austrian School Economics from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid). Director at Instituto Juan de Mariana, Mr Rallo teaches various classes on Economics and Finance at OMMA and ISEAD. He is also the economic analyst at esRadio.
In 2011 professor Rallo received the Julián Marías Award for outstanding achievement in the field of social sciences. He is the coauthor of Study of the effects on employment of public aid to renewable energy sources and has written numerous books, among which Una crisis y cinco errores, Crónicas de la Gran Recesión (2007-2009), El liberalismo no es pecado, Los errores de la vieja Economía and Una alternativa liberal para salir de la crisis.
Aleš Rod works as director of the Centre for Economic and Market Analyses, Prague, Czech Republic. He finishes his Ph.D. studies at University of Economics in Prague (field: Economic Theories), where he has already got his Bachelor degree (field: Regional Economics) and Master degree (field: Economics and Economic Policy) and where he teaches several courses in the field of economics. Apart from academia, his work experiences consist of a private sector track record (esp. banking & consulting), a public sector track record (The Government’s National Economic Council) and NGOs (CAO at Liberal Institute, one of the most respected think-tanks in the central Europe). He participates in conferences and publishes texts in both international and Czech journals and other media. His research deals with the principles and the effects of regulation, with the influence of instruments of fiscal policy on public finance, analysis of the shadow economy and research in areas of banking and economics of luxury.
is CEO of the Secular Policy Institute, an international coalition based in Washington, DC. She received her BS in Corporate Finance from the University of Alabama and a JD from Catholic University in Washington, DC. Edwina worked on International Trade matters for President George H. Bush at the Department of Commerce from 1989 until 1991. She was an Economic Advisor for President George W. Bush at the White House during 2001 and 2002 at the National Economic Council. She also worked for four Republican Senators and served as the General Counsel for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Der erfahrene Unternehmer und Gastronom ist NEOS-Sprecher der Bereiche Wirtschaft, Landwirtschaft, Energie und Tourismus. Sepp Schellhorn ist Arbeitgeber von etwa 120 Mitarbeitern in 5 Betrieben – neben dem Hotel Der Seehof in Goldegg betreibt er noch das Restaurant M32 in Salzburg und drei Skihütten im Gasteinertal. Im Parlament setzt sich der Salzburger besonders für eine Stärkung von Klein- und Mittelbetrieben in Österreich ein. Sein Standpunkt: Unternehmertum muss in Österreich wieder gefördert werden unter dem Motto weniger Bürokratie / Belastung- einfacher- gerechter.
Chief economist of the Swiss Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises SGV (Switzerland), he is also a professor of International Economics at the University of Bern; he is an expert in Asian economie.
was born in on the sixth of June in 1996 in the city of Bamberg, Germany. He eventually went to Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, and got his Magister while studying the science of communications, science of politics and science of psychology. He ultimately got his doctorate in phil. Dr. Ralf has had a number of different positions in his life. 1982 – 1985 he was head of media department in the Hanns-Seidel-Foundation, Munich. 1985 – 1987 he was the CEO of MAZ-Productions, Munich. Since 1987 he has been working as a media consultant, coach, author, director and media producer in Munich. Since 2002 he has been working as a senior consultant in media for clients in Europe.
Jiří Schwarz (1960) is economist by profession focused on economics of regulation, economics of politics, and economics of transition from a command economy. He received his Ph.D in economics from the University of Economics in Prague. He authored numerous articles and two books: In Plea for a Liberal Order (2003) and In Plea for a Real Transition (2004).He is a chairman of CETA – Center of Economic and Market Analysis and a founder of the Liberalni Institut and its first President (1990-2005). He served a Dean of Faculty of Economics and Public Administration at the University of Economics, Prague (2003 to 2010) and served a member of the National Economic Council (NERV) of the Czech Republic (2009-2013). Since 2005 he has been a member of the board of trustees of L´Institute de Recherches Economiques et Fiscales (IREF) and since 2010 he has been a member of the board of directors of the Mont Pelerin Society.
Kathleen Sheehan is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Free Market Institute. She earned a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Capital University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from West Virginia University. Her research interests include institutional analysis, public economics, and economic development. In particular, her research examines the origins of economic freedom and how globalization and technology affect governance and institutions. Dr. Sheehan has published inContemporary Economic Policy and European Journal of Political Economy. She was an Adam Smith Fellow and a Visiting Dissertation Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and was the W. Marston and Katharine B. Becker Doctoral Fellow at West Virginia University. For more information about Dr. Sheehan, please visit www.kathleenmsheehan.com.
Alexander Skouras is a Greek-American free-market advocate and a political manager. He has held important positions in national electoral campaigns in Greece and a Republican Presidential Primary campaign in the US. He serves as the Associate Director of Institute Relations and connects partner organizations with Atlas Network programs. He is also leading a project that aims to strengthen the pro-liberty movement in Greece, manages the Global Outreach social media campaigns, and cultivates network relations. Alexander has studied Marketing at the American College of Greece and Political Management at the George Washington University. He lives in Arlington, VA, with his wife, Stella.
is a philosopher and economist. He is head of the EDMC Workforce Team, CEO of KC 2 Ltd. (www.kc-2.org) and assistant professor at Sofia University. He is also Board Chairman, Founder and former Executive Director of IME (www.ime.bg) the first Bulgaria’s independent and free market think thank (1993), former member and committee chairman of the Constitutional Assembly (1990 – 1991), one of the most quoted Bulgarian observers, best country analyst award for 1996 by Euromoney, as well as laureate of Bulgaria Government Prize – 2002, Templeton – 2006 – as IME Director, and Georgi Vassilev’s Fund for Contribution on the Spirit of Liberty – 2006. He was a principle drafter of a number of reforms from central planning to market economy and is one of the leaders of those reforms. His expertise is in economic and regulatory policies conducive to private sector growth in New Europe and Former Soviet Union, and in relation between post – Communist economies and countries, and their position vis-a-vis EU and US. Krassen Stanchev leads, led or was involved in initiatives related to market oriented and democratic reforms in other countries, Balkans and Former Soviet Union. Since end-1990s he worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgizstan and Tajikistan), Caucasus (Armenia and Georgia), and Russia.
is a Senior Fellow at the Visio Institute and a business journalist for Večer, a Slovenian daily newspaper. In addition. Jure attended many Liberty Fund conferences in Europe. An advocate of economic freedom, Jure is covering
topics in European macroeconomy and the Slovene business environment. Jure holds a doctorate in economic history from St Antony’s College, University of Oxford.
He studied the political economy of regulatory reform in 20th-century Britain, with a focus on how the growth of the welfare state and the rise of new business models influenced the market for healthcare. His research included a case study
on the British Health Freedom League, a grass-roots movement of the 1940s that tried, unsuccessfully, to block the emergence of a State-operated, monopolistic National Health Service (the NHS).
earned his doctorate in economics from George Mason University in 2002. He is past president of the Association of Private Enterprise Education, editor of the Journal of Private Enterprise, editor of two books, and author of more than three dozen refereed journal articles and a book entitled Private Governance to be published by Oxford University Press. Stringham is endowed chair for the L.V. Hackley Foundation for the Study of Capitalism and Free Enterprise at Fayetteville State University, North Carolina, United States.
Tanja Štumberger Porčnik is the founder and president of Svetilnik. She is also an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC, USA. In 2008, Štumberger Porčnik envisioned and launched Svetilnik’s Liberty Seminars, and has been its executive director ever since. She serves on the Globalization Institute scientific board, Poland and The Fund for American Studies alumni council, USA. Between 2012 and 2013, Štumberger Porčnik was a senior fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. In 2012, she was a teaching fellow at Georgetown University – The Fund for American Studies program in Prague, Czech Republic. Between 2006 and 2011, Štumberger Porčnik was both research associate and manager of external relations at the Cato Institute. As an undergraduate, she studied Applied Economics at both University of Maribor, Slovenia, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. Štumberger Porčnik did her graduate studies in American Political Thought at both the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Georgetown University, USA.
MSc in Economics and sociology (Corvinus University of Budapest), PhD in Political Sciences (CEU). Strategic Director of HETFA Research Institute. He works as policy advisor and researcher since 1994 and frequently teaches courses at Rajk and Széchenyi colleges. He was Head of Unit for Evaluation and Analysis at the National Development Agency (2003-06), Chief of Staff for the State Minister responsible for economic strategy (2010-12). He is the founder of HETFA, permanent professor of Rajk College for Advanced Studies. His main fields of expertise and research are policy analysis, institutional economics,and competitiveness.
Marek Tatala is Executive Board member and economist at the Civil Development Forum (FOR Foundation) in Warsaw, Poland. He received his BSc in economics and politics from the University of Bristol in England and MA in economics from the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland, where he is currently a PhD student. During his studies he served as the Vice-President of the Law and Economics Students’ Association (Warsaw) and President of the Polish Society (Bristol). In 2013 he completed the CPPR-ACE Winter School in Public Policy Research Methods in India and the Think Tank MBA program organized by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. He is the graduate of the Atlas Leadership Academy.
He is a former consultant (Roland Berger and Bluecap) and investment banking (Atlas Capital Close Brothers), and he is interested in banking, finance, economics and investments. he writes regularly about financial markets, global economy and China in InBestia, ElEconomista and Libremercado among others.
He is the author of “El despertar de China” (‘The Awakening of China’) published in Spain in 2013 by the IEE (Instituto de Estudios Económicos). The book summarized the key milestones and elements in order to approach China.
Currently he is an advisor of the Dialogue with China Project, faculty member of Cátedra China and a member of the Board of Directors of Winche Redes Comerciales.
Specialties: Strategy, Banking, Financial Markets, Value investment, Economics, Emerging Markets, China.
is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki were he teaches economics, advanced macroeconomics at the undergraduate level and economics of innovation at the graduate level. His research interests are in the fields of European Integration, Industrial and Technology Policy, and Multinational Firms. He has published articles in scientific journals on topics such technological development, regional knowledge diffusion, entrepreneurship development, and foreign direct investment. He has presented many papers in international conferences. He has served as referee for many international journals and international organizations. He served as National Expert for the Directorates General II and XV of the Commission of the EU and research project evaluator for the EU, the Swiss Research Organization and the Georgia research Organization. He was visiting scholar at the University of Alicante (Spain) and University of Copenhagen (Denmark). He has given many lectures and seminars, as invited speaker, for many institutions and universities. He directed the Laboratory of Economic Analysis and Policy from 2010 to 2014. He is vice rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki since 2014.
he holds a PhD in Law from the University of Vienna and a Masters in Economics from the University of Economis in Vienna. He is an Attorney-at-Law in Vienna and specializes in Business Law. In September 2013 he was elected as a member of the Austrian Parliament. Dr. Vetter wrote two Books (Die neue Macht der Aktionäre, 2005, Die daungegradete Republik, 2011). He is also a long-standing board member of the Hayek Institut .
Milica Vukotic received a BA in Economics from the University of Belgrade, and MA in International Economics, Finance and Business from the Brandeis University in Boston. She received her PhD in Economics from the University of Montenegro.
Presently she is Dean of the Faculty for Information Systems and Technologies at the University of Donja Gorica.
Milica Vukotic is a member of the Board of the Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services.
Furthermore, she is a member of the “Mont Pelerin Society”, a prestigious classical liberty society founded by Friedrich Hayek.
is Rector and Founder of University of Donja Gorica – UDG. He is also the Founder and the President of Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses – ISSP, Podgorica, first independent economic institute in Montenegro and senior research fellow at the Institute of Social Science in Belgrade, Serbia.
Professor Vukotic is creator of the idea and founder of internationally known and recognized Postgraduate Studies „Entrepreneurial Economics“, which operated at School of Economics of the University of Montenegro 1992-2007 and continued working within UDG. He is also the President of the Board of directors of vine company “Plantaze” – one of the best companies in Montenegro and the president of Society of Economists and Managers of Montenegro.
As one of the creators of first law on privatization in SFRY (Socialistic Federative Republic of Yugoslavia) he was Minister for privatization in the last Government of SFRY, which started economic reforms in the country in 1989. He is the author of the concept of economic reforms in Montenegro and actively took part in reforming processes in Montenegro;
He was one of the first members of Mont Pelerin Society from Eastern Europe and now he is a member of the Board of Mont Pelerin Society.
is a Senior Fellow and Honorary Director of The Fraser Institute and Chairman of the Fraser Institute Foundation. From its inception in 1974, until September 2005, Michael Walker directed the research activities of the Fraser Institute and for most of the period was its Chief Executive Officer. Before that he taught at Western University and Carleton Universoty and was employed at the Bank of Canada and the Federal Department of Finance. He received his Ph.D in Econometrics at the University of Western Ontario and has been awarded Honorary LLD and DSS degrees.
As an economist, he has authored and edited many books and articles on popular and technical economic issues. His principle concern as a Founder of the Fraser Institute has been to promote the examination and use of competitive markets as a method for enhancing human development. He has provided policy advice in this pursuit on 6 continents.
He is the co-founder, with Milton and Rose D. Friedman, of the Economic Freedom of the World project which is now a collaboration of institutes in 80 countries and produces the annual Economic Freedom of the World Index. The Index is one of the most widely cited such measures in the current academic literature.
He is a director of a number of firms and other enterprises, including: Mancal Corporation, The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, The Canadian Constitution Foundation, North Point School and the owner of the Walker Group of Companies. He was a founding Director of Sydney Research – a pioneer Canadian software company, an owner-Director of Mackenzie Fiemann Chemicals Ltd., a Director of Canaccord Financial, Loram Group of companies, Loram Maintenance of Way (US), Collingwood School and the Max Bell Foundation. He is past-Chairman of The Pacific Academy for Advanced Studies which hosts the annual meeting in Alamos, Mexico of the “Chicago Boys” who have been instrumental in the economic reform process in Latin America and elsewhere.
He is married and has two children and three grandchildren. His hobbies include windsurfing and tennis and he is a licensed pilot of both airplanes and seaplanes..
received a diploma in psychology at the University of Hamburg in 1966. After a one-year stay at Northwestern University (Illinois), he acquired his doctorate and venia legendi in political science at the University of Mannheim in 1971 and 1975. He was a professor of sociology at the University of Cologne from 1978 to 1997, and at the University of Bonn from 1997 until his retirement in 2004. Thereafter, he has devoted most of his time to study Austrian and Public Choice economics.
Mr Wiebogen previously headed the CEE Treasury operations in ten countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia e Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Malta) at Volksbank. During this period he was additionally mandated with several supervisory board functions.
In Montreal 2007 the Council of the international traders association ACI appointed Mr Wiebogen unanimously President of ACI The Financial Markets Association. He was reconfirmed in this post in 2010 in Sydney. After two terms in post the Council awarded him Honorary President ACI The Financial Markets Association in Berling 2014. He was a founding member of the Euribor ACI, a member of the Education team and a member of the Committee for Professionalism within ACI. Mr Wiebogen is also a Trustee of the ACI Foundation and was appointed Honorary President of the China Free Trade Union in 2014 in Beijing.
His manifold functions and background qualify him as a financial markets expert in many areas but also fitted him with excellent diplomatic skills when leading 65 different nations within ACI. In addition to his consulting and training, Mr Wiebogen has been a featured speaker for various conferences in the world, focusing on Treasury, market conditions and regulatory changes. He disposes of a large international network based on countless meetings with financial institutions, central banks and other regulatory bodies (IMF, FED, IIFM, BIS, DIFC, SAFE etc.).
Shari Williams has more than thirty years of experience as a professional in public policy, strategic planning, and state and federal political campaigns. Her expertise and passion is educating and training emerging free market public policy leaders to advance individual rights and the proper role of government. Her history is one of inspiring others to be in charge of their government and play meaningful roles.
Ms. Williams is nationally renowned as a consultant for a variety of high-profile public policy projects. A skilled campaign architect, she has a stellar record of election wins at the federal, state and legislative levels. She promotes national and international public policy as executive director for the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation and the Krieble Foundation. As a public policy entrepreneur she strives to develop new methods for engagement and persuasion.
Ms. Williams is building an Army for Freedom! She is the President of the Leadership Program of the Rockies. Leadership Program of the Rockies trains emerging influencers on the importance of individual rights, proper role of government, and being active and engaged citizens.
Shari Williams Political and Public Affairs Consulting, primarily translates ideas into action – which results in sound public policy, election victories and strong, informed leaders”.
started her career at the International Monetary Fund in Washington in 1980, where she focused on stabilization programs in Latin America. In 1991-93 she served as chief economic advisor to the government of Prime Minister Mitsotakis in Athens, and subsequently worked as a financial market analyst in London and Athens. After serving as a member of the board of the IMF in Washington in 2004-09, she worked as senior investment strategist and member of the advisory board of I.J. Partners in Geneva. She is now CEO of E.F. Consulting Ltd, an Athens-based advisory on Euro area economic and financial issues, and a senior scholar at the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and has taught economics at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Princeton. She has published several articles and papers on international economic and financial issues.
currently serves as President of Europa Institut – a Public Policy Think Tank, located in Austria.
He lectures internationally on economics, tax policy, the welfare state, catholic social teaching, christian anthropology – in short anything related to economics and ethics.
Today he is a Private Equity Investor, focussing on new technologies and financial institutions.
He served as Director for Private Wealth Management for Russia and Eastern Europe at Deutsche Bank Austria AG for 15 years and before that as a Project Manager – M&A in CEE for Raiffeisen Investment AG and Procurator at Raiffeisen Investment Ukraine.
He was the Federal Chairman of Young European Studentinitiative (JES) and PanEuropa Austria Youth Movement
In the 90s he worked in the US at The Leadership Institute and the US Congress
He holds a Master in Economics and Business Administration from the Vienna University of Economics and studied also in Toulon (France)
was professor for sociology at the University of the German Armed Forces (Universität der Bundeswehr) in Munich till 1992 and at the Dresden University of Techonology till 2011. He studied political economy, public finance, law, sociology and social psychology at the University of Cologne and at the Free University in Berlin. He held fellowships at the University of Essex, University of South Carolina and Yale University.
His most extensive publication “Political Violence, Crises, and Revolutions” was published in 2011. Zimmermann also is the co-editor of the most current handbook of sociology, “Concise Encyclopedia of Comparative Sociology”.
Since 2011 Ekkart Zimmermann teaches at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, at the “Hochschule für Politik” in Munich and at the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen.
Richard Zundritsch holds a Masters and PhD in Law from the University of Vienna. He is an Independent Financial Advisor based in Switzerland and specializes in Capital Markets, Wealth Management, Succession Planning and Venture Capital. Before founding his company he worked in International Corporate Finance for a number of global banks. Dr. Zundritsch is also a long-standing board member of the Austrian Economics Center and the Hayek Institut.
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