2018 Mont Pelerin Society General Meeting
Competition, Discovery, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Program Agenda

Sunday, September 30th

Registration
ExpoMeloneras
9:00 AM - 8:00 PM

Opening Reception

Welcome Cocktail
Pool Area, Baobab Hotel
6:30 - 7:00 PM

Buffet Dinner
Karisimbi Room, Baobab Hotel
7:00 - 8:30 PM

Open Bar
8:30 PM

Monday, October 1st

Registration
ExpoMeloneras
7:00 AM

Sponsored Breakfast
7:30 - 8:30 AM (RSVP)

A Freedom Movement that Wins
Presented by Atlas Network

Juan de Mariana Hall A

Come learn about exciting developments at Atlas Network and the implications they have for our broader cause. Atlas Network is the hub of a worldwide movement of civil society organizations devoted to classical liberal principles, and its partners are increasingly achieving policy victories. Brad Lips (CEO) will explain how Atlas Network has seen big benefits from a more focused strategy; Matt Warner (COO) will unveil plans for a new multi-million dollar project on Doing Economic Development Differently; and Roberto Salinas Leon will discuss the challenges freedom faces in Latin America and how they will be confronted via a new Center for Latin American Policy Analysis, under his direction at Atlas Network. We invite your ideas and your collaboration as we work worldwide towards a more robust and effective defense of the free society.

RSVP: Chelsea Schick (chelsea.schick@atlasnetwork.org)

 

A Libertarian Revolution for Spain
Presented by Instituto Juan de Mariana

Juan de Mariana Hall B

Since the beginning of the crisis, many politicians - and public policies - have promised false solutions to citizens consisting of increasing power and state intervention in society. The liberal movement has also tried to articulate its own responses: a truly Liberal Revolution that, while preserving the rights and freedoms of individuals, adapts to the new challenges that are facing our societies. The breakfast / dialogue with Professor Juan Ramón Rallo wishes to open a space for reflection and discussion on this topic. He will present what in his opinion are the essential priorities to liberalize Spain and then a conversation with the attendees will take place, where doubts, discrepancies and comments can be raised.

RSVP: Irune Ariño (iarino@juandemariana.org)

 

Plenary 1 - Evolutionary Theory in the Social Sciences
Hayek Auditorium
8:45 - 10:30 AM

In this session, we will explore how evolutionary theory is currently changing our understanding of the social sciences and in particular economics. We will also analyze the implications evolutionary theory has for Liberty in the 21st century.

Chair:

  • Peter Boettke

Speakers:

  • Eric Beinhocker
  • Matt Ridley
  • Michael Shermer

 

Coffee Break
Cristalarium and Terraza La Vela
10:30 - 11:00 AM

Session 1 - New Insights in Development Economics
Manuel Ayau Hall
11:00 AM - 12:45 PM

In this session, we will explore different insights in economics that will help us understand how markets, institutions, and individual rights can further a country's development. We will explore questions such as: Which authors have laid the groundwork for a development theory centered on liberty? Are we falling into a Malthusian trap again? What are the best ways for a country to develop while still preserving freedom?

Chair:

  • Brad Lips

Speakers:

  • Emily Chamlee-Wright
  • William Easterly
  • Marian L. Tupy

 

Session 2 - Finance in a Brave New World
Giancarlo Ibárgüen Hall
11:00 AM - 12:45 PM

Ten years after the financial crisis of 2008, we live in a world where global markets seem solid. The reaction of the regulators was massive. Many reforms increased dramatically the number of requirements with which banks, insurance companies, and investment managers must comply. Was the regulation a success? What are the risks to the new regulatory architecture? Why are new regulatory layers still being added?

Chair:

  • Massimiliano Neri

Speakers:

  • Philip Booth
  • Nicolás Cachanosky
  • Juan Ramón Rallo

 

Lunch Featuring Michael Shermer
Juan de Mariana Hall
1:00 - 2:30 PM

Discovery Talks
Hayek Auditorium
2:45 - 3:30 PM

The Discovery Talks series will showcase new and exciting ideas that we don’t usually grapple with in the classical liberal world. Every day we will host three speakers who will introduce new ideas in presentations ranging from 10 to 15 minutes. These talks are inspired by the spirit of discovery that has always characterized our society.

 

Session 3 - Competition Among Jurisdictions
Manuel Ayau Hall
3:45 - 5:30 PM

Power is not always static; it can come from various sources, directions, combinations. Power is spread out, instead of concentrated in one single center; it can even come from different centers of authority that are competing with each other. Great thinkers such as F.A. Hayek, Elinor Ostrom, and Michael Polanyi have written about this kind of division of power in their work. This session explores this concept and its implications in today's world.

Chair:

  • Roberta Herzberg

Speakers:

  • Adam Martin
  • Carmen Pavel
  • Viktor Vanberg

 

Clinic
3:45 - 5:30 PM

A facilitated session in which academics will have the opportunity to get together with their peers to discuss aspects of their working paper or dissertation. The goal is to seek new perspectives, to dig deep into questions with elusive answers, and thus to break through intellectual bottlenecks.

Cocktail Reception Featuring a Fireside Chat with Peter Thiel and Matt Ridley
Hayek Auditorium
7:00 - 8:30 PM

Tuesday, October 2nd

Registration
ExpoMeloneras
7:00 AM

Sponsored Breakfasts
7:30 - 8:30 AM (RSVP)

Free Speech, Free Minds, Free Markets a Panel with Tara Smith, Rajshree Agarwal and Yaron Brook
Presented by the Ayn Rand Institute
Juan de Mariana Hall A

In this panel, Tara Smith, Rajshree Agarwal and Yaron Brook will discuss the current state of free speech and intellectual freedom on American campuses and in American culture with a focus on their relation to property issues and economic freedom.  They will discuss how free speech relates to free markets in the philosophy of Ayn Rand and the world we live in today.

RSVP:  Krissy Keys (kkeys@aynrand.org)

 

Eurekanomics: Breakthroughs in Austrian Economics & Finance
Presented by Mark Skousen, Presidential Fellow, Chapman University
Juan de Mariana Hall B

Introduction by Richard Ebeling. Dr. Skousen will update MPS members on gross output (GO), the new "top line" measure of the economy that has recently been adopted by the federal government.  Since GO is a measure of Hayek's triangle, it is a great advance in Austrian macroeconomics. Since it includes the supply chain, GO has proven to be an excellent forecaster. In addition, Dr. Skousen will talk about a "eureka" moment in his "financial economics" class at Chapman University in applying Austrian economics as a way to measure volatility in the stock market.

RSVP: Mark Skousen (mskousen@chapman.edu)

 

Plenary 2 - Culture Matters
Hayek Auditorium
8:45 - 10:30 AM

Institutions do not only come from top down approaches. They are not instilled by a central authority; instead, customs, traditions, and informal norms of behavior help shape society and everyday actions. These important sources and structures, however, are often ignored: Where do they come from? How do they become legitimate? In this session, we will give culture the importance it deserves.

Chair:

  • Amy Willis

Speakers:

  • Eric Graf
  • Deirdre McCloskey
  • Virginia Postrel

Coffee Break
Cristalarium and Terraza La Vela
10:30 - 11:00 AM

Plenary 3 - The Future of Cities
Hayek Auditorium
11:00 AM - 12:45 PM

Cities are engines of economic development. However, this development is often constrained by endless regulations, zonings, and ordinance plans. What would happen if all of these constraints were removed? How would cities develop? Would they be better than the traditionally planned city?

Chair:

  • Nils Karlson

Speakers:

  • Alain Bertaud
  • Sanford Ikeda
  • Patrik Schumacher

Lunch Featuring Matt Ridley
Juan de Mariana Hall
1:00 - 2:30 PM

Discovery Talks
Hayek Auditorium
2:45 - 3:30 PM

Session 4 - Entrepreneurship: A Quantum Leap to Liberty
Manuel Ayau Hall
3:45 - 5:30 PM

In today’s world, everybody talks about entrepreneurship; but many questions regarding this subject are yet to be explored. What is the relationship between entrepreneurship and freedom? Is freedom a necessary condition? How does entrepreneurship promote liberty? Does entrepreneurship ever not promote liberty? How does it generate value for society?

Chair:

  • Mónica Río Nevado de Zelaya

Speakers:

  • Rajshree Agarwal
  • Peter Klein
  • Magatte Wade

Session 5 - Cryptocurrencies: Are They Here to Stay?
Giancarlo Ibárgüen Hall
3:45 - 5:30 PM

Lately, cryptocurrencies have been volatile. What does this mean for currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple? Without a doubt, the world of cryptocurrencies will be facing challenges in the near future. This session will explore these challenges and attempt to answer the question of what lies ahead for these digital assets.

Chair:

  • Thor Halvorssen

Speakers:

  • Caitlin Long
  • William J. Luther
  • Lawrence White

Meet the Author
5:30 - 6:30 PM

An opportunity for MPS members, guests, and speakers to present a book they have published between the 2016 MPS General Meeting in Miami and today. Participants will be invited to converse with the authors and to exchange ideas about the books presented.

Pascal Salin
Competition and Free Trade / The International Monetary System and the Theory of Monetary Systems
Manuel F. Ayau Hall

Jerry Jordan
Universal Economics
Giancarlo Ibargüen Hall

Henri Schneider
Uber: Innovation in Society / Creative Destruction and the Sharing Economy
Michael Polanyi Hall

Leonidas Zelmanovitz
The Ontology and Function of Money
Leonard P. Liggio Hall

Nils Karlson
Statecraft and Liberal Reform in Advanced Democracies
Elinor Ostrom Hall

Deirdre McCloskey
Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World
Juan de Mariana Hall A

Landmark Papers - The Soul of Classical Liberalism by James Buchanan
5:30 - 6:30 PM (RSVP here)

The  Landmark Paper Series are small group discussions in the spirit of the late MPS Member and Philanthropist Pierre Goodrich, who saw learning as an ongoing process of discovery and believed a free society requires a dialogue on great ideas of civilization.

Wednesday, October 3th

Excursion Day

Catamaran and sailboat Experience
12:00 p. m.
Meeting point: ExpoMeloneras
Don't forget to take with you: swimming clothes, cap, towel and sunscreen.

Las Palmas
9:15 a. m.
Meeting point: ExpoMeloneras

Thursday, October 4th

Registration
ExpoMeloneras
7:00 AM

Sponsored Breakfast
7:30 - 8:30 AM (RSVP)

Educating for a Free Society: Why aren’t we doing it better?
Presented by Universidad Francisco Marroquín
Juan de Mariana Hall A

Join us for a spirited discussion with three thought leaders whose work brings different perspectives to the questions of how to get more disruption in education and how to cultivate in young people the sentiments, beliefs, and ideas that sustain a free society.   Peter Boettke, professor of economics and philosophy, George Mason University; Gabriel Calzada, president of Universidad Francisco Marroquín; and Daniel Hannan, writer and political disruptor.

RSVP:  Isabel Moino (isabelmoino@ufm.edu)

 

Value Investing and Austrian Economics: A merge that yields compound interest
Presented by OMMA and Value School
Juan de Mariana Hall B

Value investing is a method of picking assets in a context of uncertainty and imperfect knowledge. The Austrian School of economic thought stresses that our understanding of the world is always incomplete and that individual preferences are susceptible to change any point in time. There would seem to be much common ground between the method and the school. At this breakfast, we will show how each can enrich the other so as to provide sustained extraordinary returns to the Austrian-value investor.

RSVP: Inés Calzada (icalzada@ommayau.com)

 

Plenary 4 - Business Cycles
Hayek Auditorium
8:45 - 10:30 AM

Should conventional monetary policy be used in a non-conventional financial world? Should we continue to use monetary policy mechanisms such as quantitative easing, negative rates, and Operation Twist? Or should return to the type of policies that were used before 2007? To shed light on the future of monetary policy, this session will discuss the trends, theories, and problems that policy faces today.

Chair:

  • Robert Lawson

Speakers:

  • Guido Hülsmann
  • Jerry L. Jordan
  • John B. Taylor

Coffee Break
Cristalarium and Terraza La Vela
10:30 - 11:00 AM

Session 6 - The Internet and Its Enemies
Manuel Ayau Hall
11:00 AM - 12:45 PM

Net neutrality. Hackers. Censorship. Surveillance. This session deals with freedom and regulation in digital governance. Specifically, the regulatory frameworks of environments that allow discovery and innovation in the new age of digital communication.

Chair:

  • Francisco Capella

Speakers:

  • Thomas Hazlett
  • Dominique Lazanski
  • Pavol Luptak

Session 7 - Hayek and Mises: "Are We Still a Bunch of Socialists?
Giancarlo Ibárgüen Hall
11:00 AM - 12:45 PM

This session revolves around two of the founding members of the Mont Pelerin Society and two of the giants of the classical liberal movement: F.A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. How do their ideas relate? Where do they diverge? Do they actually agree or are they further apart than we believe?

Chair:

  • Eamonn Butler

Speakers:

  • Peter Boettke
  • Bruce Caldwell
  • Richard Ebeling

Lunch
Juan de Mariana Hall
1:00 - 2:30 PM

Discovery Talks
Hayek Auditorium
2:30 - 3:30 PM

Session 8 - Political Authority and Civil Disobedience
Manuel Ayau Hall
3:45 - 5:30 PM

Political authority has become an unquestionable truth, a sort of dogma that many believe we should follow blindly. Does political authority mean the right to coerce? Do we have a duty to obey? In these times where the means to challenge a political regime are shifting, this session investigates what makes power legitimate and what calls for civil disobedience.

Chair:

  • Alberto Mingardi

Speakers:

  • Neera Badhwar
  • Michael Huemer
  • Stefan Voigt

Session 9 - Entrepreneurs and the Free Society
Giancarlo Ibárgüen Hall
3:45 - 5:30 PM

What is the role of entrepreneurs in a free society? Are they always a force for liberty or, as Adam Smith noted, must we be vigilant lest they mount a “conspiracy against the public”? Is it possible to apply the principles of liberty to the day to day operations of a business? In this session, we will explore these questions with entrepreneurs who have dedicated their lives to both business and liberty.

Chair:

  • Ramón Parellada

Speakers:

  • Toby Baxendale
  • Francisco García Paramés

Meet the Author
5:30 - 6:30 PM

Peter Boettke
FA Hayek: Economics, Political Economy and Social Philosophy
Manuel F. Ayau Hall

Randall Holcombe
Political Capitalism: How Economic and Political Power Is Made and Maintained
Giancarlo Ibargüen Hall

Elena Leontjeva
The Phenomenon of Lack: Being, Man and Community. A synthesis of an Interdisciplinary Inquiry
Michael Polanyi Hall

Lars Peder Nordbakken
Liberale tenkere for vår tid (Liberal Thinkers for Our Time)
Leonard P. Liggio Hall

Per Bylund
The Seen, the Unseen, and the Unrealized: How Regulations Affect Our Everyday Lives
Elinor Ostrom Hall

Landmark Papers - The Intellectuals and Socialism by F.A. Hayek
5:30 - 6:30 PM (RSVP here)

Friday, October 5th

Breakfast and Members Meeting
ExpoMeloneras
7:30 - 8:30 AM

The Board of Directors of the MPS requests all Members attend to discuss and vote upon essential corporate business.

Session 10 - Private Provision of Public Goods
Manuel Ayau Hall
8:45 - 10:30 AM

Is the state the only provider of public goods? This session challenges this idea and provides an alternative solution. For centuries private firms have emerged as competition to government monopolies, sometimes providing an even better service than top-down approaches. This session examines the benefits and challenges of providing public goods privately.

Chair:

  • J. R. Clark

Speakers:

  • Bruce Benson
  • Martín Krause
  • Edward Stringham

Session 11 - Secession and Independence
Giancarlo Ibárgüen Hall
8:45 - 10:30 AM

In recent years we have seen independence movements sweep the world. In Europe alone, there were 21 secessionist campaigns in the last year. Similar campaigns are taking place in Nigeria, Scotland, Iraq, Cameroon, and Ontario. What are the consequences of these movements? Do the secessionists really intend to defend personal liberty or are they peddling thinly veiled contrivances of socialist ideology?

Chair:

  • Lenore Ealy

Speakers:

  • Benito Arruñada
  • Daniel Hannan
  • Jesús Huerta de Soto

Coffee Break
Cristalarium and Terraza La Vela
10:30 - 11:00 AM

Plenary 5 - The New Frontiers of Political Reform
Hayek Auditorium
11:00 AM - 12:45 PM

The frontier of political reform in the 1980s was the privatization of public enterprises. With a new century, this frontier has shifted. Where is the new frontier? This session explores the next steps of privatization and the challenges that we face in trying to achieve a freer world.

Chair:

  • Linda Whetstone

Speakers:

  • Leszek Balcerowicz
  • Ruth Richardson
  • Pedro Schwartz

Lunch Featuring Peter Boettke, MPS President
Juan de Mariana Hall
1:00 - 2:30 PM

Discovery Talks
Hayek Auditorium
2:45 - 3:30 PM

Session 12 - Bridging the Scholastics and the Scottish Enlightenment
Manuel Ayau Hall
3:45 - 5:30 PM

The Scholastics and the Scottish Enlightenment are both credited as predecessors of classical liberalism. However, there are still arguments over the extent of their respective influences on the liberal tradition. This session explores the relationship between the two schools of thought, how they are similar and where they diverge.

Chair:

  • Alejandro Chafuen

Speakers:

  • Gabriel Calzada
  • Giovanni Patriarca
  • Carlos Rodríguez-Braun

Session 13 - Hayek Essay Contest
Giancarlo Ibárgüen Hall
3:45 - 5:30 PM

Chair and Discussant: Benjamin Powell (Texas Tech University)

This session will honor the 2018 winners of MPS’s long-running Hayek Essay Contest.

  • Markets for Rules: The Promise and Peril of Blockchain Distributed Governance (First Place) 
    Nick Cowen – New York University School of Law
  • Competition in Policing as a Discovery Process (Second Place) 
    Tate Fegley – George Mason University
  • From Sharing Economy to Private Cities: Why We Need Hayekian Competition in Urban Development (Third Place) 
    Vera Kichanova – King’s College London
  • The Emerging Free Market in Money (Third Place) 
    Max Rangeley – The Cobden Centre

Closing Dinner
Terraza Tizziri, Villa del Conde Hotel
7:00 - 8:30 PM
Disco
Villa del Conde Hotel
8:30  - 10:30 PM