Friedman Legacy Day for Freedom in Slovakia

For the third time, Institute of Economic and Social Studies INESS was honored to organize event commemorating Milton Friedman, one of the most notable flag bearers of economic liberty. As INESS is the most frequently quoted economic think tank in Slovakia and a loud defender of market freedom, we wanted to make sure Friedman’s 100^th birthday event had the prestige it deserved.

The event took place in Pulitzer Restaurant in the center of Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, on Tuesday, July 31 at 6 pm. Our goal was not only to commemorate Friedman’s life and achievements, but also to stress the importance of his ideas in the light of the current crisis in eurozone. Therefore, after welcoming our guest and a short opening speech introducing Milton Friedman’s life and work, playing videos of Milton Friedman, a panel of four notable speakers discussed Friedman’s economic ideas. The panel consisted of Mr. Peter Gonda, director of Conservative institute, Mr. Matúš Pošvanc, director of F. A. Hayek Foundation, Mr. Ronald Ižip, TRIM Broker chief analyst, and INESS’ chief analyst Mr. Juraj Karpiš, who also moderated the discussion.

The panel discussed Friedman’s view on Euro, central banking, role of monetary policy, but also potential solutions Friedman would suggest today. The discussion lasting over an hour was met with warm interest from the audience.

After the formal part, the event followed with a pleasant open-air dinner, naturally accompanied by a lively informal discussion in several groups around the tables. Every event is as good as its audience is, and we took great care to invite people, who were keen to listen to ideas and think about them. The guest list consists of politicians, entrepreneurs, university professors, public sector experts, bank analysts, NGO representatives, journalists and of course students. Despite taking place during week, most of the guest didn’t leave until midnight.