As every year, the last weekend in August saw the summer school of the Institute for Liberal Studies, which has been held in its current format since 2011 (and continues the tradition of liberal summer schools in Czechia dating back to 1991), now in its ninth year under the names Mises Academy and Mises Seminar.
While the Mises Academy is attended by students who are joining us for the first time and for whom we prepare lectures on economics, political theory, finance, and other topics each year, the Mises Seminar is open to participants who have attended our summer school in the past – one of this year’s participants was even attending for the twelfth time! The format of the Mises Seminar is more discussion-based, with lecturers and participants analyzing short texts written by themselves or other authors.
Last year, we introduced a new feature – joint workshops – and because the feedback from students was positive, we continued with them this year. The first was on how to write pop-economics articles. In the second workshop, students bought and sold goods on a dynamic market with the goal of earning as much money as possible. A professional medical doctor prepared a first aid workshop.
Complete list of speakers and their lecture topics:
- Róbert Chovanculiak from INESS in Slovakia gave a presentation on progress without permission and on Friday gave a keynote lecture on education
- Pavel Potužák from INEV and the Economic Olympiad prepared a lecture on Austrian capital theory and a seminar on how to recognize an (economic) desolate
- Marek Hudík from FPH VŠE gave a keynote lecture on the anatomy of capitalism and a seminar on the future of liberalism
- Tereza Urzová from our institute prepared a seminar on why conservatives and liberals do not understand each other
- Martin Štencel, also from our institute, gave a lecture on the planned economy and a seminar on (non)growth
- Lars-André Richter from the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung gave a keynote speech on liberalism and the political situation in Germany
- Jiří Nohejl, chief economist at our institute, gave a lecture on money, gold, and Bitcoin and a seminar on artificial agents and the future of economic theory
- Dan Vořechovský from Vořechovský Capital Management and the Růžička & Vořechovský podcast gave a lecture on investing in China and a seminar on savings and investments in the Chinese economy
- Vít Samek gave a keynote lecture on the impact of war on volunteers and what he concludes from this for his future work
- Jakub Žofčák from Metropolitan University, in addition to the aforementioned workshop on writing pop-economic articles, also held a seminar on whether intelligence is compatible with libertarianism
- Veronika Homolová from IMS FSV UK, in addition to the aforementioned workshop, also gave a lecture on the importance of elections and a seminar on the Baltic states under occupation
- Štěpán Drábek from our institute, at 17 years old the youngest lecturer in history, gave a lecture on the importance of freedom in the concept of F. A. Hayek and a voluntary evening keynote presentation on his hike through Kyrgyzstan
We will publish recordings of some of the lectures in our podcast That which is heard and that which is not heard (mostly in Czech but some episodes are in English).
Both the lectures and seminars take place in an informal, friendly atmosphere. Debates continue late into the night. Every year, we expand our leisure networking activities so that new participants can get to know our veterans better, and vice versa. Saturday afternoons are traditionally spent relaxing, playing soccer and volleyball, while in the evening, the program includes drinking (not only) beer, which this year was donated by the Dva Kohouti brewery. Students were asked to send a small donation to our humanitarian mission, Operation Kyseláč, for each beer they drank.
The students of our summer school are becoming leaders of successful liberal projects. For example: Martina Bacíková is the chair of the board of directors of the Institute for Economic Education, which has already held many editions of the Economic Olympiads. Jan Škapa and Michal Šindlář are high-ranking managers at Students For Liberty. Pavel Peterka is an analyst at XTB Brokers. You can see other notable graduates on the summer school website. We look forward to seeing where this year’s participants will be in a few years!
In total, we counted 76 participants during the summer school. This year, three of them were also honored at a special ceremony – they have been with us at the summer school at least ten times. They are David Mysík and Luboš Vaindl among the students, and Pavel Potužák, who has been a regular lecturer for ten years. Thank you for your long-standing support!
Lecturing such students is a great honor and responsibility. As you can see, the high quality of the students attracts excellent lecturers who are happy to devote one summer weekend to this event. We believe that the high-quality lineup is also an attraction for students to enroll in this stimulating environment, where informal discussions between students and lecturers take place even after the lectures. In a sense, this four-day continuous debate between ten experienced liberals and fifty students is perhaps even more important than the formal lecture part.
This year, we also continued our program of integrating Ukrainian students. They can participate free of charge as we think Ukrainian refugees in our country should be integrated not only in the society but in the liberal movement, too.
Next year, we will return to Radešín with the summer school, this time from August 27 to 30, 2026. Follow our social media profiles to make sure you, your friends, or your children register in time, as places for the seminar tend to fill up very quickly, despite the increasing price.
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