LFMI

Next year, participants in Lithuania’s second-pillar funded pension system will face a personal financial referendum: to stay and save, to withdraw and leave, to transfer savings to the third pillar of the pension system, or to invest independently. Estonia tried the same approach in 2021, and economists at its central bank assessed the consequences. Estonia’s experience is highly relevant for Lithuania – similar outcomes are plausible here as well. 

“When I was a child, the monarch of Liechtenstein told me: our duty is to protect people from power. If you have power, your first task is to limit the powers of the government, not to expand them.” Prince Michael of Liechtenstein said these words during a short visit to Lithuania. The guest, who was invited as a guest speaker to the 35th anniversary of the Lithuanian Free Market Institute, came as a surprise to many.

On December 18, 2025, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) invited Lithuania’s education community to discuss why ethical judgment matters in a fast-changing, digital world—and why ethics and civic responsibility are essential. The conversation took place during the awards ceremony for Lithuania’s national ethics competition for 7th–8th graders, “Beside Me: Another Person”, hosted by Vytautas Magnus University (VDU).

In recent years, the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, has repeatedly claimed that money is a public good. This formulation has become one of the central rhetorical pillars of the digital euro project. When the ECB announced in October 2025 that it was moving into the next phase of this initiative, Lagarde once again emphasized: “Money is a public good. Full stop.”

Competitiveness is a strange beast—always measured against outsiders, yet forged internally. In her annual address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reminded us of a hard truth, one that “after Draghi and Trump” can no longer be ignored: competitiveness is not a game; it is a matter of survival.

The Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) marks its 35th anniversary—a milestone for an organization that began its work at the dawn of Lithuania’s independence and has since become one of the most influential incubators of public policy ideas in the region. Founded on November 20, 1990, the Institute laid the groundwork for individuals to live and create in a free market and for the state to act responsibly and efficiently.

Imagine two economists walking into a grocery store whose shelves are completely empty. One says: \"The problem is production — not enough goods are being created.\" The other one replies: \"No, the problem is demand — people aren’t spending, they’re saving. The state must stimulate consumption.\" This dispute still shapes how governments respond to crises, how they spend money, and how modern macroeconomic policy is justified.

The history of Thanksgiving\'s origins is instructive for modern times in several respects. It is widely known that the first Europeans to set foot in the Americas faced severe hardships. Nearly half of them starved to death as agriculture failed in their new lands. Today, we no longer confront the hunger endured by the first pilgrims.

This summer, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) joined Lithuania’s biggest discussion festival. Over the course of two days, LLRI hosted ten debates featuring more than forty speakers from various fields, including business, politics, academia, education, and culture. The lively exchanges showed that the ideas of freedom continue to unite communities and inspire action.

European policymakers and large exporters are increasingly uneasy about the euro’s rise — particularly against the U.S. dollar. But this concern is misplaced. Like arguments for tariffs, it mistakes accounting effects for economic damage. A stronger euro does not weaken Europe; it strengthens it.