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Mate Hajba

ABOUT Mate Hajba
Director of the Free Market Foundation, which advocates economic freedom, civil rights and tolerance. He is also the author of several books promoting free markets and civic liberties. He served as the Vice President of Civic Platform, which runs anti-racist campaigns and promotes democratic values. He is interested in the relationship between the state and the individual and in the concept and history of liberty. He writes for international press on issues such as intolerance in Hungary and international relations. To promote the concept of individualism, liberty, tolerance and free market, he co-founded a youth organization named Eötvös Club.
Want To Bet on Santa?
Economy
Want To Bet on Santa?
BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / January 1, 2026
The US and Canadian military are tracking Santa with private money, and you can bet on the results, all due to a typo. It is the season when people’s gaze is waylaid by the shiny, sparkling, colorful paraphernalia of Christmas attention-seeking, and so it is increasingly difficult to write about an important topic not sprinkled with holiday jollity. My feeble attempt to gain readers a couple of years ago depicted Santa as a Marxist monster.
Labubu Takeover
Politics
Labubu Takeover
BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / September 10, 2025
Labubus, with their naughty smiles, have stolen their way into most homes with kids, but their colorful furs hold a sinister secret. They are the newest presentation of a Chinese soft power takeover. With the US clogging up its channels of influence, we had better prepare for a wave of Chinafication. Soft power is marked by the promotion of positive values.
It Is Time for EU Antitrust Reform
Politics
It Is Time for EU Antitrust Reform
BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / May 21, 2025
EU antitrust regulations hinder innovation, which is the most effective way of fighting monopolies and strengthening the EU as a global power. That is ironic since the nominal purpose of those antitrust rules is to fight monopolies, not to empower them. The European Union needs to pivot its approach to businesses to be competitive globally, maybe even to fill the growing void left by the U.S.
Herrings in Hungary: Bizarre, Satirical Take on Hungary’s New Law Attacking Writers’ Freedoms
Politics
Herrings in Hungary: Bizarre, Satirical Take on Hungary’s New Law Attacking Writers’ Freedoms
BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / May 17, 2025
Hungary is a beautiful country: homogeneous, democratic, united, and Christian. These facts are so obviously true that I do not even have to provide sources. My country also has an excellent educational system, which teaches journalists working in the booming and free media sector that sarcasm is not a good linguistic tool to use in an article. Why should I do otherwise?
Trump Wants Greenland – Should He Take Entire EU, Too?
Politics
Trump Wants Greenland – Should He Take Entire EU, Too?
BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / January 29, 2025
Trump has shocked Europe with his bold and unrelenting desire to seize Greenland as a US territory. Still, it should come as an even greater shock how little Europe had paid attention to this crucial landmass in the stage of newly emerging global conflicts. The Arctic has not weighed heavily in international relationships. However, with the ice melting, new trade routes are opening, and rich resources are becoming more easily accessible.
Autocracy Blurs Lines between Truth and Falsehood
Society
Autocracy Blurs Lines between Truth and Falsehood
BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / January 29, 2025
If people are inclined to believe in things not supported by evidence, they are more likely to be susceptible to the lies of politicians. Disinformation, such as the spread of conspiracy theories to spread distrust among citizens, is a tool widely and effectively used by Russia and China. It is not just conspiracy theories, however, which are plaguing humankind, but a return of an unscientific way of thinking which enlightenment hoped to eradicate.