PREVIOUS KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
At LIWC, our speakers are a crop of international leading public figures across a range of backgrounds including businessmen, policymakers, economists and more.
Milton Friedman was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy. With George Stigler, Friedman was among the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics, a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty at the University of Chicago that rejected Keynesianism in favor of monetarism until the mid-1970s, when it turned to new classical macroeconomics heavily based on the concept of rational expectations.[5] Several students, young professors and academics who were recruited or mentored by Friedman at Chicago went on to become leading economists, including Gary Becker, Robert Fogel, Thomas Sowell and Robert Lucas Jr.
David Friedman is an American economist, physicist, legal scholar, author, and anarcho-capitalist theorist. Although he studied chemistry and physics and not law or economics, he is known for his textbook writings on microeconomics and the libertarian theory of anarcho-capitalism, which is the subject of his most popular book, The Machinery of Freedom. Described by Walter Block as a "free-market anarchist" theorist, Friedman has also authored several other books and articles, including Price Theory: An Intermediate Text (1986), Law's Order: What Economics Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters (2000), Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life (1996), and Future Imperfect (2008).
Milton Friedman was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy. With George Stigler, Friedman was among the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics, a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty at the University of Chicago that rejected Keynesianism in favor of monetarism until the mid-1970s, when it turned to new classical macroeconomics heavily based on the concept of rational expectations.[5] Several students, young professors and academics who were recruited or mentored by Friedman at Chicago went on to become leading economists, including Gary Becker, Robert Fogel, Thomas Sowell and Robert Lucas Jr.
Murray Rothbard was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian movement, particularly its right-wing strands, and was a founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, history, economics, and other subjects.
Rothbard argued that all services provided by the "monopoly system of the corporate state" could be provided more efficiently by the private sector and wrote that the state is "the organization of robbery systematized and writ large". He called fractional-reserve banking a form of fraud and opposed central banking. He categorically opposed all military, political, and economic interventionism in the affairs of other nations.
2024 SPEAKERS
For this year's conference, we have lined up an amazing list of speakers from diverse fields creating change for liberty in innovative ways.
Dr. Mary J. Ruwart is a research scientist, ethicist, and a libertarian author/activist. Since 1982, Dr. Ruwart has also been involved in societal ethics with a focus on the political theory and practice of libertarianism. Her award-winning international best-selling book, Healing Our World, demonstrates how the ethical application of libertarian principles has historically created harmony and abundance. Referencing hundreds of studies, Dr. Ruwart demonstrates that many of our current policies surreptitiously violate the basic ethical standards that we hold dear, thereby leading to unintended—and highly undesirable—consequences. She is also the author of “Short Answers to the Tough Questions Libertarians Are Often Asked” and “Death by Regulation,” which demonstrates how the FDA has taken 5-10 years off each of our lives.
Currently, Dr. Ruwart serves as Chair of Liberty International and Secretary of the Foundation for a Free Society. She has been an At-Large member of the Libertarian National Committee, served on the Board of both the Heartland Institute (Michigan Chapter) and the Fully Informed Jury Amendment Association.
Currently, Dr. Ruwart serves as Chair of Liberty International and Secretary of the Foundation for a Free Society. She has been an At-Large member of the Libertarian National Committee, served on the Board of both the Heartland Institute (Michigan Chapter) and the Fully Informed Jury Amendment Association.
Ken Schoolland is an Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at Hawaii Pacific University. He is on the Board of Scholars of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, and formerly President of Liberty International and Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Hawaii. Schoolland authored The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey, published in 90+ editions in 57 languages, and performed in theatrical productions across Africa, Europe, and Asia. Schoolland was Director of the Graduate Program in Japanese Business Studies at Chaminade University of Honolulu and a professor of economics at Hakodate University in Japan. He served as an international economist in the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and U.S. Office of the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations.
José Luis Cordeiro Mateo is a Venezuelan-Spanish engineer, economist, futurist, and transhumanist, who has worked on different areas including economic development, international relations, Latin America, the European Union, monetary policy, comparison of constitutions, energy trends, cryonics, and life extension. Books he has authored include The Great Taboo, Constitutions Around the World: A Comparative View from Latin America, and (in Spanish) El Desafio Latinoamericano ("The Latin American challenge") and La Muerte de la Muerte ("The death of death").
Cordeiro has been described as "a hopeless optimist always bursting with energy". He advises audiences to “Forget flying cars and robot butlers… the future will be a far more interesting place”. He views nano, bio, info, and cogno as being the four main technologies that “are pushing mankind into the post-human age”, and he predicts that “in the future we will be upgrading our brains every few years in the manner that we currently update our computer hardware”.
Jacek Spendel, a native of Poland, is an experienced manager in the libertarian think-tank world. He started his activism at age 18 with the KoLiber Youth Association. Between 2005-2012, Spendel was the project manager at the Globalization Institute. In 2012, he founded Freedom and Entrepreneurship Foundation where he is CEO and runs a number of projects with Project Arizona as the most successful one. His adventure with Liberty International started back in 2006 when as a 21-year-old student he attended the Prague LIWC with a scholarship. Two years later, Spendel organized his first LLI Liberty Camp and has managed over a dozen of them in several different countries. In 2019, Jacek Spendel joined the Board of Liberty International.
Simultaneously with his libertarian activism, he ran a pizza business in Katowice between 2014-2017. He studied social sciences at the University of Silesia, Jagiellonian University, and Georgetown University. Spendel is an Alumnus of Atlas Network’s Think-Tank MBA (2013) and The Fund of American Studies programs in Prague (2008) and Washington, DC (2009). Currently, he and his wife Magda divide their time between Phoenix, AZ, and Wrocław in southwestern Poland.
Simultaneously with his libertarian activism, he ran a pizza business in Katowice between 2014-2017. He studied social sciences at the University of Silesia, Jagiellonian University, and Georgetown University. Spendel is an Alumnus of Atlas Network’s Think-Tank MBA (2013) and The Fund of American Studies programs in Prague (2008) and Washington, DC (2009). Currently, he and his wife Magda divide their time between Phoenix, AZ, and Wrocław in southwestern Poland.
Geoffrey J. Neale is the first and current chair of the International Alliance of Libertarian Parties as well as the former chair of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC), the executive body of the Libertarian Party of the United States. He served two non-consecutive terms in that position. Neale's first term as LNC chair extended from 2002 to 2004. During the beginning of that first term he served for nine months unpaid in order to help the party financially. He served his second term from 2012 to 2014.
Lobo Tiggre is a long-time libertarian activist and the founder of IndependentSpeculator.com. He researched and recommended speculative opportunities in Casey Research publications from 2004 to 2018, writing under the name “Louis James.” While with Casey Research, he learned the ins and outs of resource speculation from the legendary libertarian speculator Doug Casey.
Previously, Lobo was president of the Henry Hazlitt Foundation, then publishers of Free-Market.Net, the first libertarian internet portal, and later, Bureaucrash.com.
Lobo is most well known in the Liberty International family as a donor, organizer, and participant in our liberty camps. He organized such camps in Lithuania, the Republic of Georgia, Romania, Ukraine, and less formal sessions in the Republic of Belarus.
Previously, Lobo was president of the Henry Hazlitt Foundation, then publishers of Free-Market.Net, the first libertarian internet portal, and later, Bureaucrash.com.
Lobo is most well known in the Liberty International family as a donor, organizer, and participant in our liberty camps. He organized such camps in Lithuania, the Republic of Georgia, Romania, Ukraine, and less formal sessions in the Republic of Belarus.
Dr. Lark currently serves as a professor in the Department of Engineering Systems and Environment and the Applied Mathematics Program of the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia. He is the author of publications in mathematics, operations research, and artificial intelligence.
He serves as secretary of Liberty International. He is a member of the Libertarian National Committee of the United States Libertarian Party; he served as the Party’s national chair during the 2000-2002 term. He is the LNC’s representative to the International Alliance of Libertarian Parties. He is a member of the Board of Advisors to Students For Liberty. He served as chairman of the Advocates for Self-Government from 2009 until 2016.
He serves as secretary of Liberty International. He is a member of the Libertarian National Committee of the United States Libertarian Party; he served as the Party’s national chair during the 2000-2002 term. He is the LNC’s representative to the International Alliance of Libertarian Parties. He is a member of the Board of Advisors to Students For Liberty. He served as chairman of the Advocates for Self-Government from 2009 until 2016.
Dr. Bylund is Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and the Records-Johnston Professor in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. He is also a Fellow of the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and an associate fellow of the Ratio Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
Among his books, Bylund authored The Seen, the Unseen, and the Unrealized: How Regulations Affect Our Everyday Lives and edited Sådan är kapitalismen, an anthology in Swedish on free-market ideas with chapters by Margaret Thatcher, Johan Norberg, Gunnar Hökmark, and others. The latter was released as part of the Stockholm edition of the 2002 Walk for Capitalism, which Bylund organized.
Bylund has been a writer and activist in the libertarian movement since the mid-1990s. He was co-founder of Anarchism.net in 1999 and the founding editor of Svenska Libertarianskt Forum (2002-2004). He is presently a writer primarily on economic matters, has a monthly column in Entrepreneur and is active on Twitter @PerBylund .
Among his books, Bylund authored The Seen, the Unseen, and the Unrealized: How Regulations Affect Our Everyday Lives and edited Sådan är kapitalismen, an anthology in Swedish on free-market ideas with chapters by Margaret Thatcher, Johan Norberg, Gunnar Hökmark, and others. The latter was released as part of the Stockholm edition of the 2002 Walk for Capitalism, which Bylund organized.
Bylund has been a writer and activist in the libertarian movement since the mid-1990s. He was co-founder of Anarchism.net in 1999 and the founding editor of Svenska Libertarianskt Forum (2002-2004). He is presently a writer primarily on economic matters, has a monthly column in Entrepreneur and is active on Twitter @PerBylund .