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Program Schedule

The dress code is business or cocktail attire for the opening and closing receptions/dinners, business casual for conference sessions, and casual with walking shoes for Wednesday’s excursion
  • 22 September
  • 23 September
  • 24 September
  • 25 September
  • 26 September
Time
Session
Speakers

12:00

Registration Opens

18:00

Opening Reception

19:00 onwards

                           Opening Dinner, Welcome

Welcome Address

19:00 onwards

                       Keynote Conversation

Speakers
Introduction By
Time
Session
Speakers

09:00-10:30

Freedom & Flourishing: New Avenues and Old Challenges

Moderator

 11:00-12:30

Education in the 21st Century

[Rotating Chair Discussion] In this session, Barbara Oakley will first deliver a presentation. Following her presentation, we invite three distinguished discussants to the stage, each bringing unique perspectives and expertise. Rotating every 20 minutes, these discussants will offer their insights and experiences, expanding on Oakley’s ideas and engaging in a discussion.

Presenter
Rotating Chairs

 11:00-12:30

AI & Liberty: Will Only One Survive?
Speakers
Chair

 11:00-12:30

Young Scholars Session I : Economic Freedom and Development

  • “Colonial Rule and Economic Freedom”
    João Pedro Bastos, Texas Tech University
  • “Economic Freedom, Personal Abundance, and Human Flourishing in India”
    Dyuti Pandya, ECIPE, and Samrudha Surana, George Mason University
  • “Urbanization and Freedom: Special Administrative Regions as a Tool for Freedom and Prosperity for the Next Six Billion”
    Alexander Voss, Tipolis Corporation
  • “Crony Capitalism vs. Economic Freedom: Experiences from Brazil and India”
    Matheus Cosso, The University of Chicago
Chair

12:45-13:50

Lunch and Punctuation Talk

Speaker

14:00-15:30

Digital Public Infrastructure: India & the World
Speakers
Chair

14:00-15:30

Freedom at the Margins
Speakers
Chair

14:00-15:30

Charter Cities: Concept and Practice
Speakers
Chair

14:00-15:30

Book Café: Bitcoin, Money, and Financial Systems
  • “Resistance Money: A Philosophical Case for Bitcoin 
    Andrew M. Bailey, Yale-nus College
  • “Strategies for Liberty: Free Cities and Bitcoin 
    Alexander Voss, Tipolis Corporation
  • “Free Money 
    Benton Howser, Atlas Veritas

16:00-17:30

Climate Change: Empowering Julian Simon’s Ultimate Resource
Speakers
Chair

16:00-17:30

Market Liberalism in Action: Academics & Activists in Conversation

Presenters
Facilitators

16:00-17:30

Geopolitics & Global Order through a Liberal Lens
Speakers
Chair

16:00-17:30

Young Scholars Session 2: Speech, Gender, and Freedom

  • “Rights of Access vs. Editorial Freedom”
    Thomas Berry, Cato Institute
  • “Leveling the Playing Field for Liberalism”
    Marcos Falcone, Fundación Libertad
  • “Gender Norms and Natural Disasters”
    Raymond March, Angelo State University
Chair

19:00-20:00

Remembering David Boaz

Speakers
Chair

20:00 -20:30 

Reception 

Speaker

20:30 onwards

Future MPS Announcements
Speakers
Time
Session
Speakers

9:00-10:30

Wealth of Some Nations
Chair

11:00-12:30

Entrepreneurship and Flourishing: Lessons from
New Scholarship & Practice

Speakers
Chair

11:00-12:30

Back to the Roots: Agriculture in the Emerging World Order

Speakers
Chair

11:00-12:30

Evolving Globalisation: Prospects, Promises & Problems

Speakers
Chair

11:00-12:30

Young Scholars III : Public Policy
  • “OECD Tax policy Shifts from Hayek to Mises: Paradigms in Global Governance
    Adam Michel, Cato Institute
  • “Welfare Policies for Industries: A Don Lavoie Critique and Perspective
    Anmol Rattan Singh, Siri Guru Gobind Singh College
  • “Antitrust Enforcement: Political Discretion or Economic Analysis
    Ethan Yang, Cato Institute
Chair

12:30

Lunch

14:00-15:30

Unconference
Freedom & Flourishing around the World

16:30-18:00

Life & Learnings of Nomadic Libertarians [Lightning Talks]

Speakers
Facilitator

16:30-18:00

Civil Society in the Midst of Populism

Speakers
Chair

16:30-18:00

Calculus of Politics: New Pathways to Liberal Democracy

Speakers
Chair

16:30-18:00

Young Scholars Session IV : Self-Governance, Development, and the Marginalised
  • “The Road to Poverty Is Paved with Good Intentions and Ignorance in Thermodynamics”
    Pedro Pablo Velásquez, Centro de Estudios Económicos y Sociales
  • “Digital Decentralization: Empowering the Marginalized with Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies”
    Vaibhav Sharma, Ashoka University
  • “Self-Governing Institutions Promotes Cooperation Better Than Centralized Ones”
    Alessandro del Ponte, The University of Alabama
Chair

 18:00 onwards

Member’s Meeting

Time
Session

Excursions [Optional]

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DELHI FULL DAY TOUR ITINERARY

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For further information regarding the Excursions included with the program, please contact us  transportation@mpsnewdelhi.org

Time
Session
Speakers

9:00-10:30

State & the Citizen

Chair

11:00-12:30

Culture, Religion & Liberty

Speakers
Chair

11:00-12:30

How Markets Made India a Cricket Superpower

Speakers
Chair

11:00-12:30

Book Café  by Classical Liberalism and Democracy
    • Reviving Classical Liberalism against Populism “
      Nils Karlson, The Ratio Institute
    • Human Nature and World Affairs: An Introduction to Classical Liberalism and International Relations Theory” 
      Edwin van de Haar, Eneco

11:00-12:30

Book Café  by Globalization, Trade, and Economic Policy
  • “The Great Disconnect: Hopes and Fears after the Excess of Globalization 
    Marco Magnani, Luiss University
  • “The China Dilemma 
    Ryan Yonk, American Institute for Economic Research

12:45-13:50

Lunch and Punctuation Talk

Speakers

14:00-15:00

Book Café  by Reassessing Political Systems
  • “The Buried Stories of Communism and Socialism: A Historical Primer and Contemporary Analysis 
    Marianna Davidovich, Foundation for Economic Education
  • “Imperial Measurement: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Western Colonialism 
    Kristian Niemietz, Institute of Economic Affairs

14:00-15:00

Book Café by Freedom and Democracy
  • “The Economic Foundations of Democracy Julian Reiss, Institute of Philosophy and Scientific Method
  • “Freedom and Responsibility Jargal Dambadarjaa, The Defacto Institute

14:00-15:00

Book Café  by Freedom Memoirs
  • “Another Sort of Freedom
    Gurcharan Das, Independent
  • “The Impatient Libertarian Ron Manners, Mannkal Economic Education Foundation

14:00-15:00

Book Café  by Understanding Voter Behavior and Democratic Influence
  • “How We Vote: The Factors that Influence Voters 
    Surjit Bhalla, Oxus Investments
  • “Following Their Leaders: Political Preferences and Public Policy 
    Randall Holcombe, Florida State University

15:30-17:00

Liberal Heroes

Speakers
Chair

15:30-17:00

Emerging Monetary and Contract Technologies

Speakers
Chair

15:30-17:00

Hayek Essay Contest Winner Presentations
  • “Why We Prosper”
    Nicolas Gonzalez, University of Miami
  • “Hayek on Knowledge and Competition”
    Mohammad Javad, University of Bayreuth
  • “Pseudoscience, Ecology, and Market: Behind the Ecological Offensive against Economic Freedom”
    Marcos Lüdy, Universidad Argentina John F. Kennedy
Chair

17:00-18:00

Hayek’s Nobel at 50

Speakers
Chair

19:00 onwards

Evening Reception

Performance by

19:00 onwards

New MPS President’s Address

19:00 onwards

Keynote Address and Closing Dinner

Speaker

Hosted by

MANAGED BY :-

Privacy Policy

Parth Shah
Co-Founder and Director, Indian School of Public Policy, and Founder-President, Centre for Civil Society

Parth Shah is Founder and President of Centre for Civil Society, whose research and advocacy work centres on the themes of economic freedom (law, liberty and livelihood campaign), choice and competition in education (fund students, not schools), property right approach for the environment (terracotta vision of stewardship), and good governance (new public management and the duty to publish). He has conceptualised and organised liberal educational programs for the Indian youth including Liberty & Society Seminars, Jeevika Livelihood Documentary Competition, and Researching Reality Internship Program.
Shah is on the editorial board of EducationWorld, Vishleshan, and Khoj, and is informal advisor to many non-profits. He is the youngest Indian member of the Mont Pelerin Society.
Rajesh Jain
Founder, Netcore Cloud

Rajesh Jain is founder, Netcore Cloud, a bootstrapped “proficorn” with $100 million ARR. Netcore’s SaaS platform helps B2C brands globally with customer retention, engagement, personalisation, and product discovery, to maximise conversion, revenues, and profits.
Rajesh was a pioneer in Asia’s dotcom revolution, creating India’s first Internet portals in the late 1990s, which were acquired by Satyam Infoway in November 1999 for US$ 115 million in one of Asia’s largest Internet deals.
Rajesh’s book, “Startup to Proficorn”, has sold over 5,000 copies in India. He was conferred the Distinguished Alumnus Award by Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, for his contributions in entrepreneurship in 2024. He writes daily on his blog at https://rajeshjain.com.
Rajesh did his B. Tech (Electrical Engineering) from IIT-Bombay in 1988, followed by M.S. from Columbia University, New York in 1989. He worked at NYNEX, USA, for 2 years before returning to India to begin his entrepreneurial journey in 1992.
Amit Chandra
Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Civil Society

Amit Chandra is a passionate promoter of liberal values with an interest in improving governance in the area of school education and livelihoods. He is a social development professional with experience in research, advocacy and outreach. His work has played an important role in designing the following public policies discourse in India: National Urban Street Vending Act 2014, amendments to India Forest Act 1927, amendments to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act 2006, and initiatives taken under Ease of Doing Business campaign by Government of India.
His work and views have been widely quoted in media and academic publications. He mentors/advises several for-profit and not-for-profit organisations and is also a member of a few committees set up by the state governments. Previously, Amit has worked with The Asia Foundation (TAF) in Kabul and Central Square Foundation in Delhi.
James J. Heckman
Director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development, The University of Chicago

James Heckman is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Public Policy and Director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago. He has devoted his professional life to understanding the origins of major social and economic questions related to inequality, social mobility, discrimination, and the formation of skills and regulation in labor markets, as well as to devising and applying economically interpretable empirical strategies for understanding and addressing these questions.
His current research at CEHD includes analyzing the impact of early childhood programs around the world by studying the immediate and long- term impacts of interventions (including the impacts in midlife on health and on other family members), both in the United States and in a new project in China. His research also uses original data gathered in the U.S., China, and Germany to measure preferences and traits to help inform governments, schools and teachers about how socioemotional can help students achieve their full potential.

In 2000, Heckman won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on the microeconometrics of diversity and heterogeneity and for establishing a sound causal basis for public policy evaluation. He has received numerous other awards for his work, including the John Bates Clark Medal, the Jacob Mincer Award, the 2005 and 2007 Dennis Aigner Award for Applied Econometrics, the Ulysses Medal from the University College Dublin, the Theodore W. Schultz Award, the Gold Medal of the President of the Italian Republic, the Frisch Medal, the Dan David Prize, and the Chinese Government Friendship Award.

Heckman has a B.A. in Mathematics from Colorado College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University. He has been at the University of Chicago since 1973.
Tom G. Palmer
Executive Vice President for International Programs and George M. Yeager Chair for Advancing Liberty, Atlas Network
Tom G. Palmer is executive vice president for international programs at Atlas Network where he holds the George M. Yeager Chair for Advancing Liberty. He is most recently co-author with Matt Warner of Development with Dignity: Self-Determination, Localization, and the End to Poverty (Routledge, 2022) and with Bryan Cheang of Institutions and Economic Development (Springer, 2023). He is also a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Before joining Cato, he was a vice president of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. He is the author of Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice (Cato Institute, expanded edition 2014), the editor of The Morality of Capitalism (2011), After the Welfare State (2012), Why Liberty (2013), Peace, Love & Liberty (2014), and Self-Control or State Control? You Decide (2016), and a contributor to numerous volumes, mostly recently Truth and Governance (Brookings Institution, 2021), co-edited with William Galston. Palmer received his B.A. in liberal arts from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, his M.A. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and his doctorate in politics from Oxford University.
Luis Miranda
Chairperson, Centre for Civil Society

Luis Miranda is Chairperson of the Centre for Civil Society and CORO. He has been involved in setting up 2 highly successful companies (HDFC Bank and IDFC Private Equity). He is also on the board of Educate Girls and SBI Foundation and co-founded Take Charge. He is also Chairman of ManipalCigna Health Insurance, Senior Advisor at Morgan Stanley and a board member of L&T Technology Services. He is a member of the Global Leaders Group and the Society Advisory Council at the University of Chicago.
Douglas J. Den Uyl
Vice President Emeritus and Benjamin A. Rogge Resident Scholar, Liberty Fund, Inc.

Douglas Den Uyl attended Kalamazoo College (B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy), the University of Chicago (M.A. in Political Science), and Marquette University (Ph.D. in Philosophy). He is interested in the history of ideas and has published essays or books on Spinoza, Smith, Shaftesbury, Mandeville, and others.
His interests also include moral and political theory. He is co-author with Douglas Rasmussen of Norms of Liberty, The Perfectionist Turn, and recently The Realist Turn (2020). He co-founded the American Association for the Philosophic Study of Society, The North American Spinoza Society, and The International Adam Smith Society and was its first President.

He taught Philosophy and was Department Chair and Full Professor at Bellarmine University before coming to Liberty Fund where he is now Vice President Emeritus and Benjamin A. Rogge Resident Scholar.
Gonzalo Schwarz
President and CEO, Archbridge Institute

Gonzalo Schwarz is the President and CEO of the Archbridge Institute. Gonzalo focuses on researching and writing about the American Dream, social mobility, the economics of human flourishing, economic development, and entrepreneurship.
He has a B.A. in economics from the Catholic University of Bolivia and an MA in economics from George Mason University. Growing up around the world in Uruguay, Israel, Ecuador, and Bolivia, he saw firsthand how poverty and socioeconomic challenges affect individuals and societies. This led him to a lifelong curiosity about what leads people to flourish and achieve their fullest potential. In 2016, he pursued his own American Dream and founded the Archbridge Institute, an organization dedicated to removing barriers that prevent individuals across the globe from bettering their lives.

Schwarz has written for media publications such as USA Today, Newsweek, The Hill, Real Clear Politics, the Washington Examiner, and Merion West, among others. He is the author of the Archbridge Institute’s annual American Dream Snapshot and editor of two publications focused on social mobility in Europe and Latin America. He has more than a decade of experience working for think tanks and policy organizations.
Barbara Oakley
Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Oakland University

Barbara Oakley, PhD, PE is a professor of engineering at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Her work focuses on the complex relationship between neuroscience and social behavior. Dr. Oakley’s research has been described as “revolutionary” in the Wall Street Journal—she has published in outlets as varied as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. She has won numerous teaching awards, including Oakland University's top award for tenured faculty. Her book A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra), (Penguin, 2014) is a New York Times best-selling science book.
Dr. Oakley has adventured widely through her lifetime. She rose from the ranks of Private to Captain in the U.S. Army, during which time she was recognized as a Distinguished Military Scholar. She also worked as a communications expert at the South Pole Station in Antarctica, and has served as a Russian translator on board Soviet trawlers on the Bering Sea. Dr. Oakley is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Lant Pritchett
Visiting Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science

Lant Pritchett is a development economist from Idaho. After graduating from BYU with a BS in Economics in 1983 he attended MIT and received his PhD in 1988. He worked for the World Bank from 1988 to 2007, including living in Indonesia from 1998 to 2000 and in India from 2004 to 2007. He also taught at the Harvard Kennedy School from 2000 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2018.He was the the Research Director of the RISE Programme at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government from 2018 to 2023. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy at London School of Economics and is the co-founder and Research Director of LaMP (Labor Mobility Partnerships).
He has published six books, been part of the team of two World Development Reports (1994 and 2004), and written over a hundred journal articles, book chapters, and working papers with over fifty different co-authors. He has written on a range of development issues including: economic growth, education, labor mobility, state capability, health, development assistance, social capital, population, international trade, safety net programs and methods of project evaluation. He was born in Utah, raised in Idaho and has lived in five countries, worked in dozens, and has visited more countries than he is years old. He has been happily married to Diane Tueller Pritchett since 1981 and has three children and four grandchildren.
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Bryan Caplan
Professor, George Mason University

Bryan Caplan is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University and New York Times Bestselling author.

He has written The Myth of the Rational Voter, named "the best political book of the year" by the New York Times; Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids; The Case Against Education; Open Borders (co-authored with SMBC's Zach Weinersmith); Labor Econ Versus the World; How Evil Are Politicians?; Don't Be a Feminist; Voters as Mad Scientists; and You Will Not Stampede Me. His next book, Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing, will be published by the Cato Institute in April 2024.
Bryan is also editor and chief writer for Bet On It, the blog hosted by the Salem Center for Policy at the University of Texas. He has published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Newsweek, Atlantic, American Economic Review, Economic Journal, Journal of Law and Economics, and Intelligence, blogged for EconLog from 2005-2022, and appeared on ABC, BBC, Fox News, MSNBC, and C-SPAN.
Phillip W. Magness
Senior Fellow and David J. Theroux Chair in Political Economy, Independent Institute

Phillip W. Magness is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and the David J. Theroux Chair in Political Economy. He has served as Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, and as Academic Program Director at the Institute for Humane Studies and Adjunct Professor of Public Policy in the School of Public Policy and Government at George Mason University. He received his Ph.D. from George Mason University’s School of Public Policy.
James Lawson
Chairman, Adam Smith Institute

James Lawson is Chairman of the Adam Smith Institute (ASI). Outside of the ASI, James is Director Programmes at Helsing, leading business with customers like the British Army and Strategic Command.
Before Helsing, Lawson was most recently a Senior Special Adviser in the Cabinet Office. As Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer for Defence, he led their landmark agreement with UK MOD. He has also held leadership roles at two AI startups, DataRobot and WorkFusion, supporting customers including Bank of America, Santander, Spotify, Chanel and Telefonica with digital transformation. At Deloitte he advised customers such as the Metropolitan Police and Co-op. He read philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford, with a particular focus on events since 1870. His recent ASI research has focused on the Covid-19 response and policies to nurture Artificial Intelligence capabilities in the UK.

He is an Adviser to IQ Capital, Research Adviser at The Entrepreneurs Network, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and member of the Mont Pelerin Society (of which he was the youngest ever joiner).
Nikhil Pahwa
Founder and Editor, MediaNama

Nikhil Pahwa is an entrepreneur, investor, journalist and activist. He is the Founder and Editor of MediaNama, a leading publication chronicling the evolution of digital policy in India.
Nikhil is a TED Fellow, an Asia21 Fellow and was named one of India Today Magazine’s “Indians of Tomorrow”. He has been profiled in Forbes, Wired and GQ. He is on the advisory board of the CyberBRICS project. MediaNama was awarded as an Ecosystem Builder by Fortune Magazine in 2016. He also co-founded the Internet Freedom Foundation, which focuses on advocacy for digital rights in India. Pahwa writes TechNik, a monthly column for the Economic Times.
Archana Gulati
Strategic Advisor, Indian Civil Services


Archana G. Gulati is a strategic adviser on digital transformation frontier technologies and competition regulation. She also teaches at leading universities and public policy Institutes. With over 33 years of experience, her journey began as an Indian Civil Services officer (1989 batch), and she continued to excel in her field after taking voluntary retirement in 2021. Her career milestones include serving as a Senior Adviser on Competition Law with Trilegal and as the Head of Public Policy at Google, India, until October 2022.
Dr Gulati's academic journey is marked by her pursuit of excellence. She holds a BA Honours in Economics from Lady Sri Ram College, Delhi University, an LLM (Telecom & IT law) from the University of Strathclyde, UK, and a PhD. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Her various posts in the Indian government include Advisor (Digital Communications) at the National Institute for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Chairperson of the Telecom Commission of India, and Advisor and Head of the Combinations (M&A) Division at the Competition Commission of India.

Dr Gulati has been an expert with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) since 2010. She was Co-rapporteur of the ITU-Development sector's Study Group 1, Q6/1 (2018-21), which dealt with Consumer Protection in the Digital Age. She has also represented the Asia Pacific Region as Vice-Chair of the ITU Working Group on Finance and Human Resources.
Max Rangeley
Editor and Manager, The Cobden Centre

Max Rangeley has run The Cobden Centre, a think tank founded by a British member of Parliament, since 2014 and has served on the boards of other think tanks in London and Brussels. He has put an emphasis on emerging technologies, including organising the Blockchain Summit in the European Parliament in 2016;attendees included the IMF, World Bank, United Nations, OECD and Europol among others, the first of its kind in the world.
Rangeley also organised and moderated the Future of Artificial Intelligence roundtable discussions in the European Parliament and has given many other speeches around the world on AI, blockchain and economics. He recently wrote a book with a UK member of Parliament on the problems caused by central bank policies in recent years and is currently working on two more books to be published by Springer.

Rangeley was initially given a scholarship to do a Ph.D. at the London School of Economics in his 20s, but turned this down to set up a microchip company which was featured on BBC World News among other media and whose customers include Facebook, Google, Sony, Oracle, Paypal and Salesforce.
Jayanta Bhattacharya
Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and Senior fellow at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Ajay Shah
Co-Founder, XKDR Forum

Ajay Shah studied at IIT, Bombay and USC, Los Angeles. He has held positions at Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research (IGIDR), Department of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance and National Institute for Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP). He is now Co-Founder at XKDR Forum. His research is at the intersection of economics, law and public administration. His second book, co-authored with Vijay Kelkar, "In service of the republic: The art and science of economic policy", featured in Bloomberg's global "2020 Best Books on Business and Leadership". His work can be accessed on his home page (http://www.mayin.org/ajayshah).
Carlos Montes
Lead, Innovation Hub for Prosperity at the University of Cambridge

Carlos Montes leads the Innovation Hub for Prosperity at the Judge Business School of the University of Cambridge. The Hub focuses on research and adoption of open transaction networks, considered “the most exciting business transformation happening around the world,” by Nandan Nilekani, the main architect of India’s digital transformation. Carlos is committed to unlocking growth and shared prosperity through market-based innovations that scale.
Carlos’ career spans international institutions, government, and corporations, including the World Bank, European Commission, Cisco, and Accenture. For eight years he engaged in frontline social innovation in East London, starting under the Jamie Oliver brand.

His public service experience includes work in the UK Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit under Michael Barber and directing global evaluations of EU programmes, leading a €10 billion evaluation for the Council of Ministers. Recently, he served as lead advisor on a programme promoting best practices in governance, accountability, rule of law, and government capacity.

Carlos began his career as the youngest economist at Peru’s Central Bank. He holds postgraduate degrees in Economics from Yale and Columbia Universities.
Shankar Maruwada
CEO and Co-Founder, EkStep

Shankar is passionate about addressing social problems at scale through technology based tools. He is an entrepreneur and marketing professional with a wide range of experience working on large scale projects such as the AADHAAR, India’s national identification programme, where he was the Head of Demand Generation and Marketing.
Shankar pioneered data analytics in India through Marketics, a company he co-founded. He is an investor in startups and a mentor to entrepreneurs. He is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur.
Chris Berg
Co-founder of the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub

Chris Berg is Director, Digital 3 at RMIT University and co-founder of the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub, the world’s first dedicated social science research centre studying blockchain technology, based at RMIT University, Melbourne. Professor Berg is a leading global authority on regulation, technological change, and civil liberties, and one of Australia's loudest voices for free markets and individual rights. He is the author of 11 books including The New Technologies of Freedom (2020), Understanding the Blockchain Economy (2019), and The Classical Liberal Case for Privacy in a World of Surveillance and Technological Change (2018).
Dhananath Fernando
Chief Executive Officer, Advocata Institute

Dhananath (fondly known as Dhana) is currently the chief executive officer of Advocata, an economic policy think tank in Sri Lanka, where he is a founder member. Advocata Institute worked extensively on bringing down tariffs on menstrual hygiene products in Sri Lanka, reforms of State Owned Enterprises(SOE’s), Micro and Small Enterprises and avoiding Price controls.
He is an Eisenhower global fellow and a member of Asia Society. He has provided commentary on Sri Lanka’s economy in BBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera and many international media. In his social responsibilities, Dhananath works with ‘people in need’ by volunteering with CandleAid Lanka, a government approved humanitarian organisation. He was a part of a team training vision- and hearing-impaired students on swimming and safety, and the main coordinator for personality, career development, and English training for undergraduates.
Ryan M. Yonk
Director of Educational Programs and Senior Research Faculty, American Institute for Economic Research

Ryan M. Yonk is the Director of Educational Programs and Senior Research Faculty at the American Institute for Economic Research. He holds a PhD from Georgia State University and a MS and BS from Utah State University. Prior to joining AIER he held academic positions at North Dakota State University, Utah State University, and Southern Utah University, and was one of the founders of the Strata Policy. He is the (co) author or editor of numerous books including Green V. Green, Nature Unbound: Bureaucracy vs. the Environment, The Reality of American Energy, and Politics and Quality of Life: The Role of Well-Being in Political Outcomes. He has also (co) authored numerous articles in academic journals including Public Choice, The Independent Review, Applied Research in Quality of Life, and the Journal of Private Enterprise. His research explores how policy can be better crafted to achieve greater individual autonomy and prosperity.
Alissa Rode
Senior Manager, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs

Alissa Rode is Senior Manager in the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS, Malaysia) where she oversees research and advocacy in the areas of public governance and fiscal transparency. Her areas of research have involved governance of state-owned enterprises, subnational fiscal transparency, and a baseline assessment on business and human rights in Malaysia. She has worked in various roles involving non-profit governance, strategic planning, advocacy, policy coordination, and stakeholder management. Alissa has a professional qualification in Malaysian law.
Jayaprakash Narayan
Founder and President, Lok Satta Party

Jayaprakash Narayan is an Indian liberal politician, activist and a former public administrator. He is the founder and president of Lok Satta Party. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Kukatpally constituency of Andhra Pradesh in India. He is a physician by training. He is also the founder and General Secretary of Foundation for Democratic Reforms, an independent public-policy think-tank and research-resource center. Jayaprakash is also a political reformer and columnist. He is well known for his role in electoral reforms and the Right to Information act.
Vit Jedlička
Founder and President, Free Republic of Liberland

Vit Jedlicka has been actively involved with the liberty movement since his early high school days. A special turning point that transformed his thinking was when he read Frederic Bastiat. Jedlicka received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic in 2009 with a thesis on central banking and monetary policy. He started a libertarian educational NGO whose video channels have more than 20 million views. He received his Master’s degree in political science from the CEVRO Institute in 2014 with his final thesis on Global Governance.
On Monday, April 13, 2015, he founded the Free Republic of Liberland and was elected its first President. In the span of eight years, well over half a million people have registered and applied to become citizens. He has been profiled in The New York Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, USA Today and has been interviewed on Fox Business Network, Bloomberg Television, Euronews and many other TV networks. He has also been a speaker at dozens of conferences including the Horasis Global Meeting, TedX, Freedom Fest, Blockchain Summit, ALEC meeting and St. Gallen Symposium. From the day the foundation of Liberland, President Vit Jedlicka and his team have promoted Liberland worldwide, obtaining international recognition.
Mark Lutter
Founder and CEO, Braavos Cities

Mark Lutter is the founder and Executive Chairman of the Charter Cities Institute, a non-profit building the ecosystem for charter cities. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University and has raised money from some of the most prominent names in Silicon Valley. He is also the founder and CEO of Braavos Cities, a charter city development company. Previously he worked for NeWAY Capital, prior to it developing Prospera.
Pritika Hingorani
Chief Executive Officer (India), Artha Global

Pritika Hingorani is CEO (India) at Artha Global. She also leads Artha’s work on cities and sustainability. Pritika has close to 20 years of development sector and consulting experience, having spent the last 10 years helping build and scale IDFC Institute, a Mumbai-based think/do tank, as Director and Research Fellow. Before IDFC Institute, Pritika was Senior Vice President at IDFC’s Policy Advisory Group and a consultant to the Indian Institute of Human Settlements.
Prior to her work in the development sector, Pritika spent several years in economic consulting with Charles River Associates across their Financial Economics, International Trade and Anti Trust practices in Washington DC and London. Pritika has a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a dual Bachelors degree in Economics and Political Science (Honours) from Bryn Mawr College. She is currently on the Board of Advisors for SaveLife Foundation, on the Board of Reviews for CEPT University, on the Judging Academy of the World’s Best School’s Prize and is the recipient of MIT’s Excellence in Public Service Award.
Niranjan Rajadhyaksha
Executive Director at Artha Global

Niranjan Rajadhyaksha is the Executive Director at Artha Global. He was the Research Director and a Senior Fellow at the IDFC Institute, the Executive Editor of Mint, and Deputy Editor of Business World. He is a member of the academic advisory board of the Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics. He has a PhD in economics from Mumbai University.
Julian Morris
Senior Fellow, Reason Foundation

Julian Morris is Senior Fellow at Reason Foundation. His work, including over 100 scholarly publications, applies law and economics to innovation, regulation, economic development, and environmental protection. Julian is also a Senior Scholar at the International Center for Law and Economics, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a member of several company boards.
Ajay Mathur
Director General, International Solar Alliance
Jeff Bennett
Emeritus Professor, Australian National University

Jeff Bennett is Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. He is an economist with specialisations in environmental, natural resource and agricultural economics. He is particularly interested in the role that can be played by private sector providers of what are often defined as environmental public goods. Jeff is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Science in Australia, a Distinguished Fellow and past president of the Australian Resource and Agricultural Economics Society and was a board member of the Mont Pelerin Society.
Arpita Nepal
Co-Founder and R&D Director, Samriddhi Foundation

Arpita Nepal is the co-founder and director of Research & Development at Samriddhi Foundation. Samriddhi is an independent economic policy think tank based in Nepal which promotes the vision of a free and prosperous Nepal. She also oversees curriculum design of The Foundation’s education and training programs along with strategizing advocacy campaigns. Some of Samriddhi ’s flagship programs such as Arthalaya – School of Economics & Entrepreneurship and Nepal Economic Growth Agenda (NEGA) were conceived and executed under her leadership. NEGA includes growth areas such as agriculture, tourism, energy, infrastructure and education.
Nepal is an economist, research head at Samriddhi, and is heavily involved in the policy research that the organization undertakes. Her areas of interest include incentives, economic governance including public finance management, accountability and federal devolution, labor migration, energy economics and agriculture economics. She has extensive teaching experience in economics and has been involved in activism for democracy. She is trained in Strategic Planning and has extensive experience of working with parliamentarians, representatives of private sector, experts and several stakeholder groups. She holds Master degree in Economics from George Mason University, specializing in Political Economy; Tribhuvan University, specializing in International Economics; and University of California, Irvine, specializing in Economic History.
Anton Rizki
Chief Operating Officer, Center for Indonesian Policy Studies

Anton Rizki is the Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS), an independent, non-profit, and non-partisan think tank based in Jakarta. Before leading CIPS, he previously worked in the food and agriculture sector and served as Managing Director of a leading communications and public affairs consulting company in Indonesia. He has advised multinational corporations, SOEs, and international organizations on public policy, political risk, and stakeholder engagement. Anton holds a master's degree in political science at Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and a master’s degree in communications and marketing at Leeds University Business
Erwin Tiamson
Property Rights Project Leader, Foundation for Economic Freedom

Erwin Tiamson has been involved in various land administration and natural resources projects for more than 25 years, where he analyzed policy issues and proposed changes in laws and regulations dealing with land titling and registration, agrarian reform, land use, and utilization of natural resources. Notably, he played a pivotal role in the enactment of key land titling laws such as Republic Act No. 10023 (Residential Free Patent Act), Republic Act No. 11231 (Agricultural Free Patent Reform Act), and Republic Act No. 11573 (An Act Improving the Confirmation Process for Imperfect Title). His work on liberalizing transactions on agricultural free patent titles under RA No. 11231 for the Foundation for Economic Freedom won the Templeton Freedom Award in New York in 2019.
Atty. Tiamson is a strong advocate for the formalization of land titles, enhancing the transferability and mobility of resources, and promoting the importance of private property in economic development. He has been a leading voice in the removal of restrictions on land transfers and land use regulations, emphasizing the critical role the mobility of private property plays in fostering economic growth. As a proponent of Ronald Coase’s theory, he believes that economic efficiency requires minimizing transaction costs in property transfers, a principle that has guided much of his legislative and policy work.

He lectures at Arellano University School of Law and the University of the Philippines Diliman, Department of Geodetic Engineering. He is a partner at Pulido & Tiamson Law Office, specializing in lands and natural resources law. He is a graduate of AB History from UP Diliman and an LLB from San Beda College of Law.
Ning Wang
Senior Fellow, Ronald Coase Institute

Ning Wang is Senior Fellow at the Ronald Coase Institute and Editor of Man and the Economy. He is a graduate of Beijing University and the University of Chicago. His academic interests include Coasean economics and China's market transformation. He is co-author with Ronald Coase of How China Became Capitalist. Coase on Law and Economics, edited and with an Introduction by Ning Wang, is just released from Peking University Press.
Doug Bandow
Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He previously served as Bastiat Scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Vice President at Citizen Outreach, Senior Fellow at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, Visiting Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan.
Bandow has written and edited several books, including Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire, The Korean Conundrum: America's Troubled Relations with North and South Korea (coauthor), Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World, Perpetuating Poverty: The World Bank, the IMF, and the Developing World (coeditor), The Politics of Plunder: Misgovernment in Washington, The Politics of Envy: Statism as Theology, and Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics.
Nicolas Cachanosky
Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Free Enterprise, The University of Texas at El Paso

Nicolas Cachanosky is Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Free Enterprise at The University of Texas at El Paso, Senior Fellow at the American Institute of Economic Research (AIER), and Fellow of the UCEMA Friedman-Hayek Center for the Study of a Free Society. He also serves as Associate Editor of the Southern Economic Journal. Nicolas is a past president of the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE) and former director of The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS).
William Ruger
President, American Institute for Economic Research

William Ruger serves as the President of the American Institute for Economic Research. He is the author of the biography Milton Friedman and co-author of two books on state politics, including Freedom in the 50 States (now in its 7th edition). Ruger earned his Ph.D. in Politics from Brandeis University and an A.B. from the College of William and Mary. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, and many other academic and press outlets. Ruger is a veteran of the Afghanistan War and remains an officer in the U.S. Navy (Reserve Component). Ruger was nominated to serve as the United States Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and was appointed by President Trump to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Deirdre McCloskey
Emerita Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago

Deirdre Nansen McCloskey is Senior Fellow and holder of the Isaiah Berlin Chair in Liberal Thought at the Cato Institute. From 2015 she has been Emerita Distinguished Professor of Economics and of History, Emerita Professor of English and of Communication, and Emerita Adjunct Professor of Classics and of Philosophy at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Trained at Harvard as an economist, she has written twenty-five books and edited nine more, and has published some five hundred articles on economic history, economic theory, statistical theory, rhetoric, literary criticism, feminism, epistemology, ethics, academic policy, legal theory, and liberalism. She taught for twelve years in the Department of Economics at The University of Chicago, as a tenured Associate Professor from 1975, and during her last year there also in History.

She describes herself now as a “postmodern, free-market, literary and statistical progressive Episcopalian feminist woman and classical liberal Aristotelian from Boston, Chicago, Iowa, and Washington DC who was once a man.”
Walter Olson
Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

Walter Olson is a Senior Fellow at Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and an author known for his writing on law, public policy, and regulation. He is the author of The Litigation Explosion and three other books on the American legal system and for more than twenty years wrote Overlawyered, one of the most popular blogs about law. He writes frequently on issues of election law and democratic process and chaired a series of commissions in the state of Maryland addressing redistricting and gerrymandering.
He served as an editor of Regulation magazine under then-editors Antonin Scalia and Murray Weidenbaum. He has a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and also studied economics at the graduate school at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Aaron Ross Powell
Podcast Host, ReImagining Liberty

Aaron Ross Powell is host of the ReImagining Liberty podcast, a show about the emancipatory and cosmopolitan case for radical social, political, and economic freedom. He also hosts The UnPopulist’s Zooming In podcast. Prior to those projects, he spent twelve years at the Cato Institute, where he founded and led Libertarianism.org, a source for the ideas and history providing the foundation for libertarian public policy and features introductory material as well as new scholarship related to libertarian philosophy, theory, and history. Aaron also co-hosted Free Thoughts, a weekly podcast on libertarianism and the ideas that influence it. Much of his recent scholarly work has focused on the intersection of secular Buddhist philosophy and liberalism, using the former to articulate and defend libertarian principles and an open society. He earned a BA in English and philosophy from the University of Colorado and a JD from the University of Denver.
Ian Vásquez
Director of the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity
Gabriel Calzada
President of the Mont Pelerin Society and Founder-President of the Instituto Juan de Mariana
Ninfa Salinas Sada
Chairwoman, Board of Fundación Azteca, President, Grupo Dragón, and Vice President of Grupo Salinas Executive Committee

Brian Smith
Senior Program Officer, Liberty Fund
Nouh El Harmouzi
Executive Director of the Arab Center for Scientific Research
Arvind Panagariya
Chairman of Finance Commision, Government of India

Arvind Panagariya is currently Chairman of the Finance Commission, Government of India. He is on leave from Columbia University where he has served as Professor of Economics and Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy since 2004.
He served as the first Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog, Government of India, as India’s G20 Sherpa, and led the Indian teams that negotiated the G20 Leaders’ Communiqués during presidencies of Turkey (2015), China (2016) and Germany (2017). Professor Panagariya is a former Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank and was on the faculty of the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland at College Park from 1978 to 2003. During these years, he also worked with the World Bank, IMF and UNCTAD in various capacities. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Princeton University and a Master’s in Economics from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur.

Professor Panagariya is a prolific writer. He has authored or edited more than 20 books and his scientific papers have been published in top economics journals such as American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Review of Economic Studies and International Economic Review. He writes a monthly column in the Times of India and his guest columns have appeared in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and India Today.
Stephen Brien
Visiting Senior Fellow, Artha Global

Stephen Brien is a Visiting Senior Fellow at Artha Global. He is also Senior Fellow at the Future Africa Forum and the Chair of the UK Social Security Advisory Committee.
Prior to this, he worked as the Director of Policy at the Legatum Institute where he also led the production of the Legatum Prosperity Index. His research focuses on the political economy of national transformation. He has written on the governance of over twenty countries across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas, most recently on democracy and land reform. Stephen has advised many governments in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa including Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Malawi and CAR. He has been a Director at Social Finance (UK); and was an advisor in the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP; 2010-2013). Prior to joining DWP, Stephen spent 15 years at Oliver Wyman, where he was a Partner, and served a term as the head of its London Office.
He has a BSc in Computer Science and Mathematics from University College Dublin, and an MSc, DPhil Computation, and an M.A. Law from the University of Oxford.
Robert Lawson
Jerome M. Fullinwider Centennial Chair in Economic Freedom and Director of the Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom, Southern Methodist University

Robert Lawson holds the Jerome M. Fullinwider Centennial Chair in Economic Freedom and directs the Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
He is a founding co-author of the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World annual report, which presents an economic freedom index for over 160 countries. Lawson has authored or co-authored over 100 academic publications and has over 13,000 Google Scholar citations. He is the co-author, with Benjamin Powell, of the Amazon Bestseller, Socialism Sucks: Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World.
He is a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute, a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, and a past president of the Association of Private Enterprise Education, from where he was awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award and Adam Smith Award.
Lawson earned his PhD and MS in Economics from Florida State University and his BS in Economics from the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University. He taught previously at Auburn University, Capital University, and Shawnee State University.
Peter Klein
Chair of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Baylor University

Peter Klein is an economist who studies entrepreneurship, organizations, and business strategy. He is Chair of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Baylor University where he also holds the W. W. Caruth Endowed Professorship. He is Co-Editor of the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Senior Academic Advisor of the Mises Institute, and the former Chair of the Academy of Management’s Entrepreneurship Division.
Mekin Maheshwari
Founder and CEO, Udhyam Learning Foundation

Mekin Maheshwari is the Founder and CEO of Udhyam Learning Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in India. He is driven by a strong belief in human capability and a profound commitment to drive equitable growth in India by giving every individual the means and agency to unlock their untapped potential.
Beyond his role at Udhyam Learning Foundation, Mekin is also a Co-Founder of the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship and an active contributor to Social Change.
He serves as a board member for TeamLease and multiple non-profit organisations such as Khan Academy India. He is also an angel investor in over 70+ startups and a diverse range of social enterprises, tech companies, and educational initiatives including Urban Company, Quizizz, Leverage Edu, etc. A philanthropist, Mekin is part of SVP, Giving Pi, Act Grants & has also individually contributed to over 35+ Non profits like ReapBenefit, AlohoMora, Inqui-Lab, and The Nudge Foundation.
Lars Peder Nordbakken
Economist, Civita

Lars Peder Nordbakken has a degree in civil economics from NHH and works as an economist in Civita. He also has extensive business experience and is the author of the Civita books "Liberal thinkers for our time" (2017), and "Opportunities for all - dynamic growth in a liberal market economy" (2006), as well as a number of articles and Civita notes on political and ideological thinking, liberal institutions, globalization, market economy, entrepreneurship and economic policy. Nordbakken is a member of The Mont Pelerin Society, an international network of liberal thinkers, and associated with the ordoliberal network NOUS (Netzwerk für Ordnungsökonomik und Sozialphilosophie). He sits on the board of the Liberal Research Institute Foundation (LIFO) and Gjerdrum Venstre.
Doug Hall
Industry Policy and Advocacy Specialist

Doug Hall is a policy entrepreneur who works with Australian industry peak organisations to develop and advocate for practical policies in the battle against unnecessary government policy and regulatory interventions.
Trained as a complex systems scientist (Biology & Biochemistry; University of Western Australia), he synthesizes fit-for-purpose solutions from a ‘tool-box’ of ideas, including from modern business management frameworks and pro-free market economists. He has worked with a diverse range of industries including agriculture, horticulture, waste and water. Doug is a strong supporter and defender of the civil society role of member-based and owned industry organisations.
Nimai Mehta
Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer, American University

Nimai Mehta is the Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, at American University. His area of research is on the quality and use of data under varying institutional contexts. Nimai has been the lead coordinator of a multidisciplinary effort at the university to employ data-science, economics, and machine-learning to improve data on missing and exploited children. He was previously the principal investigator for a UNICEF project on the quality of education data and reforms in Myanmar.
Mehta is presently collaborating with researchers in India to develop a numerical scale to assess, and rank, the content and quality of agricultural land laws across twenty main states. Prior to his appointment at the department, he was the Academic Director of the Economic Policy Program at Washington Semester, where his work focused on an empirical and institutional analysis of government failure. He also led the university’s policy programs in Asia and Europe. His work in Asia has included research on Hinduism and the caste system.

He has held teaching positions at the School of Economics, University of the Philippines, where he was a Research Fellow and Program Associate with the Center for Integrative and Development Studies. Prior positions include: Visiting Scholar at the James M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy in Fairfax, Virginia, and Adjunct Professor at George Mason University, Department of Economics. Mehta also serves on the Academic Council of the Indian School of Public Policy, New Delhi. He obtained his Masters in Applied Economics from Bombay University, and a Doctorate in Economics from George Mason University.
Lalit Patil Bahale
President, Shetkari Sanghatana

Lalit Patil Bahale’s formal academic training is in the subjects of Microbiology. Bahale is the President of Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmer’s organisation advocating freedom to access technology and market free from government intervention.
The organisation is supposed to have no geographical boundaries. The organisation defines development as an acceleration of increase in degrees of individual freedom. Bahale has been associated as a full timer of the organisation for almost 40 years.
Rainer Heufers
Founder and President, Center for Indonesian Policy Studies

Rainer Heufers is a distinguished policy analyst with over 30 years of expertise in advising governments and civil society stakeholders across Asia on strategies toward democracy, open markets, and international trade. With a profound analytical acumen in international trade, investment, and business regulations, Rainer has played a pivotal role in shaping rural development and agricultural policies, particularly in China and Indonesia. As the Founder and President of the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS), he has successfully led a team in producing influential research and advocacy programs, fostering collaboration with both local and international organizations, and significantly contributing to policy developments that enhance agricultural productivity and trade.
Throughout his career, Rainer has fostered civil society networks aimed at promoting prosperity, human rights, and liberal policies in Asia. His tenure with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation as a Resident Representative and Project Director showcased the ability to develop and implement strategic initiatives across multiple countries, including Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. His involvement not only advanced the missions of various organizations but also facilitated high-level political dialogues, public seminars, and expert roundtables that have made substantial impacts on public policy and governance in the region.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Centre for Social and Economic Progress
Thomas Easton
Mumbai Bureau Chief, The Economist

Tom Easton is Mumbai bureau chief. Tom joined The Economist in 2000, and was New York bureau chief before being appointed the Asian business editor in 2007. Previously he was the New York and Tokyo bureau chief for The Baltimore Sun, and a senior editor of Forbes. He has done regular television and radio spots with most of the world’s major networks. Tom writes on finance, law and capitalism.
Ibrahim Anoba

Ibrahim Anoba is the managing editor of African Liberty where he works with young Africans interested in pursuing careers in public policy and the media. Since 2019, he has trained more than 400 such individuals from 49 African countries. He is a frequent commentator for major West African cable news networks. His commentaries and opinion articles have featured in Forbes, ABC, Aljazeera, Mail and Guardian, Business Insider, The Africa Report, National Interest, Real Clear World, and several others.
Scott Lincicome
Vice President of General Economics and Stiefel Trade Policy Center, Cato Institute

Scott Lincicome is the vice president of general economics and Cato’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies. He writes on international and domestic economic issues, including international trade; subsidies and industrial policy; manufacturing and global supply chains; and economic dynamism.
Lincicome is also a senior visiting lecturer at Duke University Law School, where he has taught a course on international trade law, and he previously taught international trade policy as a visiting lecturer at Duke. Prior to joining Cato, Lincicome spent two decades practicing international trade law at White & Case LLP, where he litigated national and multilateral trade disputes and advised multinational corporations on how to optimize their transactions and business practices consistent with global trade rules and national regulations.

From 1998 to 2001, Lincicome was a trade policy research assistant at Cato; he became an adjunct scholar in 2013. During that time, Lincicome authored or coauthored several policy papers, as well as numerous op‐​eds on trade and economic issues. He is routinely featured on TV, radio, and print media.
Randall Holcombe
DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics, Florida State University

Randall G. Holcombe is DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Virginia Tech, and taught at Texas A&M University and at Auburn University prior to coming to Florida State in 1988. Dr. Holcombe is also Senior Fellow at the James Madison Institute, a Tallahassee-based think tank that specializes in issues facing state governments, is Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California, and is a Research Fellow at the Law & Economics Center at George Mason University. He served on Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors from 2000 to 2006, and is past president of the Public Choice Society and the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics. Dr. Holcombe is the author of twenty books and more than 200 articles published in academic and professional journals. His books include Political Capitalism: How Economic and Political Power Is Made and Maintained (2018) and Coordination, Cooperation, and Control: The Evolution of Economic and Political Power (2020).
Li Schoolland
Independent Educator

Li Schoolland is an independent educator, international speaker, writer, translator, and event organizer.

Mrs. Schoolland survived 26 years through the horrors of Mao’s regime in China. This motivated her to a lifetime of promoting freedom and liberty globally through the organization of Austrian economics, entrepreneurship conferences and summer camps nearly three decades in Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa. In China, she arranges translation and publication of libertarian literature, teaches free market economic principles with a team of international scholars, and coaches parents in raising liberty-minded youth.
Christopher Lingle
Visiting Professor, Universidad Francisco Marroquín

Christopher Lingle earned a doctorate in economics from the University of Georgia in 1977 and has been employed at universities in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the USA. He has been a member of the Mont Pelerin Society since 1999.
He is Visiting Professor of Economics in the Escuela de Negocios at Universidad Francisco Marroquín (since 1998); Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research; Board of Academic Advisors, Amagi Institute; Advisory Council of Academeya Foundation; International Senior Fellow for the Property Rights Alliance; International Senior Fellow at the Tholos Foundation; Academic Advisor, Instituto Fernando de la Mora: Academic Advisor, Advocata: Economic Advisor for the Asian Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs: Research Fellow, Centre for Market Education; and Senior Research Scholar, Centre for Civil Society.

His research interests are in the areas of Political Economy and International Economics with a focus on emerging market economies and public policy reform in East and Central Europe, East Asia, Latin America, and Southern Africa.

His book on the political economy of Singapore’s development was entitled, Singapore’s Authoritarian Capitalism: Asian Values, Free Market Illusions, and Political Dependency (1996). He is widely credited with anticipating the turmoil in the East Asian economies that began in 1997 (The Rise and Decline of the ‘Asian Century’: False Starts on the Road to the ‘Global Millennium’, May 1997).
Brad Lips
Chief Executive Officer of the Atlas Network

Brad Lips is the chief executive officer of Atlas Network. Since he became CEO in 2009, the budget of Atlas Network has more than doubled and the scope of its programs has extended worldwide. He is the author of Liberalism and the Free Society in 2021, as well as another monograph titled The Freedom Movement: Its Past, Present, and Future, as well as the editor of Finding New Ideas in Old Ones.
Lips is a member of the John Templeton Foundation, Templeton World Charity Foundation, and Templeton Religion Trust. He serves on the boards of directors of the American Friends of the Institute of Economic Affairs and Donors Capital Fund. He is on the Board of Advisors of Antigua Forum hosted by Universidad Francisco Marroquín, and served as the President of its 2024 meeting in Guatemala. As a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, Lips chaired the Organizing Committee of its General Meeting in 2016 and now chairs its Membership Committee.
Prior to joining Atlas Network in 1998, Lips co-founded an Internet start-up, conducted equity research for Smith Barney, Inc., and worked in a policy research capacity for the Progress & Freedom Foundation. He has spoken on five continents on solutions to poverty, and his work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, National Review Online, Investor's Business Daily, The Daily Caller, Forbes, Fox News, American Spectator, and RealClearPolitics.
Lips received his MBA from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University and his undergraduate degree from Princeton University. Brad lives with his wife, Stephanie, and their children in Falls Church, Virginia.
Matt Kibbe
President, Free the People

Matt Kibbe is President at Free the People, an educational foundation using video storytelling to teach the values of personal liberty and peaceful cooperation. Kibbe is also the host of BlazeTV’s “Kibbe on Liberty,” and a Senior Fellow at the Austrian Economics Center.
He was senior advisor for a Rand Paul Presidential Super PAC in 2016. In 2004 Kibbe founded FreedomWorks, a national grassroots advocacy organization, organizer of the Tea Party March on Washington on 9/12/09. Steve Forbes said: “Kibbe has been to FreedomWorks what Steve Jobs was to Apple.” Newsweek pronounced Kibbe “one of the masterminds” of tea party politics.

Dubbed “the scribe” by the New York Daily News, Kibbe is the author of the #2 New York Times bestseller Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff: A Libertarian Manifesto (HarperCollins 2014). Kibbe has appeared frequently on national television, including FOX News, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, CNN, MSNBC, and PBS.
Nils Karlson
Founding President and CEO, Ratio Institute

Nils Karlson is an economist and political scientist. He is the founder of the Ratio Institute in Stockholm and has been a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University, Hoover Institution, and a Professor in Political Science at Linköping University.
His research is focused on institutional change and the interaction between politics, markets, and civil society. He has published over 30 books and numerous academic papers. His latest book in English is Reviving Classical Liberalism against Populism (Palgrave MacMillan 2024), available open access here. Other books in English include Statecraft and Liberal Reform in Advanced Democracies (Palgrave MacMillan 2018), The State of State. An Inquiry Concerning the Role of Invisible Hands in Politics and Civil Society. (Almquist & Wiksell International 1993, also published by Transaction Press 2002, and Routledge 2017), and Bureaucrats or Markets in Innovation Policy? (Ratio/Publit 2019) with Sandström, C and Wennberg, K.).

He is a trustee of the board of the Mont Pelerin Society and a member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.
Syed Kamall
Professor, St. Mary’s University, Twickenham

Syed Kamall is a Professor of International Relations and Politics at St Mary’s University, Twickenham and an Academic Consultant at the Institute of Economic Affairs, the UK’s leading classical liberal think tank. He is also a member of the UK House of Lords, where he is Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Commonwealth, and Shadow Health Spokesman.
He has been a British Government Minister and was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Technology, Innovation and Life Sciences at the Department of Health and Social Care.
Roberta Herzberg
Senior Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University
Chien-Yuan Sher
Associate Professor at National Sun Yat-sen University and the President of Taiwan Liberty Society

Chien-Yuan Sher is an Associate Professor at the College of Management, National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan. He is also a founder and the president of the Taiwan Liberty Society (TLS). His research focuses on applied micro-econometrics, environmental economics, and public choice, with a special emphasis on partisan electoral interventions by autocracies. TLS was established in the summer of 2024 and is poised to become the first partner of the Atlas Network in Taiwan. TLS aims to foster an institutional environment that promotes individual empowerment and free enterprise, thereby championing principles of liberty and democratic values.
Puja Ohlhaver
Researcher and Lawyer

Puja Ohlhaver is a lawyer, innovator, and technologist. She is a member of the Getting Plurality Research Group at Harvard's Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation. She is co-author with Glen Weyl and Vitalik Buterin of “Decentralized Society: Finding Web3’s Soul.” Her writing has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, and WIRED. She previously practiced law at Skadden, Arps and founded ClearPath Surgical, Inc., a women’s healthcare company.
Pedro Schwartz
Rafael del Pino Professor in the Department of Economics at Camilo José Cela University in Madrid

Pedro Schwartz is Professor at the Camilo José Cela University and author, among many other books, of "Bases filosóficas del liberalismo" (1989) and "Encuentros con Karl Popper" (1994) together with Carlos Rodríguez Braun and Fernando Méndez Ibisate. As a professor at the Rafael del Pino Foundation, his main lines of research are the following: "Democratic Capitalism: Progress and Paradox", a complete rewrite in English version of his work "In Search of Montesquieu. Democracy in Peril" (2007), with a special focus on the economic crisis between 2007 and 2014; an edition of the "Iberian Correspondence of Jeremías Bentham"; and "Free banking in Spain (1856-1875)", a study of the period of free competition in the issuance of banknotes in Spain.
Lenore Ealy
International Vice President, Universidad Francisco Marroquin

Lenore Ealy is International Vice President at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala. As founding president of The Philanthropic Enterprise, Ealy worked with an international network of scholars, social entrepreneurs, and donors on academic and educational programs to advance understanding of how voluntary social cooperation and beneficence promote human flourishing.
Lenore Ealy is International Vice President at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala. As founding president of The Philanthropic Enterprise, Ealy worked with an international network of scholars, social entrepreneurs, and donors on academic and educational programs to advance understanding of how voluntary social cooperation and beneficence promote human flourishing.

Ealy has published widely in scholarly publications and has co-edited three books, the most recent of which is Commerce and Community: Ecologies of Social Cooperation, with Robert F. Garnett Jr. and Paul Lewis. With Paul Dragos Aligica, Ealy is co-editor for the book series Polycentricity: Studies in Institutional Diversity and Voluntary Governance. Ealy was also founding editor of the annual Conversations on Philanthropy: Emerging Questions in Liberality and Social Thought.

Previously, Ealy served as senior fellow for communities with the Charles Koch Institute. She has also been an affiliated senior scholar with The Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where she participated in a five-year project to follow the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast in the wake of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina. From 2005-10, Ealy served as a founding board member of Project K.I.D., Inc., a grassroots not-for-profit organization created to provide respite childcare in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Ealy also has served as president (2013) and secretary (2014-present) of The Philadelphia Society.

Ealy earned a bachelor's degree in science education from Auburn University, a master's in history from the University of Alabama, and a master's and a Ph.D. in history from The Johns Hopkins University.

Experience Agra: Heritage, History, and Heart

5:45
Assemble at Hotel Andaz
Depart from the Hotel Andaz.
06:00 - 10:00
Transfer from Delhi to Agra
Your tour begins early in the morning with a pick-up from your hotel or specified location in Delhi. You'll embark on a scenic drive to Agra, enjoying the changing landscapes along the way. (A packed breakfast will be provided during the journey)

10:30 – 12:00
Visit the Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal, also listed as one of the seven wonders of the world, is one of the most iconic symbols of love and architectural marvels in the world. Built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century as a memorial to his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, this white marble mausoleum is renowned for its stunning symmetry, intricate carvings, and beautiful inlay work of precious stones.

12:00

Transfer to Agra Fort (3 Km- 10 to 12 mins)

12:00 – 13:00
Visit Agra Red Fort

Agra Fort is a majestic UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Agra, India, just 2.5 kilometers from the Taj Mahal. Constructed primarily of red sandstone by Emperor Akbar in the 16th century, the fort served as the main residence of the Mughal emperors until 1638. Notable structures within the fort include the Diwan-i-Aam (Hall of Public Audience), Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience), and the Musamman Burj, a beautiful marble tower where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb.

13:00

Transfer to the Jaypee Palace Hotel Agra (6 Km, 15 to 20 minutes)
13:20
Lunch at Jaypee Palace Hotel, Agra
Address: 5339+G6Q, Fatehabad Rd, Tajganj, Tora, Uttar Pradesh 282004

14:20-16:00
Explore Local Markets/ Free Time

After lunch, take a stroll through the vibrant local markets of Agra. Experience the city's true essence as you shop for souvenirs, handicrafts, marble artifacts, and more. Engage with local artisans and soak in the lively atmosphere. Depending on your interest, you may have some free time to explore more of Agra independently.

16:00

Departure for the Hotel Andaz, Delhi ( 243 km, around 4 hours drive).

Journey through Delhi's Rich Mosaic of Cultures.

9:45
Assemble at Hotel Andaz

10:00

Transfer from the Andaz Hotel to the National Museum.
10:45 - 13:00
Visit the National Museum
The National Museum in New Delhi is one of India's largest and most comprehensive museums, showcasing the rich cultural heritage and history of the country. The museum houses an extensive collection of artifacts ranging from ancient sculptures and manuscripts to textiles and contemporary artworks.

13:00

Transfer from the National Museum to Connaught Place
13:10 -14:10
Lunch at Lazeez Affaire, CP
Address: K-12, Connaught Cir, near Sagar Ratna, Block K, Connaught Place, New Delhi, Delhi 110001

14:10 – 16:00
Connaught Place

Connaught Place, commonly known as CP, is one of Delhi’s most iconic and vibrant areas. Built during the British colonial era, this bustling commercial hub is famous for its circular design, colonial architecture, and lively atmosphere. The area is filled with an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants, cafes, and street vendors, offering everything from high-end brands to local handicrafts.

16:00

Transfer from Connaught Place to Akshardham Temple (10km , 25 to 30 minutes)

16:25 – 19:45
Visit Akshardham Temple

Akshardham Temple, also known as Swaminarayan Akshardham, is a spectacular Hindu temple complex in New Delhi that showcases the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of India. The temple is dedicated to Bhagwan Swaminarayan and features exhibits that highlight ancient Indian traditions, spiritual messages, and impressive artistry. Visitors can enjoy a serene boat ride depicting 10,000 years of India’s history, a captivating musical fountain show, and beautiful gardens, making it a must-visit for those seeking a deeper understanding of India’s spiritual legacy.

19:45 -20:15
Light and music show -
Akshardham Temple

The light and sound show at Akshardham Temple, known as the Sahaj Anand Water Show, is a mesmerizing experience that combines water, lights, sound, and projections to narrate ancient tales of wisdom and values from Indian culture. Held in the Yagnapurush Kund, the world’s largest stepwell, the show brings to life a story from the Kena Upanishad, depicting the eternal battle between gods and demons.

20:40

Transfer back to the Andaz Hotel Delhi ( 22km, 40 to 45 minutes) Coach departs for the Hotel at 20:40 sharp.
Shruti Rajagopalan
Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, and Fellow, Classical Liberal Institute

Shruti Rajagopalan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where she leads the Indian Political Economy Program and Emergent Ventures India. She is a Fellow at the Classical Liberal Institute at NYU School of Law and an Innovation Fellow with Schmidt Futures.Before joining the Mercatus Center she was an Associate Professor of Economics at State University of New York, Purchase College. She earned her Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University. She has a BA (Hons) Economics and LL.B. from University of Delhi; and an LL.M. from the European Masters in Law and Economics Program at University of Hamburg, Ghent University, and University of Bologna.
Her broad area of interest is the economic analysis of comparative legal and political systems. Her research interests specifically include law and economics, public choice theory, and constitutional economics. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, law reviews, and books. She is also the host of the Ideas of India podcast. She currently writes a substack on Indian political economy and culture called Get Down and Shruti. She used to write a fortnightly column called The Impartial Spectator in Mint. She has also published opinion editorials on Indian political economy in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Real Clear Politics, Mint, The Hindu: Business Line, and The Indian Express.
Sanjeev Sanyal
Member of Prime Minister Modi’s Economic Advisory Council

Sanjeev Sanyal is currently a Member of Prime Minister Modi’s Economic Advisory Council. He was the Principal Economic Adviser to the Finance Minister for five years until February 2022. He has represented India on many international forums including as Co-Chair of the G20’s Framework Working Group.
Prior to joining the government, he spent over two decades in financial markets and was Global Strategist and Managing Director at Deutsche Bank. Mr. Sanyal is the author of a number of best-selling books including Revolutionaries, Land of the Seven Rivers, The Ocean of Churn, India in the Age of Ideas, The Incredible History of the Indian Ocean, and the Indian Renaissance. He has also published around two hundred and fifty articles and columns in leading national and international publications.
Anantha Nageswaran
Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India
David Emanuel Andersson
Professor, National Sun Yat-sen University

David Emanuel Andersson is Professor of Management at National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He is the author or co-author of five books, including most recently The Future of the Post-industrial Society: Individualism, Creativity and Entrepreneurship (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), as well as about 60 contributions to edited books and journals such as Environment and Planning A, Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, and Journal of Economic Geography. Professor Andersson holds a PhD in Regional Planning from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a Fellow of the Center for Market Education in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was the editor of the multidisciplinary journal Cosmos + Taxis: Studies in Emergent Order and Organization from 2013 to 2020.
Gurcharan Das
Author and former CEO, Procter & Gamble India

Gurcharan Das is an author, commentator, and public intellectual. He is best known for a much-acclaimed trilogy on a lifelong search for a flourishing life based on the classical Indian goals of life: India Unbound, The Difficulty of Being Good, and Kama: The Riddle of Desire. His latest book, Another Sort of Freedom, is a memoir and a contemporary take on moksha, the fourth and final aim of life.
He graduated in philosophy with honors from Harvard University, where he has been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa for ‘high attainments in liberal scholarship.’ He later attended Harvard Business School (AMP) where he is featured in four case studies. He was CEO of Procter & Gamble India and Managing Director, Procter & Gamble Worldwide (Health & Beauty, Strategic Planning) before he retired early to become a full-time writer. He writes a regular column for the Times of India and other Indian language papers, and contributes to Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times. He is a speaker to some of the world’s largest corporations.

His other books include India Grows at Night: A liberal case for a strong state, which was on the FT’s best books for 2013; a novel, A Fine Family; a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm, and an anthology, Three Plays. He has edited for Penguin a 15-volume economic and business history of India.
Amrit Mathur
Advisor to the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS)

Amrit Mathur is an Advisor to the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS). Amrit has over 30 years of experience in senior management positions across sports federations, authorities, corporate entities, the Government and media. Amrit started his career as Secretary Railway Sports Board in 1988 and was responsible for formulating sports policy in Indian Railways. In 1996 he took up the role of Secretary Sports Authority of India (SAI) Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and headed a team tasked to implement sports plans & schemes of the Government of India.
Between 2006 and 2008, Amrit was Executive Director with Commonwealth Games, Delhi and was part of the Chairman’s Secretariat and coordinated the Pune Youth Games. From 2008 to 2012, Amrit became the Chief Operating Officer, Delhi Daredevils and was responsible for cricket and commercial results of the Delhi franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Amrit was also Adviser, Ministry of Sports, Government of India, between 2013 and 2015, formulating the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme, the flagship programme of the Government to support excellence and win medals at the Olympics.
In addition to the above experience, Amrit is also Member National Sports Committee of CII & FICCI, Vice President, Professional Golf Association of India, cricket columnist for leading national dailies/magazines since 1980 and also writes a weekly cricket column for Hindustan Times. He also had a long association with the BCCI, beginning in 1988.
Surjit Bhalla
Author
Nandan Kamath
Co-Founder, Sports and Society Accelerator

Qualified to practice in India and California, Nandan specialises in sports and technology law, governance and regulation. He is Managing Trustee of GoSports Foundation and Co-Founder of Sports and Society Accelerator.
Nandan recently authored Boundary Lab, Penguin Viking, 2024, was the Co-Editor of Go! India’s Sporting Transformation, Penguin Random House, 2019, and, while a student, edited one of the first texts on Indian internet law - Law Relating to Computers, Internet and E-Commerce: A Guide to Cyberlaws and the Information Technology Act, 2000 – Universal Law Publishing Co, Delhi.

Nandan is a graduate of the National Law School of India University, the University of Oxford (on a Rhodes Scholarship) and Harvard Law School. He has represented and captained the Karnataka state junior teams in cricket.
Judy Shelton
Senior Fellow, Independent Institute


Judy Shelton is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute. Former Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy and former U.S. Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, she has testified before the U.S. Senate Banking, Senate Foreign Relations, House Banking, House Foreign Affairs, and Joint Economic Committee. Shelton was a nominee for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in 2020. Shelton has been consulted on international economic/financial issues by national security officials at the White House, U.S. Congress, and the Pentagon. She received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University as a National Fellow, and she became a Hoover Senior Research Fellow (1985–1995).
She is the author of The Coming Soviet Crash: Gorbachev’s Desperate Pursuit of Credit in Western Financial Markets (1989) and Money Meltdown: Restoring Order to the Global Currency System (1994). Her forthcoming book in 2024 is entitled Good as Gold: How to Unleash the Power of Sound Money. Shelton's popular articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Hill, and The Weekly Standard. She often provides commentary for CNBC and Fox Business on monetary and financial issues. Shelton was an economic advisor for the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform chaired by Jack Kemp (1995–96). She was a founding member of the board of directors of Empower America and has also served on the board of directors for Hilton Hotels and Atlantic Coast Airlines. She also taught international finance as a visiting professor at the DUXX Graduate School of Business in Monterrey, Mexico (1995–2001). Shelton has further served as Senior Fellow and Director of the Sound Money Project at the Atlas Network where she authored the monographs, A Guide to Sound Money (2010) and Fixing the Dollar Now (2011). She holds a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Utah with an emphasis on finance and international economics.
Peter Mentzel
Senior Fellow, Liberty Fund, Inc.

Peter Carl Mentzel studied Philosophy and History at the University of Connecticut, and went on to get his Ph.D. in History at the University of Washington in 1994. From 1995 to 2007, he was a professor in the History Department at Utah State University. He joined the staff at Liberty Fund, Inc, in 2008 as a Senior Fellow.
His research interests include the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, European Intellectual History, and Nationalism. Besides his contributions to Liberty Fund’s websites, he has published articles in peer-reviewed journals such as The East European Quarterly, The Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Nations and Nationalism and Turcica, as well as numerous contributions to edited collections. He is the author of Transportation Technology and Imperialism in the Ottoman Empire, and The Travelers’ History of Venice. He is editor of For God and Country: Essays on Religion and Nationalism; Islam in the Balkans; and (with Henry T. Edmondson III), Imagining Europe: Essays on the History and Future of the European Union.
Kumar Anand
Senior Fellow, Centre for Civil Society

Kumar Anand leads the Academy team at Centre for Civil Society. He is an economist and public policy professional with over 15 years of experience. Kumar has worked on questions related to Indian Economy, Indian Economic History, and Public Policy at organizations including Asianomics Limited, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy and Free A Billion. He has written for national and international publications including Le Point - Phebe, Asianomics, The Hindu, Rajasthan Patrika, Pragati, Swarajya, among others. He studied economics at University of Delhi and Gokhale Institute of Politics & Economics, Pune..
Alberto Mingardi
Director General, Istituto Bruno Leoni

Alberto Mingardi is Director General of Istituto Bruno Leoni Italy’s free-market think tank, which he helped to establish in 2004. He has specialized in the study of antitrust and of healthcare systems. He also studies the history of political thought and is now writing a monograph on English libertarian Thomas Hodgskin after having written mainly on Herbert Spencer and Antonio Rosmini He authored or edited several books, including Herbert Spencer (New York & London: Continuum, 2011), Eppur si muove: Come cambia la sanità in Europa, tra pubblico e privato [And yet it moves: how Europe healthcare is changing, in between government and the private sector] (Torino: IBL Libri, editor w/Gabriele Pelissero, 2010) and translated into English, Antonio Rosmini, The Constitution Under Social Justice (Lexington Books, 2003).
His commentaries have appeared in major Italian newspapers, and he frequently appears on Italian radio and tv. Internationally, his opinion pieces have also been published by The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the Financial Times. He holds a PhD in Political Science from University of Pavia.
Lawrence H. White
Professor, George Mason University

Lawrence H. White is Professor of Economics at George Mason University Known for his work on market-based monetary systems, his Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin? was published in 2023. He is also the author of The Clash of Economic Ideas (2012), The Theory of Monetary Institutions (1999), Free Banking in Britain (2nd ed. 1995), and Competition and Currency (1989). He co-edited Renewing the Search for a Monetary Constitution(2015). Professor White’s research has appeared in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Economic Literature, the Economic History Review, and other leading economics journals. His popular writings have appeared in The Wall St. Journal and elsewhere.
White holds an AB from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has received an Honorary Doctorate from the Universidad Francisco Marroquin. In May 2023 gave the keynote address at the annual Swiss National Bank conference on Cryptoassets and Financial Innovation. He is monetary policy advisor to the layer-one blockchain project Prasaga, and is an advisor to the nonprofit stablecoin rating agency Bluechip.
Mark S. Miller
Chief Scientist, Agoric

Mark S. Miller is a pioneer of Agoric (market-based secure distributed) computing and smart contracts, main designer of the E distributed persistent object-capability programming language, inventor of Miller Columns, an architect of the Xanadu hypertext publishing system, an early cypherpunk, a representative to the EcmaScript committee, a former Google research scientist, a senior fellow of the Foresight Institute, and founder + Chief Scientist of Agoric.
Benjamin Powell
Executive Director of the Free Market Institute and Professor of Economics, Texas Tech University

Benjamin Powell is the Executive Director of the Free Market Institute and Professor of Economics in the Area of Energy Commerce & Business Economics of the Rawls College of Business. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University and taught at San Jose State University and Suffolk University prior to joining Texas Tech.
His research focuses on the economics of immigration and the economics of sweatshop labor and contributes to scholarly literature in Austrian economics, public choice, and institutional economics. He has published more than 75 scholarly articles and policy studies. His research findings have been reported in hundreds of popular press outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

Powell also writes frequently for the popular press. His popular writing has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, New York Post, The Dallas Morning News and many other outlets. He has appeared on numerous radio, podcast, and television programs on networks including Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and Showtime. He was a regular guest commentator on Fox Business Network's Freedom Watch and Stossel.
Eamonn Butler
Co-Founder and Director, Adam Smith Institute

Eamonn Butler is a leading advocate of personal and economic freedom. His short and accessible books are ideal introductions to issues in social and economic freedom and are published in more than thirty countries and twenty languages. They include introductions to free market economists, economic schools of thought, institutions, principles and issues.
Eamonn is a frequent contributor to both academic and popular media, podcasts, documentary films and international conferences, focusing on the importance of freedom and enterprise, and the limitations of government solutions to social and economic problems. He is influential in worldwide debates on public policy and the role of government.

Eamonn brings a breadth of experience to bear on these subjects, holding degrees in economics, psychology and philosophy. He has worked for the US Congress, and co-founded the Adam Smith Institute, which has become one of the world’s top policy think tanks. His ability to communicate the principles of liberty, entrepreneurship and progress inspires advocates for social and economic freedom worldwide.
Remy Munasifi
YouTube Content Creator and Comedian

Remy Munasifi is a YouTube creator and comedian whose videos have been viewed hundreds of millions of times. He is a frequent contributor to ReasonTV. Remy resides in Virginia, USA with his wife and three children.