The Free Market Road Show in the United States
Last November 2014 the Free Market Road Show visited the Unites States for the first time. It was a one day event in Lubbock (Texas). Why Lubbock? Because it is there Benjamin Powell runs the Free Market Institute of the Texas Tech University.
The American event was titled “What can the US learn from Europe?” and featured two veteran road warriors -John Charalambakis and Enrico Colombatto- and the FMRS Director herself, Barbara Kolm.
Dr. Kolm kick started the event with a presentation on youth unemployment. She aimed at the minimum wage, which she considers “the enemy”. As she pointed out, the literature is inclined to the view that minimum wage is harmful. She teamed up with heavyweights like Rothbard, Friedman, and Mises to make her case.
Perhaps the funniest moment of the afternoon was her recollection that the US Department of Labor almost put the Salvation Army “out of business” because that charitable organization didn’t pay the minimum wage.
After Dr. Kolm, it was Prof. Enrico Colombatto’s turn.
Dr. Colombatto described how the centralized European bureaucracy is working hand in hand with European big businesses in the so-called “Big Game”. What’s this big game about? It’s about bankrupting small and medium businesses with an overabundance of regulations. Naturally, the big players can adjust to it, but the ones that are on the margin can’t survive. The results of the big game are corruption and unemployment.
By the way, perhaps Prof. Colombatto summarized perfectly what the US can learn from Europe when he said: “Look at us and stay away”.
Finally, it was time for Dr. John Charalambakis, who warned of bubbles that have yet to burst. Case in point: China. He also made some very interesting remarks that I’m planning to go in depth in an interview with him I’ll be publishing here soon.
Please don’t leave this post without watching the full video of the FMRS US. It takes about an hour and a half and I can assure you that you’ll enjoy each and every minute.
The Free Market Road Show is growing fast. This year we will be visiting 36 cities across Europe, the Caucasus and Israel. And believe me when I tell that the history of the Free Market Road Show in US has just begun.
See you on the road!
