There are so many good things you can say about Michael McKay so I will just mention a few things. Michael is the founder of Radio Free Market. I can really recommend one of his recent lectures about Reality Economics at Carthage College here. Michael is also a vivid supporter of many freedom organizations. Michael has been a successful business man for several years and is also the author of the Secrets About Money.
To sit down with Michael and discuss any subject is always a pleasure and I admire him on so many levels. I think one of the things I love most about Michael is that he is dedicated to help young people and to really spread his knowledge. In this interview Michael tell us about PFS, his books, advice for young people and how to build a business.
Below is the initial (preliminary) list of speakers and topics for the Eighth Annual Meeting of the PFS, which will be held in Bodrum, Turkey at the Hotel Karia Princess, from Thursday, September 19, to Tuesday, September 24, 2013. Those interested in attending should contact Dr. Hoppe or Mr. Grözinger, Administrative Secretary, regarding conditions, availability, and requirements. (Please be advised that nearly half of all available places have already been reserved. So don’t wait too long.)
(Note: The list of speakers and topics for the Seventh Annual Meeting (Sept. 27-Oct. 1, 2012), as well as video of the presentations, may be found here.)
Property and Freedom Society
8th Annual Meeting, September 19–24, 2013
Karia Princess Hotel, Bodrum, Turkey
Speakers & Topics
Anthony Daniels (Theodore Dalrymple), Public Health or Public Totalitarianism? A Report from Medical Journals
I delivered this speech in September 2012 for the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Property and Freedom Society in Bodrum, Turkey. The audio of my speech was corrupted due to a technical error, so I re-recorded a version of the speech; audio and streaming below.
The talk was largely based on two previous papers:
Note: I have since changed my mind on the some of the issues regarding the Hayekian “knowledge problem” and Leoni’s work in this regard, as I have noted in subsequent articles, such as the Knowledge, Calculation, Conflict, and Law review above, footnote 5. Oh, that I had heeded Jeff Herbener’s comments on an earlier manuscript, but I either got these comments too late, or did not fully appreciate them at the time. More information on the calculation debate. [↩]
Frank Karsten is chairman of the Stichting Meer Vrijheid (More Freedom Foundation), a Dutch libertarian organization which acts to reduce taxes and government intervention. He regularly appears in public to speak against the growing interference of the State in the lives of citizens.
Frank Karsten is chairman of the Stichting Meer Vrijheid (More Freedom Foundation), a Dutch libertarian organization which acts to reduce taxes and government intervention. He regularly appears in public to speak against the growing interference of the State in the lives of citizens.
Frank Karsten is also the author of the amazing book Beyond Democracy which now is being translated to many languages including the Swedish version here.
Frank Karsten is also one of the founders of Mises.nl which will have their inaugural meeting this year. I had the pleasure to meet Frank during his first visit to the PFS conference and he was kind enough to give this interview about the great job he is doing.
Recorded at the Property and
Freedom Society 2012 Bodrum, Turkey.
propertyandfreedom.org/
Recorded by Ludwig von Mises Institute in Sweden
www.mises.se
Episode 84: Andy Duncan talks to “Austrian” economist, Professor Thorsten Polleit, about a recent speech he gave entitled “What Do Bankers Know About Money and Banking?” Dr Polleit is Chief Economist for Degussa Goldhandel in Germany, and for 12 years until April of 2012 was the Chief German Economist for Barclays Capital. He lectures in Economics at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, and the universities of Bayreuth and Duisburg-Essen.
Andy and Thorsten discuss the latter’s monetary theory of how fiat currency tends to result in “collective corruption” in societies, and how this then leads to hyperinflation, despite the dangers to society that hyperinflation always brings. They also debate the development of global fiat currency over the last 40 years, and how increasing levels of debt may mark its terminal decline. Governments may plan for this decline by re-introducing gold-backing to Western currencies.
You can watch Dr Polleit’s speech “What Do Bankers Know About Money and Banking?” at this link. For more information about Dr Polleit and his work visithttp://www.thorsten-polleit.com.
The following interview with Hans-Hermann Hoppe first appeared in the German weekly Junge Freiheit on November 2, 2012, and was conducted by Moritz Schwarz. It has been translated here into English by Robert Groezinger.
Are taxes nothing but protection money? The state a kind of mafia? Democracy a fraud? Philosopher Hans-Hermann Hoppe is not only considered one of the most prominent pioneering intellectuals of the libertarian movement, but also perhaps the sharpest critic of the Western political system.
Professor Hoppe: In your essay collection ‘Der Wettbewerb der Gauner’ (‘The Competition of Crooks’) you write that ‘99 percent of citizens, asked if the state was necessary, would answer yes.’ Me too! Why am I wrong?
Hoppe: All of us, from childhood, have been moulded by state or state licensed institutions – preschools, schools, universities. So the result you quoted is not surprising. However, if I asked you whether you said yes to an institution having the last word in each conflict, even in those it is itself involved in, you would certainly say no – unless you hoped to be in charge of this institution yourself.
Er … correct.
Hoppe: Of course, because you know that such an institution cannot only mediate in conflicts but also cause them, you can recognize that it can then resolve them to its own advantage. In the face of this I, for one, would live in fear of my life and property. However, it is precisely this, the ultimate power of judicial decision-making, that is the specific characteristic of the institution known as the state.
The Q&A session for Day 2 of the 2012 Annual Meeting is now available (see below), with panelists Guido Huelsmann, Douglas French, Thorsten Polleit, Joseph Salerno, and Hans-Hermann Hoppe. For others, see the links in the Program, or the PFS Vimeo channel. Other speeches will be uploaded presently.
Joe Salerno’s speech for the 2012 Annual Meeting is now available (see below). For others, see the links in the Program, or the PFS Vimeo channel. Other speeches will be uploaded presently.
Jeff Tucker’s speech for the 2012 Annual Meeting is now available (see below). For others, see the links in the Program, or the PFS Vimeo channel. Other speeches will be uploaded presently.
Thorsten Polleit’s speech for the 2012 Annual Meeting is now available (see below). For others, see the links in the Program, or the PFS Vimeo channel. Other speeches will be uploaded presently.
From Joakim Fagerström on Mises Sweden, an interview he conducted at the 7th Annual Meeting of the PFS:
Doug French is Senior Editor at Laissez Faire Club and served as the president at the Mises Institute for many years. Doug received his master degree under the direction of Murray N. Rothbard at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas after many years in the business of banking.
Doug is one of the reasons why the Mises Institute has expanded so much over the years. He has not only achieved a lot in his life but he is also a true inspiration for other people. Doug knows how to build great teams to achieve results. He is always humble and ready to share his knowledge. As an example he spent an evening sharing his knowledge on PFS with younger think thanks. It is truly a privilege to be able to ask and get advice from someone like Doug. The good thing with Doug is that he has experience from “real” think thanks not the kind of public policy think thanks that wants to stay close to the political power in Washington and get corrupted step by step.
Doug was also kind enough to give this interview. In this interview you will hear him talk about PFS and the plans for Laissez Fair Books which I am sure will see a fantastic growth the coming years together with Doug and Jeffrey.
You can read his latest articles at Laissez Faire Books here.
As noted here, the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Property and Freedom Society was held from Thursday, September 18, 2025 to Tuesday, September 23, 2025, in Bodrum, Turkey, at the Hotel Karia Princess.
Those interested in attending future meetings should contact Mr. Thomas Jacob ([email protected]) (Administrative Secretary/Membership), regarding conditions, availability, and requirements.
Speakers and topics for previous Annual Meetings may be found here.
To donate with BITCOIN please use the address below. If you would like us to credit your payment (for dues, conference fees, etc.) please email Stephan Kinsella ([email protected]) when you make the bitcoin payment.
17M9V6m5X5Da4vNM5wWLjzcHz9qF36FPk6
“Property does not exist because there are laws, but laws exist because there is property.” — FrédéricBastiat
“Because the concept of property, for instance, is so basic that everyone seems to have some immediate understanding of it, most people never think about it carefully and can, as a consequence, produce at best a very vague definition. But starting from imprecisely stated or assumed definitions and building a complex network of thought upon them can lead only to intellectual disaster. For the original imprecisions and loopholes will then pervade and distort everything derived from them. To avoid this, the concept of property must first be clarified.” —Hans-Hermann Hoppe, TSC, ch. 2
The Property and Freedom Society (PFS; Facebook) stands for an uncompromising intellectual radicalism: for justly acquired private property, freedom of contract, freedom of association—which logically implies the right to not associate with, or to discriminate against—anyone in one's personal and business relations—and unconditional free trade. It condemns imperialism and militarism and their fomenters, and champions peace. It rejects positivism, relativism, and egalitarianism in any form, whether of "outcome" or "opportunity," and it has an outspoken distaste for politics and politicians. As such it seeks to avoid any association with the policies and proponents of interventionism, which Ludwig von Mises identified in 1946 as the fatal flaw in the plan of the many earlier and contemporary attempts by intellectuals alarmed by the rising tide of socialism and totalitarianism to found an anti-socialist ideological movement. Mises wrote: "What these frightened intellectuals did not comprehend was that all those measures of government interference with business which they advocated are abortive. ... There is no middle way. Either the consumers are supreme or the government."
(A more complete statement of our Principles can be found here.)
Follow Us!