“If protectionists were consistent, they should be lauding the captain of the Ever Given for his ability to disrupt trade,” writes Dr. Tom G. Palmer for FEE. “Of course, no serious person would propose an award to the captain of the Ever Given, but there’s really no economic difference between the bulk of a gigantic ship physically blocking trade and the armed police of the Customs and Border Patrol coercively blocking trade.” Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

An associate partner of a management consulting firm, the chairman of an association of landowners, the head of analytics at Atlas Network partner EasyBusiness, and an advisor to the Prime Minister of Ukraine walk into a recording booth—all in the person of Dmytro Lyvch—where he spoke with AtlasNexus host Vale Sloane about his various endeavors to liberalize Ukraine’s economy. Listen to this can't-miss episode of AtlasNexus for the inside scoop of what needs to change in order for Ukraine to be successful, in addition to some of the major victories he and others have already won.

 

The Market Solutions Research Center for Social and Economic Issues in Vietnam and Instituto de Ciencia Política Hernán Echavarría in Colombia both conducted Economic Freedom Audits to effectively convey the advantages of economic freedom and free markets to policy reformers in a way that creates local ownership of practical reform. Such audits are conducted in partnership with the Fraser Institute and examine a country’s standing within the Economic Freedom of the World Report, enabling participants and the public to see how their nation does against the regional, world, and top 10 averages in economic freedom along 42 dimensions, while being provided with world-class policy examples for improvement.

The Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy has promoted education reform in the state for years, as profiled in this Atlas Network short film called Education Reimagined. Just a few weeks ago, the state passed a law establishing education savings accounts—known as the Hope Scholarship Program—to put money in an account controlled by families that can fund a customized education for their child. “The Hope Scholarship program will give $4,600 to parents per child currently in the public education system who want to access it for alternative educational opportunities,” according to the think tank’s press release.
 

In Lithuania, a mandate from the national government required pharmacies to employ at least one full-time pharmacist on shift at all times, which drove up compliance costs for the many pharmacies that preferred to hire pharmacy technicians for the same work. LFMI found that, if the mandate were to continue, 272 pharmacies across the country would reduce their operating hours and 150 pharmacies (over 10% of all pharmacies in Lithuania) would close in the upcoming term, resulting in many rural and underserved areas losing direct access to medicine. The government listened, and it is removing the policy.

The post-Soviet democracy of Georgia is under threat as politically motivated police raids, crackdowns on speech, and corruption wreak havoc on the small republic of roughly 4 million people. “Those of us in still free and democratic societies who wish to preserve our own liberty and democracy should stand against backsliding toward dictatorship,” write Dr. Tom G. Palmer and Ellen Saakashvili for Eurasia Review. “Autocracy and brutality are a bit like viruses; once one country catches it, it’s easier for others to catch it, too.”

Atlas Network’s Center for Latin America (CLA) and Uruguayan partner Centro de Estudios de la Realidad Economica y Social have just released a joint report—the Latin America Macro Vista Regional Report—detailing the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic toll on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The report also offers a long-term outlook on the post-pandemic LAC region, identifying productivity barriers and unemployment woes that make tangible pro-growth reforms a necessary condition for lasting recovery and renewed human progress. The Latin America Macro Vista Regional Report can be accessed on the CLA’s new website, which also includes detailed economic statistics on every country in the region as well as more information about the center and its various new initiatives.  

Founded in 2020, the Frontier Institute has already contributed to widespread success in its home state of Montana. Frontier Institute CEO Kendall Cotton details their Montana Recovery Agenda—which is reshaping red tape and regulation in the Big Sky state—on this episode of the AtlasNexus podcast. The Frontier Institute presented the agenda to Governor Greg Gianforte shortly after his election, and he created by executive order a “Red Tape Relief Advisory Council” to construct “a plan for a comprehensive review and reform of regulations in every state agency.” 

A recent study by Carlos Newland, Juan Carlos Rosiello, and Roberto Salinas-León on the role of influencers in economic matters in the United States, Latin America, and Spain has been published by the distinguished Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics. This essay constitutes part of a broader effort that Atlas Network began in 2020, with Dr. Carlos Newland, to measure degrees of “economic mentality” across different countries, which will be published later this year. One seemingly paradoxical conclusion of the study is that countries characterized by a free-market mindset tend to be dominated by influencers with strong pro-state and anti-market points of view (especially in the U.S.), and countries with much greater statist dominance in their current politics (such as Argentina, Mexico, or Spain) have seen a much greater presence of pro-market and pro-freedom voices in social media influence.

Our Center for African Prosperity is pleased to announce an upcoming monthly webinar series, Africa Reimagined, that will feature some of the most influential voices in the African liberty movement. Each webinar will provide a combination of thoughtful insight and practical advice for our African partners (and anyone interested in the region). Whether you are at an established think tank, looking to start one of your own, or just curious about some of the important work being done across the continent, Africa Reimagined will have something for you. Register for the first webinar in the series—featuring Dr. Denis Foretia on April 29—and you’ll be able to tune into any subsequent webinars in the series that will run through the late summer.