From September 29th to the 30th, Atlas sponsored the 2nd Asian Resource Bank Meeting in Phuket Island in order to spread the ideas of classical liberalism among Asia’s intellectual entrepreneurs. The conference took the form of a colloquium, focusing on Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty “to raise the intellectual level of the institute leaders who have emerged from activity rather than from ideas.”
The conference was immediately followed by a conference sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung.
After a successful first annual Asian Resource Bank last September 2004 in Hong Kong, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation teamed up again with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) in Phuket, Thailand, to host ‘The Constitution of Liberty in Asia” colloquium on September 30, 2005 prior to their Economic Freedom Network meeting on October 1-2, 2005.
The purpose of ‘The Constitution of Liberty in Asia” colloquium was to gather together a small number of individuals that were interested in participating in an in-depth discussion of classical liberal ideas. The discussions were based on selected chapters of F.A. Hayek’s seminal book, The Constitution of Liberty. While the 2004 Asian Resource Bank meeting featured “nuts and bolts” aspects of how to run a think tank and was open to a larger number of participants, this colloquium provided an intimate setting where participants could freely explore the freedom philosophy presented by Hayek and examine its implications for Asian nations. During the colloquium, participants discussed answers to questions such as: Why is freedom important? What does it mean to be free? What are the institutions that enable freedom to take hold and grow? How can we apply these ideas to contemporary economic and social issues? How do we defend common objections to these views? The colloquium consisted of one moderator, 19 participants and 6 observers from 16 different countries. Leonard Liggio, Executive Vice President of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, served as the moderator of the meetings.
Atlas is already in the initial planning stages for the 2006 Asian Resource Bank meeting and is open to all ideas and suggestions on potential speakers. In keeping with the Atlas mission, we anticipate a larger Atlas program that is geared toward ‘nuts and bolts’ sessions on how to run a successful think tank. If you have suggestions for speakers, particularly those from within the Asian free market think tank network or would like to be added to the Asian Resource Bank electronic newsletter and yahoo discussion group list, please email Colleen Dyble.
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