AtlasNetwork World10 highlights the top 10 happenings around the world in the global freedom movement.

 

1 — Are Educational Savings Accounts the school choice movement’s “silver bullet”?

The Goldwater Institute, an Arizona-based Atlas Network partner, scored a major victory this past week as the Arizona Supreme Court declined to review a legal challenge to education savings accounts (ESAs), letting stand a unanimous victory in the Court of Appeals. Goldwater designed an education savings account proposal in 2005, which has been adopted and expanded in Arizona over the past three years to now benefit more than 200,000 children. This week’s win paves the way for other states to use ESAs as a means of providing real choices in education. Congratulations to Goldwater, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, the Institute for Justice, and others that worked toward this important victory. Learn more about how the accounts work and how to bring them to your state.
 

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2 — Winning freedom in Latin America

In Venezuela, people are literally fighting for their freedom. At this past week’s Atlas Network sponsored international conference, hosted by Fundacion Internacional para la Libertad in Peru, no one got a bigger round of applause than Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Along with the former president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, and of Chile, Sebastian Piniera, and other dignitaries, Machado presented a message of hope and a warning to regional leaders, who she said are accomplices of Venezuela’s regime if they show indifference to the country’s plight.
 

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3 — A populist libertarian youth movement?

Can the liberty movement of the 21^st century learn from the popular success had by socialists in the 20^th? Atlas Network CEO Brad Lips suggests in American Thinker how to grow the worldwide freedom movement by keeping a clear focus on protecting individuals’ liberty from government coercion. He recently attended the European Students For Liberty Conference in Berlin, where 570 young libertarians came from 41 countries to celebrate their growing movement and to strategize. Read more about the conference and the movement’s future in Brad’s American Thinker article.
 

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4 — Spreading free-market ideas in Lebanon

The Middle East has too few advocates of free markets and limited government. A new chapter of Students for Liberty (SFL) in Lebanon wants to change that. At its conference in Beirut last week, the group discussed the freedom philosophy and shared success stories of SFL chapters worldwide. Atlas Network’s Executive VP Tom Palmer and Arabic platform editor Nouh El-Harmouzi explained why liberty is vital to the region. The students’ passion shows great promise for the future of the freedom movement in Lebanon.
 

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5 — New Zealand Initiative encourages more open international trade for its country

New Zealand is among the world leaders in economic freedom, yet it lags behind similarly free countries like Hong Kong and Singapore in foreign investment. New Atlas Network partner The New Zealand Initiative, founded in 2012, examines this discrepancy in a report, "Capital Doldrums: How Globalisation is Bypassing New Zealand." The study finds that the country should become more open to international trade in order to continue increasing the standard of living for all New Zealanders.
 

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6 — Watchdog group distinguishes between free-market and crony capitalism

Open The Books, an Illinois-based watchdog group, is peeling back the veil on corporate welfare. The organization monitors all federal grants, loans, direct payments and insurance subsidies flowing to individuals and companies. Its new report shows Fortune 100 companies received $1.2 trillion in payments from the federal government over the past 12 years. Matthew Tyrmand, Director of Development & Public Relations for Open The Books, is an Atlas Leadership Academy Think Tank 101 Online graduate. Read more about Open The Books’ findings in Steve Moore’s recent article in Investor’s Business Daily.
 

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7 — Rising star – Brown University professor, John Tomasi – to give annual Liggio Lecture at Atlas Network’s Liberty Forum 2014

John Tomasi, founder and director of the Political Theory Project at Brown University, will join November’s event to give the second annual Liggio Lecture. The program honors our long-time Executive VP, Leonard Liggio, and puts a spotlight on important thought leaders in the freedom movement. Drawing from his important 2013 book, Free Market Fairness, Tomasi will highlight his study of the institutions and ideas that make societies more free, prosperous and fair.
 

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8 — Tanzanian student leads massive East Africa outreach program

Students are on the move for freedom around the world. In Tanzania, University of Dodoma student Isack Danford heads up Tanzanian Students For Liberty. Danford strives to move his country past the socialist era of his parents from 1967-1985. He recently led a massive East African outreach program, recruiting more than 1,100 students from Kenya and Tanzania to join Students for Liberty’s global network. Danford was recently named Student of the Year at the 2014 International Students for Liberty Conference in Washington and is helping to organize an upcoming conference for East African Students for Liberty.
 

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9 — Increasing market competitiveness in Israel’s agricultural sector

The subsidies given to Israeli agricultural business every year are going into the government’s pocket instead of to the people for whom they are intended, further distorting the market and harming the interests of consumers. The Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies, an Atlas Network partner, explained that reducing indirect support and import barriers would lead to significant savings for consumers, and would increase productivity and competitiveness. Read more about this issue on AtlasFreeTrade.org.
 

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10 — Atlas Network partner promotes youth in entrepreneurship in Nepal

Youth Initiative, an Atlas Network partner in Nepal, recently conducted a month-long Human Rights School. The 30 participants explored different ways of ensuring human rights. Youth Initiative is one of the leading youth organizations working in the field of youth empowerment, strengthening student and youth politics, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting human rights in Nepal. Learn more about Youth Initiative here.
 

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