“The greatest libertarian show on earth”– Washington Post
What do John Stossel, Steve Forbes, and John Mackey have in common? They are all coming to….
FREEDOM FEST 2014
July 9-12, 2014, Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas
“So good, I changed my schedule to attend all 3 days.” — Steve Forbes
“The most intense, rewarding, intellectual, create-your-own 3 day conference I’ve ever attended.” — Bob Poole, Jr., Reason magazine
Dear freedom lovers everywhere,
Expect BIG things at our big show in Las Vegas, where the best and the brightest gather to profit, network, and celebrate liberty.
After last year’s conference (we had over 164 speakers and 2,500 attendees), I got a letter from a lifetime subscriber, Bill Wanamaker from Virginia. He wrote, “My wife Karen thought she’d spend some time by the pool. But no! The presentations were of such caliber and timely that we never got outside the hotel.”
Earlier this year, I received a call from the producer of John Stossel’s show on Fox. They can’t wait to come back to FreedomFest. Last year’s “Are We Rome?” theme was so successful that Fox News re-aired it a record six times.
I guarantee you will think and live better as a result of FreedomFest. Thousands have changed their way of acting and thinking.
What’s FreedomFest about? Everything! It’s an intellectual feast in the entertainment capital of the world. We have dozens of sessions, panels and debates galore — on philosophy, history, science & technology, money and investing, healthy living, geo-politics, law and religion. Most of my attendees return year after year. What’s all the buzz about?
Think of it as the gathering of the faithful. People are calling FreedomFest many things: A Live Wikipedia for libertarians; a Renaissance gathering for free thinkers; the Trade Show for Liberty; the New Mecca for free minds, the Focal Point for liberty lovers; the Gathering of the Tribes; the blow-out conference of gold bugs; the Disneyland for the mind; and the Greatest Libertarian Show on Earth (Washington Post). There’s something for everyone at FreedomFest.
It’s a “WOW” experience, as one reporter called it.
What can you expect in 2014? This year’s theme is “big brother” — how government is taxing us, regulating us, watching our every move and turning us into a Nanny State…or worse, a Police State. Watch our #1 video preview at www.freedomfest.com.
But not to worry: Our experts will show you how to beat big brother and fight excessive taxation, regulation, and the Nanny State. We look to market solutions, not the government, to solve the world’s problems of poverty, inequality, and the environment.
Top Speakers at This Year’s Big Show
Our speakers and experts at FreedomFest reads like a who’s who in the freedom movement.
Ambassador Steve Forbes will be there all three days. Here’s your chance to rub shoulders with the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders. In fact, most of our speakers stay all 3 days. Why? As Keith Fitz-Gerald states, “FreedomFest is the conference that even speakers enjoy attending.” And spouses! Attendees are always amazed to see famous people in the exhibit hall or sitting next to them in a session.
“That’s what’s so unique about FreedomFest,” attendee Jim Hill says, “It’s the only conference I know where we attendees have complete access to all the top speakers throughout the conference.” It’s true. Almost all of our speakers, including Steve Forbes and John Mackey, attend the entire conference and mingle with the attendees. We don’t even offer a speakers lounge!
Good news! Our other ambassador, John Mackey (CEO, Whole Foods Market) is so impressed with our program that he is also joining us all three days, and will be speaking on his great new book “Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business” and engaging in a debate with Yaron Brook (Ayn Rand Institute) on “Altruism vs. Selfishness: What is the Best Brand for Capitalism Today?”
Famed historian H. W. Brands on “FDR vs. Reagan: Who’s Ideas Will Dominate the 21st Century?” Plus he will lead a panel on “World War I: The War to End All Wars and the Beginning of Big Government.”
Libertarian commentator and humorist P. J. O’Rourke on his new book “How the Boomers Saved Everything.”
Just added! Harris Rosen, CEO and founder of Rosen hotels & resorts, on “Real Solutions to Healthcare and Poverty.” Rosen is not only famous for being the more profitable hotel chain in central Florida (ahead of Disney and Universal), but he is known for treating his employees well (he never laid off a single employee during the Great Recession), offering a far superior “wellness” healthcare program (better and cheaper than ObamaCare), and developing the most successful anti-poverty program locally at Tangelo Park in Florida. He will sit down with Steve Forbes and tell his story.
Rosen will hold a special breakout session directly afterwards with Heather Higgins (Independent Womens Network), Robert Fautz (social entrepreneur), and moderator Marty Cummins on the future of “enlightened capitalism.”
Michael Medved, America’s #1 radio host on pop culture and politics, will speak on “Hollywood vs. America: How-and Why-the Entertainment Industry Has Broken Faith With Its Audience.”
SPECIAL PREMIER! Be sure to arrive early on Wednesday, July 9, for the premier of “Atlas Shrugged, the Part 3,” the grand finale of the famous Ayn Rand novel on the silver screen, in the Celebrity Ballroom following our gala opening ceremonies and cocktail party. Hosted by John Stossel! See the film and meet John Galt and other cast members and producers three months before the public debut. Only at the Anthem Film Festival at FreedomFest!
Big Four Panel, “Can Free-Market Think Tanks Make a Difference?” with John Allison (Cato), Grover Norquist (Americans for Tax Reform), David Nott (Reason), and Darcy Olsen (Goldwater Institute). Plus Mark Littlewood, president of the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) in London, on “Orwell and Huxley: Were They Too Optimistic?”
Dinesh D’Souza, bestselling author and film maker (“2016”), will premier his new film “America,” at FreedomFest (as part of the Anthem film festival). He will also update us on the Justice Department’s political retaliation against him. Plus John Fund (American Spectator) on his new book, “Obama’s Enforcer: Eric Holder’s Justice Department.” The inside story.
Richard Viguerie (“Mr. Conservative”) on his new book, “TAKEOVER: The 100-year War for the Soul of the GOP and How Conservatives can Finally Win It.” He will also speak on “How Conservatives can Outlive Liberals, A Roadmap for a Long, Healthy, Happy, and Meaningful Life.”
(Our healthy living sessions are always SRO.)
Wayne Allyn Root on his new book “The Murder of the Middle Class” – after the Federal government’s welfare program hurt the American Indians, will it destroy America’s Middle Class?
Jon Golding, business manager extraordinaire from London, on “From Distress to Success: 10 Easy Steps to Financial Literacy Power.”
Prof. Ken Elzinga, U of Virginia: “C.S. Lewis and Freedom: Christianity’s Most Famous Apologist Meets Adam Smith” Professor Elzinga will also participate in a panel on “The World’s Best Economics Professors,” along with Richard Ebeling (Northwood), Ken Schoolland (Hawaii Pacific University), and Sean Flynn (Scripps College at Clermont), the primary author of the #1 economics textbook in the country (McConnell/Brue). Sean will also be speaking on “Why Singapore’s Medisave is Ten Times Better and Cheaper than ObamaCare.”
David Brin, award winning science fiction writer and futurist, on “Will Technology Liberate or Enslave Us?” Plus Michael Shermer (Scientific American) will discuss his new book “Moral Progress” with cultural commentators Michael Medved and P. J. O’Rourke in a provocative panel/debate, “Is the West in Moral Progress or Decline?”
Charles Murray (American Enterprise Institute fellow and bestseller author) on “The War on Poverty: Why We Are Still Losing Ground and What to Do About It.” (FreedomFest is all about real solutions to our nation’s problems.) He will also speak on “Charles Murray’s Top Ten Pet Peeves: Confessions of a Conservative Libertarian,” based on his delightful new book (due out in April) called “The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead: Dos and Don’ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life.” Not to be missed!
Greg Lukianoff (FIRE) on “Unlearning Liberty and Campus Censorship: No More Debates?”
Tom Campbell, dean of the law school at Chapman University, on “Big Brother Gone Wild: Untangling the Three Branches of Government.” Plus Susanne Campbell (Chapman), Jon Utley (American Conservative), and Lawrence Reed (FEE) on a special panel, “Back in the USSR: Big Brother in the Old Soviet Union.” All three have had experiences with Big Brother in the former Soviet Union. Could it happen here?
California Dreamin’ – Leaving on a Jet Plane?” – the pro’s and con’s of living and working in California, with Brian Calle (Orange County Register), Jim Lacy (author, “Taxafornia”), and Floyd Brown (Excellentia).
Marji Ross, publisher of Regnery Publishing, on “So You Want to Write a Bestseller: Secrets of a Book Industry Pro.”
Rob Kampia (Marijuana Policy Project) on “Incredible Business Opportunities in the Emerging, Legal Marijuana Market”
John Lott (Crime Prevention Research Center) on “It’s A Crime: Gun Control, Mandatory Sentencing and Other Big Brother Attacks on Liberty.”
Barbara Kolm, director of the Austrian Economics Center in Vienna and the highly successful Free-Market Road Show in Europe, will be flying in from the Continent to address us on “The European Crisis: Is There Any Light at the End of the Tunnel?”
Steve Moore, who moved from the Wall Street Journal to become the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, on “Red States vs. Blue States: Where do you want to live?”
Get college credit: Enroll with Doug French (Mises Institute of Canada) on “Austrian Business Cycle Theory – The Las Vegas Experience” and other courses.
FEE Day! President Lawrence Reed plus economist Steve Horwitz on the story behind the record-setting “Keynes v Hayek” rap video, and Freeman editor Max Borders on inequality.
Reason Day! “WTF! or, How to Woo Millennials and Win the Future!” with Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie…. “Rendezvous with Demography: Why the Future Favors Freedom” with Polling Director Emily Ekins…”Big Brother Smackdown: How New Media is Beating Back the Surveillance State”…by Reason TV and Remy Munasifi… “Is Big Brother Killing the Jaguarundi? How the Endangered Species Act is harming endangered animals,” with Brian Seasholes. Always educational and entertaining.
Richard Rahn (Cato) will be putting together a panel on “Ukraine and Other Hot Spots Around the World.” Li Schoolland will bring us up to date on Big Brother in China.
Lee Edwards, Mr. Conservative, on “Barry Goldwater—The First Libertarian Presidential Candidate.”
Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican Party, on “How to Compromise without Compromising Your Principles.”
Marc Eliot, Hollywood’s #1 biography, returns to speak on two new books on John Wayne and Jack Nicholson. Always entertaining.
John Baden and wife Ramona (FREE Foundation in Montana) on “Give Us Back our Land: Why the National Parks (and Federal Lands) Should be Privatized.”
Keli’i Akina (Grassroot Institute of Hawaii) on “Was Confucius a Libertarian?”
Matt Kibbe (FreedomWorks) on his New York Times bestseller, “Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff: A Libertarian Manifesto.”
Blockbuster “Real Entitlement Reform” panel with Peter Ferrara and Lew Uhler (National Tax Limitation Foundation), John Goodman (National Center for Policy Analysis) and Steve Moore (Heritage).
Jim Powell on “How Friends of Freedom Have Fought Big Brother With Black Markets, Guerrilla Tactics and Underground Resistance.”
Radley Balko on his new book “Rise of the Warrior Cop” and the danger of SWAT teams.
Jill Burnett on yoga and freedom (don’t miss her yoga exercises every morning).
Jo Ann Skousen on “big brother” classics: 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 and Anthem. (Don’t miss her Anthem film festival, always a hit.)
Joe Lehman, president of the Mackinac Center in Michigan, will lead a blue-ribbon panel on “Can State Think Tanks Make a Difference?”
“The Future of Bitcoin” Panel with technologist extraordinaire George Gilder, Jeffrey Tucker (Liberty.me), and Perianne Boring (DATA). Bill Miller, the renown Legg Mason fund manager, explained why he’s buying Bitcoin in his own personal account: “The addressable market is as big as there’s ever been in the history of the world.” Find out at our Bitcoin Panel and how you can profit.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Great War (WW1). We are planning several events: Historian H. W. Brands (University of Texas) on “The War that Ended Peace” and Tom Palmer (Atlas Foundation) on “The Ideologues of War and the Libertarian Response.”
Debates Galore!
We always have a lot of great debates. “I love FreedomFest,” declares John Mackey, “especially the debates.” We are planning quite a few, such as: “The Minimum Wage, Good or Bad for Workers?” with Professor Jeff Waddoups (UNLV) vs Mark Skousen (Chapman University), with Gene Epstein (Barron’s) as moderator… “Should Classical Liberals Support a Progressive Tax or a Flat Tax?” pitting Lanny Ebenstein (UC Santa Barbara) vs. Steve Moore (Heritage). Moderated by Dan Mitchell (Cato). And John Mackey will argue in favor of “Inequality is Good for Society.” His opponent is TBA.
This Year’s Mock Trial: “American Foreign Policy”
Good news! We are all set for our mock trial this year: “American Foreign Policy on Trial.” The mock trial is always our most popular event.
Has American Foreign Policy since 9/11 been good or bad? One of the most controversial debates over the past dozen years is America’s involvement in the Middle East and never ending foreign wars, which has spawned thousands of civilian casualties and wounded soldiers, as well as “Big Brother” issues surrounding the Patriot Act, NSA snooping on Americans, and drones.
Defending America will be Dinesh D’Souza, bestselling author and producer of the new film “America” (to be shown at FreedomFest Friday night). He will make the case that US foreign policy has been largely good in the world, defending itself against real enemies, supporting the Patriot Act, and wars in Irag and Afghanistan, need for the CIA, NSA, etc.
His star witnesses will be Steve Forbes, who firmly believes we should be fighting the terrorists and enemies of liberty around the world; and Brigadier General Michael Meese. He is the son of Ed Meese, Reagan’s attorney general, and a veteran at West Point, with completed missions in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan….and now retired so he can speak his mind.
Leading the case against American foreign policy will be Daniel McCarthy, the fiery editor of American Conservative magazine. He will make the case that American foreign policy has been imperialistic, and a disaster, creating unnecessary enemies around the world. He and his star witnesses will argue for a new policy on non-intervention in foreign affairs while encouraging commercial interests and free trade.
McCarthy’s star witnesses will be Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, and considered “the most powerful man in Washington” (CNN). He is a strong opponent to the extended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and long-term interventionism; and the flamboyant and controversial Douglas R. Casey, author of “The International Man,” world traveler, and anarco-capitalist extraordinaire.
Who’s the Judge? Kennedy, the Reason TV host in the hot new libertarian show “The Independents” on Fox Business. She’s the ideal court jester who will keep the lawyers, witnesses and jury on their toes.
The mock trial will be held at 5 pm on Friday, July 11, at the Celebrity Ballroom. (Just think 7-11!). The sparks will fly.
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“For over 50 years, I’ve attended many conferences, but no one comes close to putting together a gathering so instructive, stimulating and downright fun as what you have done with the FreedomFest.” — Lou Carabini, president, Monex
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All the Major Thinks: The Trade Show for Liberty
See and talk with representatives of free-market think tanks from around the world like Reason, Cato, Heritage, Students for Liberty, Heartland, FEE, Atlas…..Market-friendly universities like Chapman and Northwood….News organizations like Fox News, Newsmax, Human Events, Daily Caller, American Spectator and C-SPAN (which covers us every year). There’s Blogger’s Row….and book sellers like Liberty Fund and FreedomFest Bookstore (famous authors sign books all day)….Financial publications like the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Investors Business Daily, Kitco…. And top investment services in energy, mining, gold and silver. Plus our publishers Salem Communications, Regnery Books, Human Events, and Eagle Publishing.
Once again, Mark Skousen, editor of Forecasts & Strategies, will be offering his popular pre-conference seminars on Wednesday, July 9, on these topics: (1). “Better Jobs, Higher Pay: The Free-Market Alternative to the Minimum Wage.” (2). “GO Beyond GDP: Get Ready for a Better Way to Measure the Economy” (a triumph of supply-side Austrian economics!), and (3). “The Maxims of Wall Street: What I’ve Learned from Meeting John Templeton, Warren Buffett and Other Financial Gurus.” Come early and get a good seat.
Three-day “Financial Freedom” Seminar
What would freedom be without financial freedom? That’s why every year we have a 3-day financial freedom conference with topic experts, including:
Blue Ribbon Money Management Luncheon with Donald Smith (New York hedge fund who has outperformed Buffett); Peter Schiff (EuroPacific Capital) on “Profits from the Real Crisis”; Adrian Day will speak on “How to Beat the Market with Hot Foreign Stocks and Mining Stars.” David Norcom (NorCap Investment Management) on “Financial Hurricanes, Tornados and Earthquakes: How to Survive and Profit from Volatility.” Moderated by Alexander Green (investment director, Oxford Club).
Not all are doomsdayers at FreedomFest. Alex Green will make the case for optimism and higher stock prices as will Carnegie-Mellon Professor Joel Stern (Stern Value Management), who will speak on “4% Real Growth This Year! What it Means to Investors?”
Special sessions on tax and estate planning with David T. Phillips on “Te n Most Common Estate Planning Mistakes,” Jeffrey Verdon on “Three Winning Tax Strategies the Dirty, Filthy, Sticken’ Rich,” and Joe Gondolfo on “My Favorite Way to Stop Paying Estate Taxes.”
Other notables include real estate guru Jack Reed, Keith Fitz-Gerald, Doug Casey, Peter Hug, Chris Versace, Van Simmons, Dan Mangru, Peter Zipper, Lou Petrossi, John Browne, and Bert Dohmen.
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“I was going to leave early, but after my first day at FreedomFest, I changed my flight at a cost of several hundred dollars more to attend the entire conference. It was worth every penny.” — Carl Johnston, attendee
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Opening Cocktail Party….Luncheons…and Saturday Night Banquet
Don’t Miss our Amazing Opening Cocktail Party…and the World’s Most Unusual Exhibit Hall…and our Famous Saturday Night Banquet and Dance! (Yes, we’re channeling Janis Joplin and her band “Big Brother and the Holding Company”!)
We are also offering special luncheons all three days (these are extra – you need to register). On Thursday, choose between Grover Norquist (“most powerful man in Washington” – CNN) and our Blue-Ribbon Money Managers Forum (see above)….On Friday, between Dinesh D’Souza and Michael Steele/Steve Forbes….On Saturday, P. J. O’Rourke and one other lunch speaker TBA. And don’t forget breakfasts on Friday (Steve Moore and John Fund) and Saturday (Mark Skousen). Details on topics and costs can be found when you register.
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“You libertarians know how to have a good time with dancing, skits, mock trials, magic acts, yoga, silver dollars, and fun debates, all in the world’s most laissez faire city. It was incredible.” — Lee Edwards, Heritage Foundation
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Sign Up Now—Don’t be Disappointed
Reserve your ticket now: July 9-12, 2014, at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Attendance will be limited to 3,000 this year. (Expect us to sell out.) I urge you register early to avoid disappointment. Call Tami Holland, our conference coordinator, at 1-866-266-5101, or register online at www.freedomfest.com.
Conference fee is only $495 per person/$795 per couple. Luncheons and the gala Saturday night banquet are extra.
We’re also offering a room block at Planet Hollywood for only $109 a night. Last year we sold out quickly, so reserve your room today. More details at www.freedomfest.com.
Can anything good come out of Vegas? Come and enjoy the intellectual feast in the entertainment capital of the world.
In liberty, AEIOU,
Mark
Mark Skousen
Producer
P. S. We will be posting new speakers, sessions, panels, and debates frequently, so sign up for our free updates at www.freedomfest.com.
