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In June 2016, Switzerland held a referendum on whether to introduce a guaranteed basic income (GBI) for all. Under such a system, governments regularly pay out a sum that would cover subsistence to each individual over the course of their entire lives. It was argued that since work was increasingly automated, fewer jobs were available. […]

Vernon Smith Prize 2016 | On February 6, 2017 the winners of last year’s essay competition did defend their papers at a special event in Vaduz (Principality of Liechtenstein). The essays of the three winners can read and downloaded here: First Prize (€4,000): Karol Zdybel, Poland Direct Democracy versus Representative Democracy. Cost and Benefits for […]

GiS Expert View “Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room,” said China’s President Xi Jinping. “Wind and rain may be kept outside, but so is light and air.” Mr. Xi’s words of warning were directed at the new president of the United States. Meanwhile in Washington, Donald Trump erected new barriers to […]

‘Interventionism is a system that is contradictory and unsuitable even from the point of view of its sponsors, that cannot be carried out logically, and whose introduction in every case can effect nothing but disturbances in the smooth functioning of the social order based on private property’. Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) The Economics and Politics […]

1. Prize: Karol Zdybel (Warsaw, Poland) 2. Prize: Alan Futerman (Rosario, Argentina) 3. Prize: Mark O’Kane (Lancashire, UK) Essays had been judged by an international jury. They will be posted after their defense at the ‘International Vernon Smith Prize Ceremony’ on February 6, 2017 in Vaduz, Principality of Liechtenstein. The 9th International Vernon Smith Prize for the […]