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» Reason in Amsterdam, 2006 Homepage
Wednesday, August 23
| 18:00-19:00 |
Reception
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| 19:00-21:00 |
Dinner & Welcoming Remarks
David Nott, President, Reason Foundation
Trey Parker & Matt Stone, creators of "South Park," and the 2004 film Team America: World Police. Parker and Stone recently won a George Foster Peabody award for their work on "South Park," which judges called "TV's boldest, most politically incorrect satirical series."
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| 21:00-24:00 |
Welkom Partij (Welcome Party) with live music
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Thursday, August 24
| 10:30-12:00 |
Economic and Cultural Flourishing: From the Dutch Golden Age to "South Park"
Boudewijn Bouckaert, President, Nova Civitas (Belgium)
Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief, Reason magazine and editor, Choice: The Best of Reason (USA)
The Dutch Republic of the 17th century demonstrated how human creativity and productivity is unleashed when political power is decentralized. As René Descartes wrote of Amsterdam, "In this city there is nobody who does not trade in something." Even works of art, traditionally funded by the church and nobility, were being purchased by members of the merchant class to adorn their homes. Should we celebrate or denigrate the commodification of culture during the Dutch Golden Age? What are we to make of commercial culture today?
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| 12:00-14:00 |
Luncheon Address
Mart Laar, former Prime Minister of Estonia and winner of the 2006 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty. At the age of 32, Laar became the prime minister of Estonia and spearheaded free market reforms that have transformed Estonia from a country devastated by Soviet control to one of the most dynamic and free nations in Europe today.
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| 14:00-15:30 |
The Free Market Movement in Europe
Barbara Kolm-Lamprechter, Secretary General of the Friedrich August v. Hayek Institute
Wolfgang Muller, Executive Director, Institute for Free Enterprise
Ján Oravec, President, F.A. Hayek Foundation, Bratislava (Slovakia)
Natašha Srdoc-Samy, President, Adriatic Institute for Public Policy (Croatia)
Can free market ideas take hold in Europe? One positive sign is the emergence of more than 100 European free market think tanks. These non-profit organizations are currently working to advance liberty in Europe by promoting tax, pension, health care, and labor reforms. What are they up against and how much progress have they made?
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| 16:00-17:30 |
Freedom & Jihad
Helle Merete Brix, author, In the House of War: Islam's Colonization of the West (Denmark)
Tom G. Palmer, Cato Institute (USA)
How does a free and tolerant society deal with a largely unassimilated fundamentalist immigrant population that respects the rights of neither women nor homosexuals? What happens to free speech when one group threatens violent retribution if they are offended? The struggle for Europe today could turn out to be every bit as dire and consequential as it was in the 1930s. Then, in Weimar Germany, the center did not hold, and the light of civilization nearly flickered out. Today, the Continent has entered yet another "Weimar moment." Will Europeans rise to the challenge posed by radical Islam, engage in this battle of ideas, and make a principled case for freedom?
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| 18:00-19:00 |
Reception
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| 19:00-21:00 |
Dinner & Keynote Address
The Conservatism of Doubt and the Politics of Freedom
Andrew Sullivan, Time blogger and author of the forthcoming The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It; How to Get It Back. Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of the The New Republic, and his "Daily Dish" is one of the most popular and influential political blogs in the world.
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| 21:00-24:00 |
Conviviality
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Friday, August 25
| 10:30-12:00 |
What Good Is Drug Policy?
Jacob Sullum, Reason senior editor and author, Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use (USA)
Peter Cohen, PhD, retired director, Centre for Drug Research at the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
Jerry Cameron, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (USA)
Prohibition rests in part on the premise that people cannot be trusted to use drugs responsibly. But is it possible that prohibition itself undermines moderation? Comparing drug use in Amsterdam to drug use in more restrictive regimes prompts us to ask the question: Why do we have drug policies at all?
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| 12:00-14:00 |
Luncheon Address
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| 14:00-15:30 |
European Environmentalism
Carlo Stagnaro, Istituto Bruno Leoni (Italy)
Julian Morris, Executive Director, International Policy Network (UK)
Ronald Bailey, science correspondent, Reason magazine and author, Liberation Biology
What is the state of the environmental movement in Europe? How much political power do environmental activists wield? To what extent do the "precautionary principle" and "Kyotoism" dictate environmental policy? Are market-based ideas gaining traction?
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| 16:00-17:30 |
Which Path for the European Union?
Véronique de Rugy, American Enterprise Institute (USA)
Johan Norberg, author, In Defense of Global Capitalism (Sweden)
Kyle Wingfield, editorial page writer, Wall Street Journal Europe (Belgium)
Will the European Union choose the path of freedom and competition? Or will it adopt the model of the European welfare state exemplified by Sweden? What does tax harmonization have to do with the threat of terrorism? And what are the implications, for Europeans and Americans, if the tax harmonizers get their way?
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| 18:00-20:00 |
Platinum and Gold Sponsors' Canal Cruise and Dinner
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| 22:00 |
Optional guided tour of Amsterdam's world famous Red Light District
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Saturday, August 26
| 8:00-9:00 |
Event Sponsors' Breakfast
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| 9:00-16:00 |
On Saturday, Reason guests can explore Amsterdam on their own or choose from among several special guided tours for Reason in Amsterdam 2006 participants, including The Anne Frank House, The Van Gogh Museum, The Rijksmuseum, and The Rembrandthuis, which is celebrating Rembrandt van Rijn's 400th birthday with a special exhibition on "Rembrandt the Etcher"
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| 16:00-17:00 |
Farewell Tea & Departures
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Uitmarkt, the official kick-off event for the cultural season in Holland, will take place August 25-27. From Friday to Sunday, stages will be erected all over the city and, in addition to the hundreds of outdoor performances, many theatres will open their doors and treat audiences to classical music, ballet, hip hop, cabaret, literary recitals and film.
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3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.