The 2008 Cato.ru seminar (on “Property and Freedom”) is one of the most exciting libertarian events I’ve attended in years. The students are eagerly engaged in working out problems in libertarian theory and in the practical application of libertarian ideas to concrete problems. My colleagues have done a really fine job of organizing the program (e.g., fewer lectures than last year and more time for the students to prepare their ideas, present them, and debate them). Vadim Novikov just led a most interesting morning session that covered a wide range of topics. (I added my 2 cents with a 13 minute presentation on the origins of the welfare state and the displacement of the associations for mutual aid that characterized civil society prior to the welfare state.)
More photos to follow…..