Economists from Adam Smith to Milton Friedman did not only like markets because they achieved material progress. They also celebrated markets as facilitating self-determination through freedom of choice, which they believed individuals wanted as ends in themselves. They saw progress as including the right to consent to your own progress. Pro-market economists played an important role in the historical campaigns against slavery, colonial conquests, and Communism, which facilitated the explosion of global commerce we have today. Markets continue to be the main way in which individuals can mutually realize equal rights to choose, while aid efforts often violate the dignity of the poor.
This event is organized by PovertyCure, an initiative of the Acton Institute which seeks to ground the battle against global poverty in a proper understanding of the human person and society. Prof. Easterly’s lecture is hosted concurrently with the 2024 PovertyCure Summit, an online event. To view the livestream and virtually attend the complete summit, register here.
