Autor: FWG
The second anniversary of the Economic Freedom Foundation was commemorated at a gathering held at Press Glass’s headquarters in Konopiska on June 17, 2023. Among representatives of NGOs, entrepreneurs, politicians, academics and journalists, we discussed the role of classical liberal ideas in the election campaign and economic policies that are good for Poland’s development.
The meeting was opened with a speech by Arkadiusz Mus, founder of EFF and owner of PRESS GLASS. He emphasised that entrepreneurs need to get involved in public affairs also during the election year. “Sometimes we hear that business should stay away from politics – I disagree. Politics is too important to be left only to politicians and other social groups,” he said. He also criticized crony capitalism – a system in which some businesses try to use their relationship with state power to get privileges or protection from competition in their industry – instead of fighting for economic freedom under the rule of law, which is one of the priorities for the EFF community.
The guests invited to the event touched on important aspects of the state’s functioning that need to be changed in the future. Economist Pawel Wojciechowski pointed out the most important tasks that need to be performed in economic policy. Lawyer Michal Wawrykiewicz from the ”Free Courts” initiative described the battle for the rule of law and pointed out areas that require the most urgent reforms. Politicians – Platforma Obywatelska MP Izabela Leszczyna and Nowoczesna MP Adam Szlapka – also spoke about liberalism, the rule of law, economic policy and creating better conditions for people and companies development.
There were also presented four publications that recently premiered. Fr. Kazimierz Sowa discussed his book ”Niewierni wierni” (“Faithless Believers”) and economist Ryszard Petru presented the premise of the book ”Gospodarka zwycięży” (“The Economy Will Win”). ”Poland’s economic viability index” was presented by Slawomir Dudek, president of the Institute of Public Finance, and Anna Wojciuk of the Inkubator Umowy Społecznej (IUS) organization shared the conclusions of the book “Umówmy się na Polskę,” which contains a new political system proposal for Poland. In addition, Marcin Chmielowski of the Freedom and Entrepreneurship Foundation presented the results of conducted by Stowarzyszenie Libertariańskie survey “Wolność pod lupą”, which shows Poles’ attitudes toward liberalism and in which social groups liberal views are most popular.
The meeting was also an opportunity to summarize another year of EFF activities. In total, the foundation has already supported more than 50 initiatives, in areas such as economic freedom, the rule of law, liberalism, economic education or the introduction of the euro in Poland. We also consistently implement projects such as the “Library of Liberty” and the “Road to Euro” campaign.
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