Education

After the political changes of 1989, the system of general economic education in the Czech Republic appeared to be at a dead end. Not only were there virtually no skilled teachers, there were only a few (if any) high-quality teaching materials. The Liberální Institut played an important role in alleviating this problem. In 1990, a group of people involved in the Institut's activities translated The Economic Way of Thinking by Paul Heyne, a former professor of economics at the University of Washington in Seattle. This famous book became the first standard economic textbook in this country available in Czech after almost fifty years, and the supply of 20,000 copies was sold out within a year.

Many internationally renowned professors, who have helped to raise the standard of economic education in this country, were invited by the Liberální Institut to give lectures. The visits and lectures of Milton Friedman in 1990 and 1997, and those of Gary S. Becker in 1991 and 1995, were the most popular.

In March 1995, in the presence of Gary S. Becker, Dr. Laurence Hayek and other renowned personalities, the Liberální Institut celebrated the opening of the Friedrich A. Hayek Library. The library contributes to the promotion of classical liberal texts among students and improves the research facilities for the Liberální Institut's research fellows.

Since 2000 the Liberální Institut publishes a monthly titled Terra Libera with original articles from the LI staff as well as with translations of libertarian classics. Terra Libera is distributed to subscribers and freely to university students in UEP, Charles University, Masaryk university in Brno and to selected cafés and libraries. Electronic archive of past issues (in Czech) is available here.

Regular Education Projects:

Summer School (since 1993)
Summer University (since 1996)
Freedom University (since 2006)
Winter (originally Summer) Academy (since 2000)

The Liberální Institut also supports the development of economic education in the Czech Republic by awarding The Gary Becker Prize for the best student research paper since 1995. This form of financial support to students who demonstrate an extraordinary interest in, and knowledge of, economic science is organized in cooperation with the Department of Economics and Public Administration at the University of Economics, Prague (UEP).

On occasion of the Prague Conference on Political Economy the Liberální institut in cooperation with the association for Teaching Economics at High Schools launched an Henry Hazlitt Prize - an contest for high school students interrested in social science and the cause of freedom.

Association for Teaching Economics at High Schools (AVES)

AVES is an association of high school teachers of economic courses whose goal is to increase the quality of teaching, improve and modernize teaching methods and facilitate cooperation and sharing of experience among themselves. AVES provides its members with teaching materials: syllabi, readings, question banks. It organizes lectures and seminars.