EYE ON EUROPE STOCKHOLM NETWORK – LINKING EUROPE’S LEADING POLICYMAKERS AND THINKERS ISSUE TWO
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A BITTER PILL RECENT DECADES have seen an astounding change in the way we view healthcare. Medical innovation has brought treatments for diseases like HIV/Aids which allow sufferers to extend their lives and live in much greater comfort. Statins are helping many avoid the consequences of heart disease. So-called ‘lifestyle drugs’ are changing quality of life for millions. But there is a dark side to the growth in demand for medicines and the increasing ease with which the public can purchase medicines online. Counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals is now a global trade. The issue is being debated fiercely on the other side of the Atlantic as the US, where high drug prices have become a political hot potato, debates whether to allow re-importation of medicines from Canada and Europe. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
A LAND APART THE RIGHT NATION by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge (Penguin, £14.99) In his inauguration speech of 1801,Thomas Jefferson described his homeland as ‘kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe.’ His words would have rung just as true at almost any time between the Mayflower’s westward passage and the Potsdam conference, as millions departed a continent ravaged by wars of religion, empire and ideology to begin again in the New World. The latter half of the 20th century, by contrast, brought about the closest relations between the United States and its progenitor at any time during its history. In the face of Soviet
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communism, Americans looked east to Europe as the geo-strategic bulwark against the expansion of ‘the evil empire’, whilst Europeans looked back for the nuclear deterrent that was ultimately to keep them secure.This pan-Atlantic concord of the Cold War years, however, was in truth an artificial closeness.The seeds of cultural divergence, long dormant in the American soil, began to sprout in the 1950s and have since flourished into a sprawling socio-political movement: American Conservatism. This is the central thesis of an exceptional new work by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, The Right Nation, which explores the rise of ‘a peculiarly American form of conservatism’ and its consequences on American politics and the world at large. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
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EYE ON EUROPE
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
The globalised economy is bringing huge economic benefits to its citizens. But globalisation and the freer movement of goods and services also create certain social pitfalls. Capitalism’s very success has called into question some of its failings, as a new book of essays published by the Stockholm Network this September demonstrates. An Apology for Capitalism? brings together leading business experts to examine the trend towards corporate social responsibility and ask what it means for the future of business.
public safety, not just because fake medicines can be harmful but because the proceeds of this crime are funding organised criminals and even terrorism. These issues and more will form part of an ongoing public discussion around Europe in the coming months as the Network launches two new event series – the Westminster Fringe debates in London co-sponsored by The Economist, and the Amigo Society, a new Belgian forum for discussing the future of the welfare state and other key public policy questions, to be held monthly at the Hotel Amigo in Brussels.
‘‘The Stockholm Network makes a significant contribution to thinking among opinion leaders in many countries and its work continues to enrich understanding of the attitudes on key public policy issues of people across Europe’’ Andrew Cooper, Director, Populus
We hope to see you at one of our regular networking events in the near future.
A very different kind of business, but one equally affected by globalisation and the growth in internet use, is examined in our latest book A Sick Business – counterfeit medicines and organised crime.The author, Graham Satchwell, a former policeman and police spokesman on counterfeiting and piracy, takes a searching look at the growing trade in fake medicines and shows how it now poses a serious threat to 2
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A BITTER PILL CONTINUED But in Europe too, the issue is beginning to bubble up to the surface because European law makes parallel trade in medicines (i.e. buying drugs in one country and selling them into another country where the government sets the price higher) legal.The free movement of pharmaceuticals within Europe, and the current need for repackaging to the appropriate language, makes it easier for counterfeit pharmaceuticals to be sold into the legitimate distribution chain and supplied to our hospitals and pharmacies. So what, many readers will be saying.To the uninitiated eye, this problem is invisible. Most Europeans are unaware just how many problems this hidden crime may cause.Yet an investigation into counterfeit medicines conducted for the Stockholm Network has shown that this trade is conducted by unscrupulous people whose actions have already cost thousands of lives. We live in a world of increasing global trade which now provides direct access to counterfeit pharmaceuticals via the internet both for personal use and commercial supply.
Europe and North America provide the best return on investment for those involved in the international supply of counterfeit products. There is, however, no effective method within the UK – or to a greater or lesser extent across Europe – of identifying counterfeited pharmaceuticals before they are dispensed. It is at least likely that some counterfeit products have been administered by the NHS and other health service providers, and that injury or death has been caused. Despite this threat to public safety, the current UK ‘adverse drug reaction system’ is not designed for or sufficient to identify cases of counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Worse still, the current UK enforcement regime is inadequate. Regulatory agencies are not equipped to tackle international crime and within national police and intelligence agencies there is a lack of appreciation of the nature of the problem and a reluctance to use the legislation and resources available to deal with it. This is doubly serious, not just because patients should not be putting medicines into their bodies that may do them harm.There is a
A LAND APART CONTINUED Micklethwait and Wooldridge argue that America is fundamentally different from Europe, and while conservatism, embodied in George W. Bush, has proved hugely divisive within the United States, a far larger cultural gulf exists between the US and the rest of the world. The authors contend that three strands of the American experience have, since the days of the first pilgrims, meant that America was a far more conservative land than Europe: religion, capitalism and geography. Many millions have sailed west across the Atlantic over recent centuries, seeking a land in which they could worship as they chose. In the United States of America, a land founded as a secular republic, they found it. Religion, in all it forms, has thus retained a powerful place in the heart and minds of many Americans.This has had the dual consequence of reinforcing their natural sense of patriotism, and ‘encouraging Americans to see problems in terms of individuals’ virtues and vices.’ This individualism has also manifested itself in the unbroken dominance of capitalism as the mechanism of exchange. After the class constraints and penury of Europe, opportunities abounded in the United States to engage in the ‘pursuit of happiness’. Indeed, ‘in 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, the first person to meditate at any length on American exceptionalism, remarked that fortune offered “an immense booty to the Americans’’’. Geography, however, was the decisive factor, as it provided land into which AUTUMN 2004
individuals could escape persecution and seek their fortunes, in a way that an over-crowded and divided Europe has long ceased to do. America today remains a land so vast that if every family in the country was given an acre of land, you would still only cover 4 percent of the surface area. Similarly, the ‘frontier’ is still a dominant theme in American culture, because it speaks to their belief that anyone can realise the American dream by dint of hard work and willingness to take risks alone. The European outlook on society simply does not possess this optimism, but rather seeks to equalise social outcomes at the expense of individual attainment, and it is certainly true that Americans are far more willing to tolerate a higher level of inequality. Attitudes to taxes
further threat to public safety - international counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals usually involves organised crime and sometimes involves terrorist groups and terrorist funding. Surely, with this in mind, it is time we did more to protect the consumer against what is a growing, sick and exploitative business, which potentially threatens us all. A Sick Business – Counterfeit Medicines and Organised Crime by Graham Satchwell is available to order from the Stockholm Network, price £10.
reflect a similar divergence. Recent polls show that 60-70 percent of Britons (arguably one of the most conservative societies in Europe) would be willing to pay higher taxes in return for better services. In the United States, it is 1 percent. Equally, Americans have a far more punitive attitude to crime than Europeans, and incarcerate five times as many people as Britain, Europe’s highest proportional incarcerator. The fanatical political debates on abortion, gun control and the death penalty are incomprehensible to most Europeans, and the list is potentially endless. What The Right Nation offers, however, is not simply a list of dissimilar characteristics between the United States and Europe (and indeed, the rest of the world), but an utterly absorbing explanation of why this is so. Micklethwait and Wooldridge intricately trace the rise of an obscure and marginalised creed that rose to prominence as a reaction to the liberal-overreach of the 1960s, but also because ‘America has conservatism encoded into its DNA.’ They argue compellingly that it was both ‘an idea whose time had come’ and, to quote Alexis de Tocqueville, ‘so inevitable and yet so completely unforeseen’. America, then, is different, and is certain to remain so for the foreseeable future.The best remedy therefore, much to the chagrin of many Europeans, must be to seek only to understand it better, and there is absolutely no better place to start than with this book. Sacha Kumaria 3
EYE ON EUROPE
PROFILE: HEALTHREFORM.CZ – A FRESH LOOK AT HEALTH SYSTEMS
health reform efforts in the new EU member states of Central and Eastern Europe.These countries have to a large extent copied health systems of the old members but without the sustainable sources of finance needed to maintain them.This makes the prospect of exciting changes in Eastern European healthcare all the more imminent.
Health Reform.cz was founded by Pavel Hroboˇn (MD, MS) Tomáˇs Julínek (MD) and Tomáˇs Macháˇcek (MD) in the spring of 2004. An independent think tank, it is focused on the design, communication and implementation of a health system suitable for 21st century Europe. WHAT THEY DO Health Reform.cz cooperates with academic experts and hands-on practitioners in evaluating current health systems and on the formulation of new ideas.Their ultimate aim is to prepare a blueprint for the implementation of substantial changes. They also organise conferences, debates and other forums to spread their ideas among experts, interest groups and the general public.
WHAT THEY BELIEVE
HEALTH REFORM. CZ contact: www.healthreform.cz
Health systems as we know them today are based on past realities.The nature of health care, patient expectations and their financial situations have changed radically since the current health systems were designed; be it the Bismarckian model of statutory insurance or tax funded national health systems.These systems once enabled general access to health services and the development of health technologies. However, their inherent characteristics, especially the isolation of consumers from the economic consequences of care provision, have contributed to inefficiencies, waste, and the reduction of responsibility and freedom.They are both unsustainable and undesirable.
PROSPECTS
The existing funding arrangements have also stunted competition and productivity and, as a consequence, the further development of health services.The rapidly changing demographic situation in Europe is quickly unmasking these deficiencies.
Health Reform.cz aims to prepare a comprehensive blueprint for reform of the Czech health system by 2006. However, their work is not limited by geography or time.They are addressing problems which are fundamental for all current European health systems. Of particular interest is comparison of
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Main areas of interest Impact of health care funding and provision on economic growth Optimisation of health insurers and health provider competition Definition of scope of obligatory health insurance Potential for medical savings accounts in Europe Provision of information on quality of care
Health Reform.cz believe that these ills are curable. Their goal is to open health care to fundamental economic laws and relations applied in other industries while preserving general access to health services. Fundamentals of their work include: Choice and motivation to responsible consumption of health care for citizens Regulated competition of health insurers and their products – health plans Competition of health services providers on price and quality
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PROFILE: JERUSALEM INSTITUTE FOR MARKET STUDIES Israel is still far behind most advanced industrial economies in terms of economic freedom. Government expenditures constitute 56% of Israel’s GDP, and Israel has one of the highest tax burdens in the world.The size of the public sector, the immense power of the national labour unions and the sympathy for socialism among the intellectual elite, make the formation of a popular consensus for free market reforms a difficult, but essential task. JIMS was founded in May 2003 by Robert M. Sauer, who emigrated to Israel from the United States after receiving a Ph.D. in economics from New York University in 1995. Since 1995, Sauer has taught economics in the United States at Brown University and in Israel at BarIlan University,Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Welfare Reform - Can Civil Society Finance a Private Welfare System?
WHAT THEY DO The Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (JIMS) is an independent, nonprofit economic policy think tank whose mission is to discover practical ways to promote free markets and limited government in Israel and the region, and to inform and educate the public about the benefits of free-market reforms through the publication of original research papers and the writing of newspaper editorials. JIMS is not affiliated with any political parties or special interest groups.
WHAT THEY BELIEVE JIMS believes that Israel would greatly benefit from more economic freedom, and that the reduction of the public sector through privatisation and outsourcing is the only means by which to ensure sustainable economic growth. A drastic reduction of the tax burden will enable private enterprise to flourish and will increase the standard of living for all Israelis, including the more vulnerable sectors of society. All import tariffs and quotas should be unilaterally abolished and a flat-rate income tax should be adopted. The national defence and welfare budgets must also be significantly reduced.To reduce the defence budget, JIMS strongly advocates the outsourcing of non-core military activities as well as standard core reserve duty functions.To reduce the welfare budget, JIMS supports the adoption of work-based welfare initiatives and increased tax-deductibility of charitable donations given to local non-profit organisations that are effective at caring for the needy. AUTUMN 2004
JERUSALEM INSTITUTE FOR MARKET STUDIES contact: www.jims-israel.org/pages/1/index.htm RECENT AND FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS Labor Market Reform – Abolishing Unnecessary Occupational Licensing Requirements A recent JIMS research paper, co-authored by Adriana D. Kugler and Robert M. Sauer, exposes the detrimental effects of unnecessarily strict re-licensing requirements that immigrant physicians face upon arrival to Israel. Immigrant physicians must pass a general medical licensing exam, even after many years of practice in the profession in their home countries.The general medical licensing exam constitutes a barrier to entry into the profession that leads to excess physician wages, higher public health expenditures and lower quality physicians.The research paper, entitled, “Doctors Without Borders? Re-licensing Requirements and Negative Selection in the Market for Physicians,” will appear in the July 2005 issue of the Journal of Labor Economics, published by the University of Chicago Press.
JIMS will soon publish a research report entitled, “Can Civil Society Finance a Private Welfare System?” co-authored by Corinne Sauer and Robert M. Sauer.The purpose of the paper is to assess the feasibility of financing a national welfare programme solely through voluntary charitable donations. In a privately financed national welfare programme, the government’s main role would be to provide tax incentives for charitable giving to private non-profit organisations that deliver welfare-towork services. In order to address the question of whether or not such a program is financially feasible, the authors estimate the sensitivity of charitable giving to changes in the tax regime. The empirical results, using data on Israeli household charitable giving, indicate that tax revenues more than fully crowd out voluntary contributions. That is, the total amount of money available in society for welfare services would actually be greater in a system that did not confiscate funds from taxpayers, but rather encouraged more voluntary giving through tax deductions. Privatising National Defence JIMS is also currently examining the US experience in outsourcing both non-core and core military activities to the private sector. JIMS believes that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the Israeli economy could greatly benefit from US experience in this area. By outsourcing to the private sector, the State of Israel could drastically cut defence expenditures, improve its overall military capability and combat effectiveness, and leave taxpayers with more disposable income to support local businesses.
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NETWORK MEMBER PROFILES
Centre for Liberal Democratic Studies Country: Serbia and Montenegro Website: www.clds.org.yu During October and November, the CLDS will run a series of private conferences examining the most important issues of job creation in Serbia.The main purpose of these discussions is to identify and eliminate obstacles to doing business in Serbia and to boost the demand for labour. Currently, the CLDS plans to hold a public summary conference on these findings in December 2004. CLDS will also publish its new proposal for taxation reform in Serbia in October.The proposal deals with property taxation and agriculture (farmers) taxation as well as substantial reform of the cumbersome and antiquated system of contributions and fees as non-tax public revenue to central and local authorities. A substantial streamlining of the systems has been suggested that focuses on a new approach to property valuation, which will enable local communities to increase their budgetary revenues. Civita Country: Norway Website: www.civita.no The Oslo-based think tank Civita will be hosting a seminar on November 9th for the publication of its new book The Silent Revolution – 15 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain, a study by the noted Norwegian foreign commentator Nils Morten of the changes in Europe since the end of Soviet Communism and the spread of democratic and liberal market ideas in Eastern Europe. Also in November, Civita are hosting their Oscarsborg Academy.To be held in Oscarborg Castle on a 6
recently-demilitarised island in the Oslo Fjord, the Academy is intending to foster debate about political and economic liberty among young political leaders and business trainees. Civita are translating Dr Eamonn Butler’s book on the Austrian Economist Friedrich von Hayek: Hayek, His Contribution to the Political and Economic Thought of Our Time, which will be the first book on Hayek in Norwegian since the first print run of The Road to Serfdom in the 1940s. Dr Butler, of the London-based Adam Smith Institute, will speak at the book’s launch on December 7th. Institute for Market Economics Country: Bulgaria Wesbite: www.ime-bg.org At the end of October, the Institute for Market Economy (IME) will present its alternative “low tax” government budget for the year 2005.The economists of the Institute propose Bulgaria should adopt a 10% flat rate for all direct taxes – corporate tax, income tax and social security tax. IME will organise a press conference and will also host a discussion with the Bulgarian Macroeconomic Association on the tax cut proposal.The 10% flat tax proposal was designed by IME and supported by 100 economists in an open letter to the Minister of Finance in March 2004.The Institute has been issuing a Flat Tax Bulletin since August to educate the public on the economics benefits of low taxes and to build up support for the proposal. Istituto Bruno Leoni Country: Italy Website: www.brunoleoni.it On December 10, IBL will host a meeting with June Arunga, the Kenyan student who presented the
documentary ‘The Devil’s Footpath’ for the BBC. June Arunga will be interviewed by Didi Leoni, one of Italy’s most prominent TV journalists (and the daughter of Bruno Leoni, after whom IBL is named). Later in the month, IBL will host a forum on its new Briefing Paper, a concise proposal for the liberalisation of information to patients. A very controversial subject, the IBL addresses the topic not just in the name of economic efficiency, but in order to preserve the right of free speech. In December, IBL is also publishing two books: Più energia per tutti, edited by Carlo Stagnaro, IBL Director for Environmental Issues, and by Margo Thorning, Director of the International Council for Capital Formation, contains analyses and proposals for Italy’s and Europe’s energy policy. I misfatti dell’istruzione pubblica, by Denis de Rougemont, is the Italian translation of a powerful pamphlet against public education authored by the great Swiss scholar and writer. Institute for Economic Affairs Country: England Website: www.iea.org.uk In November 2004 the IEA will publish The ECB and the Euro: The First Five Years by Otmar Issing, a member of the Governing Council of the ECB. The monograph is an assessment of the first five years of the euro and the operation of the ECB as a central bank. The monograph will also contain a commentary on Professor Issing's view by David B. Smith, Chief Economist at Williams de Broe and Chairman of the IEA Shadow Monetary Policy Committee. The IEA will also host under 30s and student events in November and January. On November 23rd James ISSUE TWO
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Bartholomew will speak on his recent book The Welfare State We’re In, and on January 25th Professor Mark Pennington will discuss ‘Private Education for All’.
Commission Corporate Governance in the Netherlands, Prof. E. Guldentops, University of Antwerp, and E. Sternberg, author of Corporate Governance: Accountability in the Marketplace.
Lithuanian Free Market Institute Country: Lithuania
New Economic School Country: Georgia
Website: www.freema.org
Website: www.nes.ru/english
The LFMI will host a seminar entitled ‘Strengthening think tanks in Eastern and Central Europe: Good Practice Exchange’ between 11-14th November in Vilnius.The seminar is the first of its kind organised in Eastern and Central Europe, and is designed to enable Eastern and Central European think tanks to exchange examples of good practice in the fields of policy advocacy, project management, relations with governmental institutions, fundraising, and public relations. Ludwig von Mises Institute Country: Belgium
The minutes of the first forum of entrepreneurs, academics and members of public institutions will be published in the September/October 2004 edition of Economia & Management. In early 2005, NRP and the SDA will host a public conference to present the results of the research study.
The NES Georgia, in cooperation with the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), will host two public meetings and two open lectures between October 22-27 at Tbilisi State University and the Georgian Ministry of Economic Affairs. Also, in October, the NES will host an international seminar on the ‘Foundations of Liberty: Free Markets, Free Men and Free Minds’. Held at the popular Bakuriani ski resort in the SamtzkheJavaxeti region of central Georgia, the conference will feature Dr. Richard M. Ebeling, President of FEE, Mr Paata Sheshelidze, President of the NESGeorgia, Mr Kakha Benduqidze, the Georgian Minister for Economics.
Website: www.vonmisesinstitute-europe.org The LVMI will host a conference on the European Constitution on November 24 at the Crown Hotel in Brussels.‘Europe:Your future, your Constitution’ will be jointly hosted with the Friedrich Naumaan Stiftung, Brussels, and The Hayek Institute,Vienna, and will feature Mart Laar, former Prime Minister of Estonia, Frank Field, British Labour MP, Alain Madelin, former French Economics Minister and Brian Carney of the Wall Street Journal Europe. After the New Year, the LVMI, in cooperation with the Brussels Institute, will host a dinner debate for Johan Norberg, author of In Defence of Global Capitalism at the Grand Hotel ‘Le Mercure’ in Brussels. Later in February, the LVMI will hold a conference on ‘Corporate Governance: Managing Risk and Compliance with Good Controls’, which will feature M.Tabaksblat, Chairman of the
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The NES – Georgia will also publish the third book in their ‘Library of Liberty’ series, entitled French Liberalism – from Classics to Moderns. Working in co-operation with the Institute for Economic Studies, the text examines the contribution of scholars such as Bastiat, Say, Cobden and de Jouvenel as well as a number of modern French free market authors. NovaResPublica Country : Italy Website : www.novarespublica.org Since mid-2004 the NRP, in cooperation with the Bocconi School of Management (SDA), has been conducting a research survey examining how best to support innovation, research and development processes in Italian enterprise.
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ABOUT THE NETWORK WHAT IS THE STOCKHOLM NETWORK? The Stockholm Network is a one-stop shop for organisations seeking to work with Europe’s brightest policymakers and thinkers. Our unique network of over 120 marketoriented think tanks in Europe and further afield, gives us the capacity to deliver local messages and locally-tailored global messages across the EU and beyond. Joining the Stockholm Network gives you unparalleled access to the best European policy thinking, the opportunity to lead debates and change the climate of ideas in Europe and the chance to meet the key players in shaping the policy debates of tomorrow.
WHAT POLICY ISSUES DO WE DISCUSS? The Network is interested in ideas which stimulate economic growth and help people to help themselves. We promote policies which create the social and economic conditions for a free society.These include: Reforming European welfare states and creating a more flexible labour market Creating competition and choice in healthcare, through reform of European health systems and markets Creating a market in which world-class education can flourish Taking a practical, market-oriented look at environmental affairs Emphasising the benefits of globalisation and creating an understanding of free market ideas and institutions
WHAT DO WE DO? The Stockholm Network maintains a website (www.stockholm-network.org) which contains a comprehensive directory of European free market think tanks and thinkers. We advertise forthcoming events (our own and those of partner organisations) and facilitate publication exchange and translation between think tanks. We also post regular news flashes and updates on European think tank activities. Our events provide an excellent opportunity for networking with high-profile European policy makers and opinion formers. Previous attendees have included: Charlotte Cederschiold,Vice President of the European Parliament; Clive Crook, Deputy Director, The Economist;Vince Cable MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor; Frits Bolkestein, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market; Conor Cruise O’Brien, author and historian; Hans Hoogervorst, then Dutch Social Security
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Minister, now Health Minister; Jason Turner, architect of Wisconsin and New York’s welfare to work schemes; Philippe Legrain, author of Open World: The Truth about Globalisation; Johan Norberg, author of In Defence of Global Capitalism.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN THE STOCKHOLM NETWORK? Please contact us on +44 20 7354 8888 or email our Director of Programmes, Sacha Kumaria sacha@stockholm-network.org.
Our events and books have received media coverage across Europe, including BBC TV and BBC Radio 4, the Financial Times, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, La Repubblica, Le Point, The Economist, The Business, the Wall Street Journal Europe, The Sun, the Daily Express, the News of the World, Public Finance magazine, The Sprout, The New Statesman magazine, Dagens Nyheter of Sweden, Pravo of the Czech Republic and Hospodárské Noviny of the Czech Republic. Topics have ranged from labour market flexibility and tax harmonisation to health system reform, welfare to work and immigration.
HOW COULD YOU OR YOUR ORGANISATION BENEFIT FROM SN MEMBERSHIP? Expand your database by meeting new contacts from across Europe Expose your own expert voices to a wider audience Receive weekly Stockholm Network email updates and quarterly newsletters Receive Stockholm Network Books & Publications Get invitations to Stockholm Network Events & Activities
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MEET THE TEAM
HELEN DISNEY is the Director of the Stockholm Network. Her background is in public policy and the media. She also undertakes consultancy work on public policy issues for corporate clients.
NICOLE GRAY CONCHAR is Director of Development at the Stockholm Network. Her career in public policy and think tank fundraising spans two continents and more than ten years.
SACHA KUMARIA is the Stockholm Network’s Director of Programmes. He is responsible for liaising with the member think-tanks, and co-ordinating research projects and events. He also compiles the weekly e-newsletter.
Formerly an editorial writer for The Times and an editorial writer and commentator for the Daily Express, Helen continues to write regularly on a range of public policy topics for such publications as the Daily Express and Sunday Express, Public Finance, Public Service Magazine, and The Sprout, a satirical Brusselsbased magazine, as well as regular weekly entries for the Centre for the New Europe’s health weblog, CNE Health. She also makes regular appearances on TV and in radio debates including ‘Heart of the Matter’, ‘Kilroy’, BBC News, BBC Radio Scotland , Radio 4’s Talking Politics and the BBC World Service.
From 1992 to 1998, she was Director of Sponsor Services at the Cato Institute in Washington DC, responsible for raising high dollar contributions from individuals and for executing major donor events around the world. In 1998 Nicole moved to New York to become Development Director at School Choice Scholarships and, concurrently, Membership Director at the Manhattan Institute.
Sacha joined the Stockholm Network in January after a successful research internship at Civitas, a civil society think-tank and Stockholm Network member in London. He previously worked part-time as a student caller during his postgraduate studies, raising money for the University of Warwick Alumni Fund. After growing up in Hong Kong, Sacha returned to the UK to continue his studies, and holds a Degree in English and American Literature and a Masters in Ancient History from the University of Warwick
Between 1996 and 2000, Helen worked at the Social Market Foundation, an independent promarket think tank in Westminster, where she was Deputy Director and Editor of The Review, a quarterly journal. She has edited a number of think-tank publications including The Sex-Change Society by Melanie Phillips, published by the Social Market Foundation, and Europe’s Welfare Burden, and Breaking Down the Barriers published by Civitas:The Institute for the Study of Civil Society for the Stockholm Network. Helen has been the Director of the Stockholm Network since 1997, and is a founding member of the organisation. She holds a degree in French and Italian from Bristol University and speaks conversational Spanish.
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She took leave of absence from the public policy and think tank world on two occasions to work on Steve Forbes’ 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns. In 2000, she also became Director of Development at the Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington, New York and served as its interim President. Prior to relocating to the United Kingdom in 2003, Nicole was founding Executive Director of the Donald & Paula Smith Family Foundation in New York.The mission of the Foundation is to defend free speech and a free society.This is achieved through the critical examination of ideas and the sponsoring of public policy debates and related activities in the New York City area. Nicole has a B.A. in Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics & Government from the American University in Washington DC.
DAN LEWIS is the Director of Environmental Affairs at the Stockholm Network. Dan has worked as a journalist but combines this with pragmatic research. He is committed to finding workable, cost-effective solutions for the environment that policymakers can use. He has contributed to numerous publications, including Refocus, Sustain magazine and the Wall Street Journal Europe. His report for the Economic Research Council, Recharging The Nation, an economics-based assessment of existing, renewable technologies and their prospects for expansion, put the case for Green Energy in the UK at the right price if combined with market-driven policies. He has since advised policymakers and investors about renewables and the environment.
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MEMBER ORGANISATIONS
The Stockholm Network is Europe’s only dedicated service organisation for market-oriented think tanks and thinkers. Spanning almost 40 countries and 120 think tanks, our unique organisation has the capacity to deliver local messages and locally-tailored global messages across the EU and beyond.
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Through our publications, weekly newsletter, and special events, members are able to exchange ideas and make an impact on a wide range of public policy topics and ideas. If you know of a new organisation you think would benefit from Stockholm Network membership, please contact our office at info@stockholm-network.org and let us know.
“Free-marketers preach globalisation and international contacts, but we rarely practice as we should. The Stockholm Network’s activities and invaluable networks are changing that, by connecting the forces of European liberalism.” Johan Norberg, Timbro, Sweden & author, In Defence of Global Capitalism
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1 Adam Smith Institute 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
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www.adamsmith.org England Adam Smith Society www.adamsmith.it Italy Albanian Center for Economic Research www.balkannetwork.org/albania.htm Albania Anders Chydenius Foundation www.chydenius.net/eng/index.asp Finland Association for Liberal Thinking www.liberal-dt.org.tr Turkey Association for Modern Economy www.ame.org.mk Macedonia Avenir Suisse www.avenir-suisse.ch Switzerland Balkan Network www.balkannetwork.org Balkans Bertil Ohlin Institute www.ohlininstitutet.org Sweden Bow Group www.bowgroup.org England Causa Liberal www.causaliberal.net Portugal Center for Liberal-Democratic Studies www.clds.org.yu Yugoslavia Centre for Democracy and Free Enterprise www.cdfe.cz/english Czech Republic Centre for Economic Development www.cphr.sk Slovakia Centre for European Reform www.cer.org.uk England Centre for Liberal Strategies www.cls-sofia.org Bulgaria Centre for Policy Studies www.cps.org.uk/start.htm England Centre for Political Thought www.omp.org.pl/indexang.html Poland Centre for Research into Post-Communist Economies www.crce.org.uk England Centre for the New Europe www.cne.org Belgium Centre for the Study of Democracy www.csd.bg Bulgaria Centro Einaudi www.centroeinaudi.it Italy Centrum im. Adama Smitha Poland www.adam-smith.pl Cercles Liberaux www.cerclesliberaux.com France CIDAS www.cidas.it Italy Circulo de Empresarios www.circulodeempresarios.org Spain Civic Institute www.obcinst.cz Czech Republic Civita www.civita.no Norway Civitas www.civitas.org.uk England Cortese Foundation www.fondazionecortese.it/fc_eng.htm Italy Council on Public Policy www.council.uni-bayreuth.de Germany
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32 David Hume Institute 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
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www.davidhumeinstitute.com Scotland E.G.West Centre www.ncl.ac.uk/egwest England Economic Policy Institute www.epi-bg.org Bulgaria Edmund Burke Foundation www.burkestichting.nl/content/en/index.html Holland Edmund Burke Institute www.edmundburke-institute.com Ireland Ekome www.ekome.gr/English/default.asp Greece Eudoxa www.eudoxa.se/usa/index.html Sweden Euro 92 www.euro92.com/new/europe.php3 France European Ideas Network www.epp-ed.europarl.eu.int Belgium European Policy Centre www.theepc.net Belgium EVA www.eva.fi/eng/index.php Finland F.A. v. Hayek Institute www.hayek-institut.at Austria Fondation Concorde www.fondationconcorde.com/html/accueil.html France Fondazione Liberal www.liberalfondazione.it Italy Fondazione Luigi Einaudi www.fondeinaudiroma.it Italy Foundation for Market Economy www.fme.hu Hungary Frédéric Bastiat Stichting www.bastiatstichting.nl Netherlands Free Democratic www.freedemocratic.org Norway Free Market Centre www.fmc.org.yu Yugoslavia Friedrich Naumann Stiftung www.fnst.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-449/i.html Germany Friedrich von Hayek Gesellschaft www.hayek.de Germany Fundacion Internacional para la Libertad (FIL) www.fundacionfil.org Spain Gdansk Institute for Market Economics www.ibngr.edu.pl Poland Global Business Research Institute www.gbri.org England Hayek Foundation, Russia www.hayek.ru Russia Hayek Foundation, Slovakia www.hayek.sk Slovakia Hayek Society www.hayek.hu Hungary Health Reform.cz www.healthreform.cz Czech Republic IFRAP (French Institute for Research into Public Administration) www.ifrap.org France Independent Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies www.iiseps.by Republic of Belarus INEKO www.ineko.sk/english Slovakia
63 Institute for Liberalism and Market Economy 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
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www.liberalismus.at Austria Institut Hayek www.fahayek.org Belgium Institut Karla Havlicka Borovskeho www.ikhb.cz Czech Republic Institut Montaigne www.institutmontaigne.org France Institute for Economic Studies Europe www.ieseurope.org France Institute for Free Enterprise www.unternehmerische-freiheit.de Germany Institute for International Relations www.imo.hr Croatia Institute for Market Economics (IME) www.ime-bg.org Bulgaria Institute for Private Enterprise and Democracy www.iped.pl Poland Institute for Transitional Democracy and International Security www.itdis.org Hungary Institute Economique Molinari www.institutmolinari.org Belgium Institute of Economic Affairs www.iea.org.uk England Institute of Economic Analysis www.iea.ru Russia Institute of Economic Studies www.ioes.hi.is Iceland Institute of Economics www.eizg.hr Croatia Institute of the Third Republic www.instytut-rp.org.pl Poland Instituto de Estudios del Libre Comercio www.idelco.es Spain Instytut Liberalno-Konserwatywny www.ilk.lublin.pl Poland International Centre for Economic Research www.icer.it Italy International Council for Capital Formation www.iccfglobal.org Belgium International Policy Network www.policynetwork.net England ISSP www.isspm.org Serbia and Montenegro Istituto Bruno Leoni www.brunoleoni.it Italy Jaan Tonisson Institut www.jti.ee Estonia Jerusalem Institute for Market Economics www.jims-israel.org/pages/1/index.htm Israel Konrad Adenauer Foundation www.kas.de Germany Liberales www.liberales.be Belgium Liberales Institut www.libinst.ch/?nav=&slg=eng Switzerland Liberalni Institute www.libinst.cz/english Czech Republic Libertarian Alliance www.libertarian.co.uk England Libertas www.libertas.dk Denmark
94 Liberty Net www.libertynet.gr Greece
95 Lithuanian Free Market Institute 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120
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www.freema.org Lithuania Ludwig von Mises Institute Europe www.vonmisesinstitute-europe.org Belgium Ludwig von Mises Institute, Romania www.misesromania.org Romania Markedscentret www.markedscentret.dk Denmark M.E.S.A. 10 www.mesa10.sk/en/ Slovakia New Economic School, Georgia www.economics.ge Georgia New Economic School, Russia www.nes.ru/english Russia New Social Market Economy Foundation www.chancenfueralle.de Germany Nova Civitas www.novacivitas.org Belgium Nova Res Publica www.novarespublica.org Italy Open Republic Institute www.openrepublic.org Ireland Paradigmes www.paradigmes.com France Poderlimitado.org www.poderlimitado.org Spain Policy Exchange www.policyexchange.org.uk England Politeia www.politeia.co.uk England Project Empowerment www.project-empowerment.org England Ratio Institute www.ratioinstitutet.nu Sweden Reform www.reformbritain.com England Romania Think Tank www.thinktankromania.ro Romania Romanian Centre for Economic Policies www.cerope.ro Romania Sauvegarde Retraites www.sauvegarde-retraites.org France Social Affairs Unit www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk England Stiftung Marktwirtschaft www.stiftung-marktwirtschaft.de Germany The Taxpayers’ Alliance www.taxpayersalliance.com UK Telders Foundation www.teldersstichting.nl Holland Think Tank for International Governance Research www.tigra.at Austria Thomas More Institute www.institut-thomas-more.org Belgium Timbro www.timbro.se Sweden Ukranian Centre for Independent Political Research www.ucipr.kiev.ua/index.php?newlang=eng Ukraine
11
EYE ON EUROPE STOCKHOLM NETWORK PUBLICATIONS
UPCOMING EVENTS THE WESTMINSTER FRINGE Is Britain a Nanny State? 30th November, One Great George Street, London SW1 In the first of a new series of ‘Westminster Fringe’ debates organised by the Stockholm Network and The Economist, a panel of experts will debate whether Britain is becoming a Nanny State? Has the state’s role in regulating personal behaviour become too intrusive? Does the Government really need to tell us what to eat or how to parent? Or, as traditional units of civil society including the family, the church and voluntary bodies have weakened, should the state play a greater role in dealing with social problems? The debate takes place on 30th November, 6 for 6.30 - 8.30pm, at One Great George St, London SW1 (closest tubes, St James Park & Westminster). To request an invitation, please email sacha@stockholm-network.org
SECURITY IN A BORDERLESS WORLD This November, the Stockholm Network is helping co-ordinate a series of seminars by London-based think tanks.
Apology for Capitalism £10
The increasingly globalised nature of the world has brought many benefits but also created many new threats.This series of four seminars will examine current and potential solutions to the negative side-effects of our borderless world.The Centre for Policy Studies will examine the legal ramifications of the increased movement of people and goods, while Policy Exchange will investigate the efficacy of the anti-terrorism legislation introduced since 9/11. Reform will explore the arguments for and against the introduction of identity cards, and the Social Affairs Unit will consider the reform and future role of the domestic and international security services.
Impatient for Change £12
For more information about this series of seminars, please contact sacha@stockholm-network.org
A Sick Business £10
If you would like to order a Stockholm Network publication, please send a cheque made payable to ‘Market House International Ltd’ to the address below. Please also include £2 postage in Europe, £3 postage Rest of the World. Return Address: Stockholm Network 35 Britannia Row London N1 8WH United Kingdom www.stockholm-network.org info@stockholm-network.org
THE AMIGO SOCIETY Also coming this Autumn is the launch of the Amigo Society, a regular series of events held at the Hotel Amigo in Brussels. The series will kick off with opening lectures from healthcare experts around the world, highlighting how other countries' systems operate and where Europe can learn from best practice overseas. Speakers confirmed so far include Brian Lee Crowley, Director of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) in Canada (12th October) and Johan Hjertqvist, Director of Timbro Health in Brussels (16th November – TBC). To find out more, email Helen Disney at helen@stockholm-network.org
THE STOCKHOLM NETWORK 35 Britannia Row London N1 8QH United Kingdom Tel: (44) 207-354-8888 Fax: (44) 207-359-8888 E-mail: info@stockholm-network.org Website: www.stockholm-network.org
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