First Edition of the Freedom Forum
With the aim of generating a space for debate more within our home, in the challenging times we are living in, UCEMA opens the Freedom Forum, a virtual space designed for rotating groups of intellectuals to debate on diverse and transcendental issues, escaping from the classic juncture debate that prevents long-term thinking.
The Forum, inspired in the debate methodology of the Liberty Fund, will be coordinated by a committee formed by Alberto Benegas Lynch (h), Julio Elías, Martín Krause and Edgardo Zablotsky, who will also participate in the sessions. The space will count with the participation of the members of the committee and with five rotating participants, at least one of them will be from abroad, who will debate previously selected, read and analyzed material individually, via zoom. The meetings will take place quarterly and the moderator of the encounters will be Dr. Zablotsky, in his capacity as President of the UCEMA.
In the first session of the Freedom Forum, in addition to the members of the committee, there will be the following participants: Manuel Solanet, Director of Public Policies for Liberty and Progress; Nicolás Cachanosky, associate professor at MSU Denver; Alejandro Chafuén, international executive director of Acton Institute of USA; Martín Lagos, economist and member of the Governing Council of UCEMA and Marcos Gallacher, director of UCEMA´s Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusi and Natural Resources. This meeting took place with the title of “Individualism and Freedom"
Alberto Benegas Lynch (h) is President of the Economic Sciences Section of the National Academy of Economic Sciences of Buenos Aires and member of the National Academy of Economic Sciences. He has completed two doctorates: he holds a Ph.D. in Economics and also a Ph.D. in Management Sciences. Is author of seventeen books and six more in collaboration. Has been tenured professor through contest at the University of Buenos Aires and taught in five courses: Economic Sciences, Engineering, Law, Sociology and in the Department of History of Philosophy and Letters. He is currently a professor at ESEADE.
Alberto Benegas Lynch (h) He is Ph.D. in Economics and Ph.D. in Management Sciences, member of the National Academy of Economic Sciences and President of the Economic Sciences´ Section of the Buenos Aires National Academy of Sciences, author of 27 books, President of the Academic Council of the Freedom and Progress Foundation, he was tenured professor in five courses of the University of Buenos Aires, UBA: Economic Sciences, Engineering, Law, Sociology and in the Department of the History of Philosophy and Letters. Former Rector of ESEADE where he is a postgraduate professor, and he was economic advisor to the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, the Argentine Chamber of Commerce, the Rural Society and to the Inter-American Council of Commerce and Production.
Nicolás Cachanosky is Ph.D. in Economics, Suffolk University. He is currently Associate Professor of Economics at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. He is also Senior Fellow of the Sound Money Project in the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), Visiting Professor at UCEMA. and co-editor of the journal LIBERTAS: Segunda Época. He currently serves as Vice-President of the Association for Private Enterprise Education (APEE). His last book, written together with Peter Lewin (University of Texas at Dallas), is titled Capital and Finance: Theory and History (Routeldge).
Alejandro Chafuén is International Managing Director of Acton USA. Was CEO and President of Atlas network from 1991 to 2018. Is president and founder of the Hispanic American Center of Economic Research; regular columnist of the Wall Street Journal and Forbes; member of the board of Social Affairs Unit (UK) and member of Mount Pelerin. He is recognized worldwide for his studies on economic thought of the Thomists and the Scholastics. He is a graduate from the Grove City College and the UCA, and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the International College of California.
Julio Elías is Ph.D. in Economics, University of Chicago and Director of the Master in Economics at UCEMA. Is also Executive Director of the UCEMA Center for Creativity Economics, and associate researcher of the Center of Excellence on Human Capital and Economic Growth and Development of the University of Buffalo. Was Visiting Fellow of the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago, and visiting professor at the Economics Department of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, among other achievements.
Marcos Gallacher is Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, University of Kentucky and Director of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Natural Resources and Agribusiness. He received is professional education at the University of Buenos Aires (Agricultural Engineer) and at the University of Kentucky (MSc and Ph.D.). Has been professor at the University of Buenos Aires, the National University of the South and the National University of San Luis. He was consultant for US-AID, the World Bank, IICA, FAO and AACREA.
Martín Krause is Dr. in Administration, Catholic University of La Plata and economist from UBA. He is a professor at UCEMA, member of Mont Pelerin Society, Adjunct Academician of the Cato Institute and of the Academic Council of the Freedom and Progress Foundation (Buenos Aires). He has received several awards and scholarships including the Freedom Project of the John Templeton Foundation in 1999 and in 2000. Has published several books: El Foro y el Bazar (UFM, 2014); Elementos de Economía Política (La Ley, 2007, joint with Adrián Ravier and Gabriel Zanotti), among others.
Martín Lagos is an economist from UCA and MA (candidate) in Economics for the University of Columbia. He is member of the Board of Governors of Universidad del CEMA, the academic council of Fundación Libertad y Progreso and the administrative board of the Fundación Carlos Pellegrini. He was vice-president of the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA), advisor to the Ministry of Economy, chief economist at FIEL and the BankBoston, besides having published numerous articles and research work.
Manuel Solanet is director of Public Policies and co-founder of the Fundación Libertad y Progreso. He is a member of the academic council of FIEL. He is a civil engineer from UBA with postgraduate studies in economics in Chile. He is Pro-secretary of the Academy of Political and Moral Sciences of the Argentine Republic. In 1983 was founder of the consulting firm INFUPA, expert in Fusions and Acquisitions. Is author of La Hiperinflación de 1989, Apuntes de la Guerra de Malvinas, and compiler of Las Reformas Necesarias para Crecer en Libertad, the book of Freedom and Progress.
Edgardo Zablotsky is Ph.D. in Economics, University of Chicago and President of the Universidad del CEMA. He is a member of the National Academy of Education. Member of the Academic Council of the Freedom and Progress Foundation and of the Atlas Foundation (Argentina) and of the Advisory Council of Acton Institute (Argentina His interest is focused on two fields of research: non-welfare philanthropy and public policies carried out in the educational area in our country.