Washington DC, Sept. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Washington, D.C., September 18, 2023 — Students For Liberty, the largest global pro-liberty student organization, is delighted to announce the return of its flagship event, LibertyCon International 2024. The event will take place at the prestigious Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C., from February 2-4, 2024. Ticket sales are now open at LibertyCon.com.
Students For Liberty CEO Dr. Wolf von Laer expressed his enthusiasm during the initial announcement for the upcoming LibertyCon:
“Since the first conference in 2008, LibertyCon has steadily provided a space for liberty lovers to come together from across the globe for a weekend that focuses on educating, empowering, and energizing international leaders around a shared vision of a freer future.”
Students For Liberty is proud to announce the first set of confirmed presenters for LibertyCon 2024.
That announcement begins with esteemed University of Illinois at Chicago Professor Deidre Nansen McCloskey. Trained at Harvard in the 1960s as an economist, she has written twenty-four books and some four hundred academic and popular articles on economic history, rhetoric, philosophy, statistical theory, economic theory, feminism, queer studies, liberalism, ethics, and law. She describes herself as a “literary, quantitative, postmodern, free-market, progressive-Episcopalian, ex-marxoid, Midwestern woman from Boston who was once a man.”
Making his return to LibertyCon is a former U.S. Congressman from Illinois, Joe Walsh. His passionate and outspoken advocacy caught significant attention and made headlines last year in Miami with his thoughts on Donald Trump’s legacy and the Joe Biden administration. Walsh’s conservative roots have been pushed far closer to libertarianism in recent years, beginning with his public condemnation of President Trump’s failure to respect the Constitution and individual rights and growing every year since.
A longtime favorite at Students For Liberty, co-founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market John Mackey led the natural and organic grocery chain to become a $13 billion Fortune 500 company. A firm believer in free market principles, Mackey co-founded the Conscious Capitalism Movement, which he has discussed with LibertyCon attendees in previous years. Bringing his wealth of knowledge and experience to the stage, students and guests can anticipate valuable insights into how the free market provides the most compassionate solutions to our economic challenges.
Also returning to LibertyCon is the 2020 Libertarian candidate for Vice President and founder of You Are The Power, Spike Cohen. At the last LibertyCon, Spike hosted multiple discussion panels, conducted a breakout session with Wu-Tang Clan’s Supreme, and participated in a debate on the main stage. Whether engaging in in-depth discussions on geopolitics or plotting out tactics on how to reign in your out-of-control local government, you can expect active participation from Spike.
Having achieved success through video game streaming, Steven Bonnell II, aka Destiny, garnered recognition as a political commentator and debater. He frequently engages in online debates with numerous prominent political commentators, discussing topics ranging from war to economic policy. While his specific role at LibertyCon in Washington, D.C., has yet to be revealed, it is anticipated to become one of the weekend’s highlights.
Highly active in the Washington, D.C. area, digital media manager and a fellow at the R Street Institute, Shoshana Weissmann is also on the board of the Conservation Coalition and is a member of the Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Project’s state and local working group. Shoshana is passionate about topics like occupational licensing and Internet censorship, something attendees at LibertyCon can look forward to.
Freedom maximalist and ex-hedge fund manager Robert Breedlove will be making his LibertyCon debut. A philosopher in the Bitcoin space, Breedlove publishes The Freedom Analects and hosts The ‘What is Money?’ Show. To him, Bitcoin is fundamentally a humanitarian movement exposing the greatest con in human history: central banking. By exploring the connection between honest money, entrepreneurship, and civilization, Breedlove believes we are renewing hope for the future of humanity.
Heritage Foundation economist Peter St. Onge brings his unique ability to explain complex economic theory back to the LibertyCon stage next year. Holding a Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from McGill University, St. Onge will not only speak on a panel on the main stage but will also take part in some breakout sessions in a more intimate setting where students and attendees can ask detailed questions about modern economics.
Also returning to LibertyCon is streamer and podcast host Dylan Burns. Starting out in politics as a campaign director for Mike Gravel, he’s since become a YouTuber, streamer, and podcast host. In 2020, Dylan started to make online political content promoting left-wing viewpoints, anti-imperialism, and political work within the Democratic party. He also founded the Hippy Dippy Podcast, which hosts debates, discussions and competitions.
Following her journey in sports and activism, sports broadcaster Emily Austin began her career by interviewing NBA players during the pandemic, eventually leading to her own show, ‘The Hoop Chat.’ At just 22 years old, Emily has also hosted MTV’s ‘Music Lives On,’ numerous celebrity boxing events, and served on the selection committee for the 71st Miss Universe pageant.
A professor of economics at George Mason University, Bryan Caplan is the editor and chief writer for ‘Bet On It,’ the blog hosted by the Salem Center for Policy at the University of Texas. A self-described ‘economic libertarian,’ Bryan has been published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, TIME, The Atlantic, and Newsweek. His 2008 book, The Myth of the Rational Voter, was named ‘the best political book of the year’ by The New York Times.
Stephan Livera hosts a self-titled Bitcoin & Austrian Economics podcast that features developers, economists, and entrepreneurs. Stephan is also Head of Education at Swan Bitcoin and invests in Bitcoin companies as a partner with Bitcoiner Ventures.
The final speaker in the LibertyCon ticket launch is none other than an associate professor of economics at Duquesne University, Antony Davies. Helping produce videos for the Learn Liberty platform over the past several years, Professor Davies has been partnering with Students For Liberty to promote free market discussions among students around the world, garnering over three million views and growing. Having these discussions in person, where students can ask questions, will provide an invaluable learning experience.
LibertyCon International will offer speakers addressing crucial issues, such as freedom of movement, freedom of speech, free-market environmentalism, the harms of prohibition, criminal justice reform, how to combat worldwide inflation, the role of cryptocurrency in the future, the political priorities of the next generation, and many more.
Students and attendees can take part in these discussions with us live in Washington, D.C., over the weekend of February 2-4, 2024. Registration is available now at LibertyCon.com.
Additional speakers will be announced in the forthcoming months leading up to LibertyCon, but this initial lineup demonstrates the commitment to bringing the best minds together that the liberty movement has to offer in one place.
To schedule an interview with Students For Liberty CEO Dr. Wolf von Laer about the conference and presentations at LibertyCon, please contact Brian Lambrecht directly at BLambrecht@StudentsForLiberty.org
Media passes are available to any journalists and media outlets that request them.
Brian S. Lambrecht
Students For Liberty
BLambrecht@StudentsForLiberty.org
Students For Liberty is the largest global pro-liberty student organization with students active in 101 countries across every inhabited continent. With a multi-million dollar budget and over 90 full-time staff members, they serve pro-liberty students in their pursuit to become leaders of liberty. They accomplish this through a strategy of identifying the top students and then empowering them to be agents of change in their communities. Last school year, their students organized over 2,573 events with 155,852 people in attendance.
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- Students For Liberty's LibertyCon International in Washington DC Feb. 2-4, 2024
- LibertyCon Finally Returns to Washington DC
