About the F. A. Hayek Foundation Bratislava

Mission

The F. A. Hayek Foundation Bratislava - is an independent and non-political, non-profit organization, founded in 1991, by a group of free-market oriented Slovak economists.

The core mission of the F. A. Hayek Foundation is to establish a tradition of market-oriented thinking in Slovakia – an approach that had not existed before the 1990’s in our region. From this classic liberal tradition, to offer practical reform proposals for market solutions to economic and social problems; in the reform process to widen and propagate throughout Slovakia classic liberal ideas, provide a platform to exchange of ideas of experts and the broader public, and develop the basic liberal ideas and values.

Impact

The F. A. Hayek Foundation remains active in several main issues of public policy: improvement of business environment, pension reform, taxation, social system, public finance, EU integration and harmonization, privatization, education reform, and many others. Members of the foundation served as chief aides to, and were ideological fathers of, several public policy reforms, such as the pension reform (the core system proposal later adopted by the government was developed by the foundation’s experts), introduction of flat tax, privatization of utilities, to mention the most important ones.

One of the most successful projects of our institute was the founding of the Slovak Taxpayers Association, which fights against excessive financial tax burdens on citizens and businesses and tries to increase the public awareness about tax matters. Every year, the Slovak Taxpayers Association calculates and announces the Tax Freedom Day date (the campaign includes a mass media coverage). Meanwhile, it has become of the best recognized public policy organizations in Slovakia, with 51 % brand public recognition according to a recent public opinion poll.

In 2004, The F. A. Hayek Foundation was awarded the distinguished Templeton Freedom Award for Institute Excellence for its impact and efforts in promoting liberty and market principles in Slovakia. In addition to this, a special USD 10,000 grant and Templeton Freedom Prize for Initiative in Public relations were awarded to the F. A. Hayek Foundation by US-based organizations, The John M. Templeton Foundation and Atlas Economic Research Foundation.

Activities

Throughout more than a dozen years of its existence, the F. A. Hayek Foundation has been one of the most well-known think tanks in Slovakia. Our institute has built up an excellent international reputation, as shown by its working cooperation with many renowned institutions from the whole world. The Foundation has invited and hosted many individuals visiting Slovakia, among others the Nobel Prize winning economist, Gary Becker; father of the first radical social security reform in Chile, José Pinera; famous Flat Tax promoter and US presidential candidate, Steve Forbes; or author of the most successful economic reform of the 20th century from New Zealand, Sir Roger Douglas.

There is a wide spectrum of activities with F.A. Hayek Foundation’s involvement, from important research projects, currently including, for example, the Business Environment Audit (focusing on regulatory reform), through regular and very successful education programs, to prestigious international conferences and publishing activities. The foundation is involved in several reform projects at the municipal level, consulting towns and cities to outsource their services to private firms, improve their city management and budget responsibility. The common denominator of all our activities is the principal support for individual liberty and the institution of private property.

Milton Friedman about the F. A. Hayek Foundation	Steve Forbes about the F. A. Hayek Foundation
Excerpts from a personally written letter from Nobel Prize Winner Milton Friedman to the F. A. Hayek Foundation Bratislava:	Article published in the Forbes Magazine (Global Edition), August 2003
“I strongly support the approach of the F. A. Hayek Foundation which regards the freedom of the individual as the key objective of a good society. Two areas where reforms are important in order to maximize individual freedom are pensions and education. (…) In schooling, the objective should be a vigorous, energetic, innovative school system in which parents are free to choose the schools their children attend. Given that the state is prepared to finance education for all of the children, one way to promote such an outcome is through a system of school vouchers in which the state provides each student with a voucher of a specified sum of money that can be used only for schooling. The parents could choose the schools for their children. The schools would be free to compete in the price they charge and the services they provide, so long as they satisfy minimum standards.”	Tocqueville Would Have Understood I visited Slovakia recently at the invitation of the F. A. Hayek Foundation and one of its offshoots, the Slovak Taxpayers Association. The foundation was founded in 1991 to promote free-market ideas and political principles in a country where such traditions had never existed before. That Slovakia is emerging as a beacon of democratic capitalism is in no small part because of the foundation's work. For example, it persistently and effectively pushed the flat tax idea, which should become effective Jan. 1, 2004. All of us, including savvy investors, should be grateful that such civic institutions as the Hayek Foundation are taking root in former Communist countries. They are providing the real push, the impetus for Western-style reforms and ideas.

Milton Friedman about the F. A. Hayek Foundation

Steve Forbes about the F. A. Hayek Foundation

Excerpts from a personally written letter from Nobel Prize Winner Milton Friedman to the F. A. Hayek Foundation Bratislava:

Article published in the Forbes Magazine (Global Edition), August 2003

“I strongly support the approach of the F. A. Hayek Foundation which regards the freedom of the individual as the key objective of a good society. Two areas where reforms are important in order to maximize individual freedom are pensions and education. (…)

In schooling, the objective should be a vigorous, energetic, innovative school system in which parents are free to choose the schools their children attend. Given that the state is prepared to finance education for all of the children, one way to promote such an outcome is through a system of school vouchers in which the state provides each student with a voucher of a specified sum of money that can be used only for schooling. The parents could choose the schools for their children. The schools would be free to compete in the price they charge and the services they provide, so long as they satisfy minimum standards.”

Tocqueville Would Have Understood

I visited Slovakia recently at the invitation of the F. A. Hayek Foundation and one of its offshoots, the Slovak Taxpayers Association. The foundation was founded in 1991 to promote free-market ideas and political principles in a country where such traditions had never existed before.

That Slovakia is emerging as a beacon of democratic capitalism is in no small part because of the foundation's work. For example, it persistently and effectively pushed the flat tax idea, which should become effective Jan. 1, 2004. All of us, including savvy investors, should be grateful that such civic institutions as the Hayek Foundation are taking root in former Communist countries. They are providing the real push, the impetus for Western-style reforms and ideas.