Type Think-Tank Director General Alberto Mingardi Headquarters Milan | President Franco Debenedetti Founded 2003 | |
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Motto "Ideas for the free market" Purpose Ordoliberalism, Austrian School, Classical Liberalism Key people Carlo Lottieri, Nicola Rossi, Antonio Martino, Sergio Ricossa Similar Atlas Network, Institute of Economic Affairs, Ludwig von Mises Institute, Cato Institute, Independent Institute Profiles | ||
The Bruno Leoni Institute, named after philosopher and scholar Bruno Leoni, is an Italian libertarian think-tank promoting classical liberal ideas in Italy and in Europe.
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About
IBL was founded in 2003 by three Italian libertarian scolars: Carlo Lottieri, Alberto Mingardi and Carlo Stagnaro. Based in Turin and Milan, it organizes conferences and seminars in many Italian cities, publishes books, briefing and academic papers and assists students at undergraduate and graduate levels with their research work.
IBL states that its aim is to:
"contribute to the Italian political discourse, to enable a proper appreciation of the role of liberty and private enterprise as pillars of a more prosperous and open society. It is structured on the model of the think tanks in the English-speaking world: non-profit research centers, with no political affiliations, aiming to offer a fruitful contribution to the political debate".
The policy ideas promoted by IBL aim to "create a greater 'breathing space' for civil society and empower individuals, giving more resources back to businesses, and freeing competition and exchanges, to the benefit of the general welfare and increasing the wealth of society and its members". IBL defines its philosophy, stating that it:
…is given different names, such as “liberal”, “libertarian”, or “market-oriented”. The inspiration of the institute comes from Bruno Leoni, a great philosopher of law whose works and thought IBL spreads throughout Italy and abroad. IBL has dedicated the site “Rediscovering Bruno Leoni” to the figure of Bruno Leoni. In the world of real politics, we fight for solutions which offer breathing space to civil society, and which give resources back to the economy, while liberalizing competition and trade to the end of greater wellbeing and wealth for all.
IBL is part of a broader international network of research centers informed by the same free-market approach: it joins the efforts of the Atlas Network and is a founding member of EPICENTER.
Annual Index of Liberalizations
IBL publishes an annual index of what it considers the most remarkable liberalizations that have occurred through the EU member states during the previous year, ranking countries on the degree of their market openness, and offering an analysis of 10 sectors of the EU economy. The annual index is cited by the media and academicians, as a source of information for policymaking and research.
Bruno Leoni Lecture
IBL organizes since 2008 a yearly “Discorso Bruno Leoni” (Bruno Leoni Lecture). The Discorso is among the flagship events of Istituto Bruno Leoni, as it strives to bring the Italian public up to date to the most relevant international debates. The Discorso Bruno Leoni is structured as an in-depth lecture by a distinguished scholar or author, in which a seminal optic is investigated from a free-market, individual liberty perspective.
Over time speakers have included:
Bruno Leoni Award
Since 2008, every year the Bruno Leoni Institute attributes a "Bruno Leoni Award" dedicated to the thinker whose teachings the Institute refers to, and awarded to distinguished personalities. The award is intended to eminent figures who, through a recently published book, or with the work of a lifetime, have helped to advance the ideas of individual freedom, free market and free competition.
Through time, it has been awarded to: