It is a great pleasure to have been invited to attend the XIX International Gottfried von Haberler Conference organised. This will be hosted by the European Center of Austrian Economics Foundation and held at the University of Liechtenstein in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

We will have the pleasure of hearing from a most distinguished roster of speakers on such critical topics as “Individual Freedom, Equity and Social Justice” and “Motivations and Implications of Critical Social Justice”.

The opening and closing remarks at the conference will be given by HSH Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, Founding President of the European Center of Austrian Economics Foundation (ECAEF), a leading public policy think tank based in Vaduz. He is also President of Industrie- & Finanzkontor, a financial services and trust company based in Vaduz and Founder and Chairman of Geopolitical Information Service (GIS).

The work of Gottfried von Haberler (1900 – 1995), after whom the conference is named, focussed on many questions in connection with international trade. One of his major contributions was reformulating the Ricardian theory of comparative advantage abandoning the labour theory of value for an opportunity cost concept.

His insights remain highly relevant in today’s world dominated by discussions surrounding sanctions, tariffs and strategic decoupling. It reminds us that such measures come at the cost of lost efficiency, and he has provided a valuable framework for evaluating whether the political and security rationale for trade restrictions can justify their long-term economic consequences.

It promises to be a most stimulating and timely event!

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