Current News
Commentary on the Financial Crisis:
Read Dr. Brook's opinion-editorial "Is Rand Relevant?" printed in the March 14, 2009 edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Yaron Brook is a weekly guest on PajamasMedia's PJTV. His interviews are at 1:00 pm (Pacific time) on Friday's and post soon after on the PJTV site. You can also visit ARC's PajamasTV Interviews Page to view the complete video archive.
[Click Here] to watch video of Yaron Brook's talk on "Capitalism Without Guilt," a presentation given as part of the BB&T Speakers Series at the Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina
The Ayn Rand Center hosts a Web page featuring ARC's commentary on the financial crisis. (The Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights in Washington, DC is the public policy and outreach division of the Ayn Rand Institute.) The site also hosts video of Dr. Brook's inaugural talk for the ARC's lecture series,"Capitalism Without Guilt: The Moral Case for Freedom."
Read Yaron Brook's Newsweek.com interview: "Who Is To Blame?" His interview "What Would Ayn Rand Have Done?" with Michael Duffy appears on the Times.com Web site.
The Spring 2009 issue of the Objective Standard features Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and the World Today, an interview in which Dr. Brook explains why, more than fifty years ago, Rand was able to predict the kinds of crises we are seeing today. The Spring 2009 edition also features Yaron Brook's and Don Watkins' article "America's Unfree Market," in which the authors describe the true nature of the allegedly "free market" that delivered the current mayhem.
The Fall 2008 edition of the Objective Standard features Yaron Brook's article The Resurgence of Big Government, in which Dr. Brook identifies the cause of America's two-decade swing to the right, and explains why this cause was philosophically insufficient to sustain the movement towards pure capitalism. He also discusses the factors that Americans must understand if the nation is to resume its progression toward freedom and economic prosperity.
Forbes
Dr. Brook has contributed a series of columns to Forbes.com. These articles focus on business and political topics.
The Government Did It, a discussion of the U.S. government's culpability in the housing debacle. The article focuses on the economic disasters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
From Flat World to Free World, an analysis of how the worldwide renewed focus on nationalism, coupled with a lackluster defense of capitalism, has left free markets vulnerable.
Life and Taxes, a message to our presidential candidates: Free us from our tax code, don't just add more pages the existing cumbersome legislation.
War on Free Political Speech, a discussion of how abolishing campaign finance laws would serve to "level the political playing field."
To Stimulate the Economy, Liberate It, an argument against Bush's "economic stimulus package" in which Dr. Brook describes how this sort of government intervention actually contributes to economic downturns and cannot be expected to remedy the sub-prime lending crisis.
The Right Vision of Health Care, a commentary on health care reform and an analysis of the pitfalls of the Republican Party's proposed plan.
BusinessWeek
Yaron Brook has participated in several on-line debates hosted by BusinessWeek. Links to these commentaries appear on the Debate Room site.
Fox Business News Network (FBN)
Dr. Brook is a frequent guest on the Fox
Business News
Network. The negative impact of government regulation is a common theme, but Dr. Brook's commentary covers a broad
range of topics culled from FBN's breaking news stories. (Comcast
carries the Fox Business News
Network in many parts of the country. Please check your local
cable listings
for FBN.)
CNBC
Yaron Brook also appears regularly on various CNBC shows. He speaks on current events, focusing primarily on issues relating to business, politics, and world affairs. [Watch On-line] video of selected CNBC shows featuring Dr. Brook.
Corporate and Executive Training
Through the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, the public outreach division of the Ayn Rand Institute, Yaron Brook offers customized training programs for businesses. His specialty is teaching executives how to create, inculcate, and sustain corporate philosophies consistent with the ideas that create enduring profitability.
Please direct inquires about the ARC's customized leadership and corporate training programs to kdevar@aynrand.org.
Other Events, and Presentations
Dr. Brook lectures at universities, businesses, think-tanks, and for political and community organizations around the world. Videos of selected events and presentations appear on the Ayn Rand Institute's YouTube channel and the Ayn Rand Center's ARC TV.
CNBC
Yaron Brook also appears regularly on various CNBC shows. He speaks on current events, focusing primarily on issues relating to business, politics, and world affairs. [Watch On-line] video of selected CNBC shows featuring Dr. Brook.
Corporate and Executive Training
Through the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, the public outreach division of the Ayn Rand Institute, Yaron Brook offers customized training programs for businesses. His specialty is teaching executives how to create, inculcate, and sustain corporate philosophies consistent with the ideas that create enduring profitability.
Please direct inquires about the ARC's customized leadership and corporate training programs to kdevar@aynrand.org.
Other Events, and Presentations
Dr. Brook lectures at universities, businesses, think-tanks, and for political and community organizations around the world. Videos of selected events and presentations appear on the Ayn Rand Institute's YouTube channel and the Ayn Rand Center's ARC TV.
Upcoming Speaking Events
July 3-11, 2009 - Objectivist Summer Conference 2009, Boston, MA
Recent months have poignantly demonstrated the importance of philosophy in human life, as current events seem to spring directly from the pages of Atlas Shrugged. As most Americans look towards government to rescue them, ARI's conference speakers will showcase the alternative solutions offered by Rand's philosophy. Please visit the OCON 2009 Web site for complete information and to register for the conference.
July 8, 2009 - Executive Training, Stanford University,
Palo Alto, CA
Saxo Bank, in conjunction with Stanford University's custom executive education program, are hosting Yaron Brook to present a seminar to the bank's high-level managers. Saxo's senior executive team is strongly influence by Ayn Rand's philosophy and have invited Dr. Brook to discuss Objectivism as it applies to business. This event is private.
(Please direct inquires about the ARC's customized leadership and corporate training programs to kdevar@aynrand.org.)
August 14, 2009 - Business Innovation and Growth Council,
Charlotte, NC
This group of entrepreneurs is hosting Yaron Brook to discuss the morality of capitalism. Council members have recently read Atlas Shrugged and thus are also interested in a discussion of the parallels between the novel and the current political/economic environment in America. This event is private and attendance is by invitation only. (Please contact kdevar@aynrand.org with inquires.)
Selected Past Speaking Events
June 9-10, 2009 - Executive Team Training, Lebanon, NH
Dr. Brook presented an executive training seminar to the C-level management team of the world's largest civilian vendor of digital map and navigation data. The seminar focused on developing a corporate philosophy that will enable the executive team to create an enduringly profitable corporate culture.
(Please direct inquires about the ARC's customized leadership and corporate training programs to kdevar@aynrand.org.)
May 30, 2009 - Republican State Convention, Richmond, VA
The Republican Party of Virginia hosted Yaron Brook as a speaker at Virginia's 2009 Republican State Convention. Dr. Brook gave a keynote address at the opening breakfast. Dr. Brook discussed the problems that the Republican party faces and described why the party has lost sight of the principles of individual rights that made America great. Mitt Romney, Sean Hannity, and member of British Parliament, Adam Holloway were other keynote speakers at the convention.
May 28, 2009 - Young Presidents Organization, Charleston, WV
The Mountain State Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization hosted Yaron Brook as the keynote speaker for the YPO's conference at the University of Charleston, WV. The title of the talk was "Extreme Capitalism: The Philosophies of Ayn Rand." Dr. Brook discussed the ethics of capitalism and presented Rand's arguments for why capitalism is the only moral economic/political system.
May 22, 2009 - Corporate Management Training, Las Vegas, NV
Dr. Brook led an executive training seminar on the topic of corporate values for the regional managers of a national company headquartered in Texas. The workshop focused on the values and virtues that are consistent with the ideas that create success in business. (Please direct inquires about the ARC's customized leadership and corporate training programs to kdevar@aynrand.org.)
May 20, 2009 - University of California, Los Angeles, CA
Along with Jerry Jordan, president of the Pacific Academy for Advanced Studies, Yaron Brook conducted a panel discussion titled "Nation in Financial Crisis:Causes and Solutions."
May 14, 2009 - Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Yaron Brook gave a talk on the morality of capitalism and the root causes of the financial crisis.
April 21, 2009 - Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN
The MSU Economics Department, the Economics Club, the Kappa Chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon, and MSU's Honor Society in Economics sponsored a talk in which Dr. Brook discussed how truly free-market capitalism is the optimal, and only moral, solution to the current financial crisis.
March 31, 2009 - Rice University, Houston, TX
Yaron Brook gave a talk on the moral foundations of capitalism. His discussion included commentary on the current financial situation. This event was sponsored by the university's Objectivist campus club.
March 25-26, 2009 - ThinkGreen Conference, San Francisco, CA
Yaron Brook gave the keynote speech at a dinner hosted by ThinkEquity LLC on the evening of March 25. He discussed the climate change controversy and argued against government funding for the development of "green" energy sources. On March 26 he participated in a panel discussion titled: "Wind Power: Today's Big Energy Alternative."
March 8-10, 2009 - International Climate Change Conference,
New York, NY
Dr. Brook gave a talk titled "Environmentalism: A Philosophy of Sacrifice," as part of the "Economics/Politics--the Intellectual Roots of Alarmism" panel. The conference was hosted by the Heartland Institute and co-sponsored by several organizations, including the Ayn Rand Institute. (Please visit the conference Web site for additional information and to order proceedings.)
February 12, 2009 - Oxford University, Oxford, U.K.
Yaron Brook participated in a debate about the causes of the financial crisis. This event was hosted by the Oxford Student Union and the proposition (defeated 131 to 51) was: "This House Blames The Bankers."
February 11, 2009 - James Martin 21st Century School, Oxford, U.K.
Yaron Brook spoke on Ayn Rand's ethics, particularly as they relate to the morality of capitalism. This talk was part of the James Martin Advanced Research Seminar Series and was hosted by the Philosophy Department of Oxford University.
February 10, 2009 - The Adam Smith Institute, London, U.K.
Yaron Brook gave a talk on the moral foundation of capitalism at the Adam Smith Institute.
December 2, 2008 - Moore School of Business, Columbia, SC
Yaron Brook gave a talk titled: "Capitalism without Guilt" to an audience of business people, faculty, and Graduate and undergraduate students of the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. A description of the event and a link to the video appear on the event site for the Moore School of Business.
November 14, 2008 - Palm Beach, FL
Yaron Brook participated in a panel discussion about issues of freedom and security in Israel. This event was part of the David Horowitz Freedom Center's Restoration Weekend .
October 22, 2008 - National Press Club, Washington, DC
"Capitalism Without Guilt: The Moral Case for Freedom," was the title of this lecture held at the National Press Club. Yaron Brook discussed how Ayn Rand's revolutionary ethics of rational self-interest supplies the moral foundations for laissez-faire capitalism. This talk inaugurated the lecture series of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights in Washington, DC. Please see the events page of the ARC's Web site for information about ARI's and ARC's upcoming events.
October 1, 2008 - Hamburg, Germany
A seminar for EU business people on the application of Objectivism to commerce. Dr. Brook described why business people need philosophy and how their firms can benefit from Objectivist principles.
September 12, 2008 - Beijing, China
Yaron Brook presented a speech titled "The Morality of Capitalism: A Synthesis of Any Rand's Thought," to an audience of business people and academics at Renmin University, Beijing. The event was hosted by the Cathay Institute of Public Affairs.
May 20, 2008 - Oxford University, Oxford, U.K.
A lecture to the Oxford Union on the morality of capitalism. Dr. Brook discussed the nature of laissez-faire capitalism: a social system in which the government is devoted exclusively to the protection of individual rights (including property rights) in which there exists no government intervention in the economy. He also argued that capitalism is the only moral and practical social system--the only system consistent with man's nature and the requirements of human life--and thus the only social construct that enables each individual to reach his full potential.
May 8, 2008 - Ford Hall Forum, Boston, MA
"Woodstock's Legacy: The Rise of Environmentalism and the Religious Right," a talk that considered how the opposing forces of reason and emotionalism have manifested themselves in American culture in the four decades since Woodstock. This lecture commemorated Rand's 1969 speech at Ford Hall Forum, as in the year of its 100th anniversary, the Forum recalls the presentations of notable past speakers. Please visit the Forum's Web site for additional details.
May 6, 2008 - Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
The third panel in the series on "The Threat of Totalitarian Islam." The co-panelist
was Dr. Daniel Pipes.
April 29, 2008 - UCB, Berkeley, CA
The first in a series of panel discussions (followed by question and answer sessions) on the topic: "The Threat of Totalitarian Islam." The co-panelists were Dr. Daniel Pipes and Victor Davis Hanson.
March 6, 2008 - Yale University, New Haven Connecticut
Dr. Brook gave the keynote speech to initiate a debate of the Yale Political Union. The resolution for the debate was: Resolved: Your Poverty is Your Problem. Please visit the Yale Political Union's Web site for additional information and see the review in the Yale Daily News.
Selected Publications
Spring 2009 - Atlas Shrugged and the World Today; America's Unfree Markets
Read an interview with Yaron Brook: Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and the World Today, along with Dr. Brook's article: "America's Unfree Market," (co-authored with Don Watkins), in the Spring 2009 edition of the Objective Standard.
Fall 2008 - The Resurgence of Big Government
Read a synopsis and the opening paragraphs of The Resurgence of Big Government, published in the Fall 2008 issue of the Objective Standard.
November 2007 - "Just War" Theory vs. American Self-Defense
The Nov. 2007 edition of Nativ, a journal of politics and the Arts published by the Ariel Center for Policy Research, features Yaron Brook's and Alex Epstein's essay on the morality of war.
Fall 2007 - The Morality of Money Lending: A Short History
Read The Morality of Money Lending: A Short History, published in the Fall 2007 issue of the Objective Standard.
Spring 2007 - Should Shareholders Have a Say on Pay? No.
Read Dr. Brook's article on CEO compensation, published in the May 21, 2007 edition of Investment News.
Spring 2007 - The "Forward Strategy" for Failure
Read Dr. Brook's and Elan Journo's article on the Bush Administration's war strategy, published in the Spring 2007 issue of the Objective Standard.
January 7, 2007 - CEO Pay is Company's Prerogative
Read Dr. Brook's article on CEO pay, published in the January 7, 2007 edition of USA Today.
