Introduction: Dr. Skousen has had a diverse career. He has taught at Columbia Business School, served as president of the Foundation of Economic Education (FEE), the first free-market think tank, and has had a business school named after him (Grantham University). He and his family have lived in Washington, the Bahamas, London, and New York. Since 1980, Dr. Skousen has been Editor in Chief of Forecasts & Strategies, a popular award-winning investment newsletter published by Eagle Publishing in Washington, D.C. He is also editor of his own website, www.mskousen.com, and editor of three trading services, Skousen Hedge Fund Trader, Skousen High Income Alert and Skousen Turnaround Trader. He earned his Ph.D in economics and monetary history from George Washington University in 1977. He also was an economic analyst for the CIA. Since then he has written over 25 books, including Economics on Trial (McGraw Hill, 1991), Puzzles and Paradoxes in Economics (Edward Elgar Publishers, 1997), and The Making of Modern Economics (M. E. Sharpe, 2001). Dr. Skousen is the creator and producer of FreedomFest, the "greatest libertarian show on earth" (Washington Post), held every July in Las Vegas.

Daily Bell: Tell us about FreedomFest this year.

Mark Skousen: It looks like we will have another record turnout (last year we had nearly 2,200), so we continue to grow very fast, and provide something unique – an intellectual love-fest in the world's most laissez faire city. We have attendees coming from all over the country and the world – all the way from Moscow this year.