About Us
Your Host, Michael McKay
Capping a 20 year career in sales to the Fortune 100, Michael McKay founded Iowa Capital Management (ICM) in 1994. ICM is an investment firm with an international clientèle, where he currently serves as Chief Economist and President
Michael has been a life long student of how the world works and, specifically, what incentives and motivations cause people to choose to cooperate in harmony with each other - or not. This naturally led him to study the integration of Economics, History, Law and, in particular, Ethics which Michael considers the foundation of Law and Economics. It is Michael's thesis that together these form our Human Ecology.
As Ludwig von Mises said,
"...all problems are linked to one another. In dealing with any part of the body of knowledge one deals actually with the whole. Economics ... invariably deals with all the phenomena of action."
For the past decade Michael has deeply studied and vocally advocated ‘Reality Economics’, a term he coined for what academics call ‘Austrian Economics’.
Michael believes we have entered an era where reality is not optional. Understanding this development is required of everyone wishing to survive, and ultimately prosper, in this climate of economic transformation.
Michael is the founder of RadioFreeMarket.com
Special Commentator, Zoe Russell
Zoe is a graduate of Auburn University in Business Economics. One of her college courses - on Free Market Economics - sparked an interest in Markets and how they work better when government is less involved, or not involved at all. Zoe attended Mises University 2009 and continues to study How Money Systems Work, The Financial Markets, How Government Awarded Monopoly Reduces Economic Growth and Why Non-Interventionist Government Policies promote wider prosperity for all.
She currently lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, where she works for an energy company.
Special Commentator, Aaron Brown
Aaron attends the University of San Diego Business School and is seeking a degree in Marketing. While searching for answers to the crisis precipitated by the housing bubble, he came upon a YouTube video of Dr. Ron Paul who credited Austrian Economists who predicted this crash and had a logical explanation for it. This caused Aaron to self-study Austrian Economics through www.mises.org .
Aaron attended Mises University 2010 and continues to study the great works of the Austrian tradition at his home in Claremont, California.
“On the free market, it is a happy fact that the maximization of the wealth of one person or group redounds to the benefit of all; but in the political realm, the realm of the State, a maximization of income and wealth can only accrue parasitically to the State and its rulers at the expense of the rest of society.” --- Murray N. Rothbard
Special Commentator, Chris Oppermann
Chris is in the class of 2013 at Harvard University, currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in economics. His interests in economics began in high school, when he was introduced to the works of Milton Friedman and Thomas Woods. Since then, he has attended Mises University 2008, 2009, and 2010, as well as Acton University 2008, 2009, and 2010. He was also a 2010 Koch Summer Fellow at the Acton Institute.
Chris's main interests are Austrian economics, political economy, and the relationship between free markets and morality, particularly Catholic Social Teaching.
Initially raised in Mexico City, Chris now calls Sandy Springs, GA, his home.
Special Commentator, Drew Hjelm
Drew Hjelm currently studies Economics and Management Information Systems at the University of Iowa. He is a Veteran of the United States Army, where he was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan working in communications. Seeing Peter Schiff and Ron Paul talking about the economic crisis on television led him to study more about Austrian Economics. He attended Mises University in 2010. He blogs at Ad Libertad.
Special Commentator, Luke McGrathLuke graduated from Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, with a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) and a Bachelor of Social Science (Politics and International Relations). He is a scholar of the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation which is based in Perth, Western Australia. He is also the Development Director of Liberty Australia (www.la.org.au). In January 2009 Luke completed a month-long internship at the Lion Rock Institute in Hong Kong and in August 2009 was awarded the Kennard Freedom Prize and traveled to Bodrum,Turkey to attend the Property and Freedom Society Conference.
In 2010, he attended Mises University in Auburn, Alabama. Luke currently resides in New York City.
Special Commentator, Meghan O'Toole
Growing up in Kansas City, Meghan was introduced to Austrian Economics (which we at Radio Free Market refer to as 'Reality Economics') during her high school years by a homeschooling curriculum which included the works of Henry Hazlitt, Frederic Bastiat, and Murray Rothbard. She is a 2008 graduate of College of the Ozarks, with a Bachelor's in English Literature. She currently attends Pittsburg State University and is a graduate teaching assistant pursuing her M.A. in English Literature with an emphasis in Creative Writing.
Meghan is also a 2009 graduate of the Ludwig von Mises Institute Mises University program.
Special Commentator, Professor Patrick Barron
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