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Showcase your ideas on public policy and the role of markets by entering our essay competition. $9,000 in cash prizes will be awarded with $3,000 of this designated just for high school students! Winning essays may be published in Fraser Institute journals and authors will have the opportunity to experience the peer review process.

Categories and Prizes:

High School

1st Prize: $1,500
2nd Prize: $1,000
3rd Prize: $500

Undergraduate
1st Prize: $1,500
2nd Prize: $1,000
3rd Prize: $500

Graduate
1st Prize: $1,500
2nd Prize: $1,000
3rd Prize: $500

2020 Essay Contest -- The Ideas of Milton Friedman: Exploring the Connections between Economic Freedom and other Freedoms or Aspects of the Human Condition

Since the industrial revolution, the world has faced a period of accelerated prosperity. Life expectancy has risen substantially, while global poverty and child mortality rates have been on the decline. Milton Friedman (1912-2006), one of the most influential economists of all time, inspired people around the world to think critically about the connection between economic freedom and other human freedoms. In his book, Capitalism and Freedom, Friedman proposed that without economic freedom a nation would be unlikely to have political freedom.

In 1986, the first of a series of Fraser Institute conferences, hosted by then Fraser Institute executive director Michael Walker along with Milton and Rose Friedman, focused on the development of a clearly defined measurement of economic freedom. This measurement of economic freedom later became the The Economic Freedom of the World Index. Research using this index has shown that economic freedom is associated with greater political and civic freedoms, more gender equality, longer life expectancy, lower poverty rates, greater literacy (especially for females), less infant mortality and greater happiness.

Construct an essay that explores the connections between economic freedom and other freedoms or aspects of the human condition. Consider how measuring and understanding economic freedom helps progress political and civic freedoms. Entrants may choose to analyze a particular country or region to explore their argument.

Go to Scholarship Application:
Fraser Institute Student Essay Contest