Jim Rogers, Nick Gillespie, Steve Forbes, Wayne Allyn Root, Jenny Beth Martin ~ Free Lunch or Shit Sandwich?

The final panel at Freedom Fest 2013 was titled "Are We Rome?" and featured Reason's Nick Gillespie, publisher Steve Forbes, Tea Party Express head Jenny Beth Martin, writer Wayne Allyn Root, and investment guru Jim Rogers.

At one point, Rogers noted that about half of Americans lived in households who were getting direct payments from the federal government, a situation he felt made real political change next to impossible.

"Fifty percent of the country is getting a free lunch, said Gillespie, "but nobody wants a shit sandwich anymore. And that's what you're getting in terms of education, health care and retirement."

Moderated by conference organizer Mark Skousen, the panel discussed a wide variety of topics including government spending, regulation, foreign policy, the drug war, and more.

Held each July in Las Vegas, Freedom Fest is attended by more than 2,000 limited-government enthusiasts and libertarians. Each year, Reason TV talks with dozens of activists, speakers, and authors such as David Boaz of the Cato Institute, economist Peter Boettke, publisher Jeffrey Tucker, journalist Gene Epstein, legal scholar Randy Barnett, and tax advocate Grover Norquist. For a playlist of 2013 videos, go here.

About 45 minutes. Video courtesy of Mark and Jo Ann Skousen.


Jim Rogers started trading the stock market with $600 in 1968.In 1973 he formed the Quantum Fund with the legendary investor George Soros before retiring, a multi millionaire at the age of 37. Rogers and Soros helped steer the fund to a miraculous 4,200% return over the 10 year span of the fund while the S&P 500 returned just 47%.

Steve Forbes Do not Force Chinese Currency Change

Steve Forbes the editor in chief of Forbes Magazine says the US should stop pressuring China to appreciate its currency ( The Yuan ),"well I always believed that it was a mistake for the United States government to put pressure on China to revalue its currency , I think it is fine to have a stable value between the two currencies , makes life a lot easier " Forbes says that artificially changing the price of things does not work in the long term and in the short term it is disruptive ..."we tarted in the 1970s to put pressure on Japan to change the value of the Yen , the dollar today has fallen 75 percent against the yen , and we still have a trade deficit " says Steve Forbes
The US should seek cooperation with China instead
Steve Forbes says stop pressuring China to revalue its currency.