[00:00:04] Broadcasting live from atop the Rocky Mountains, the crossroads of the West. You are listening to the Liberty Roundtable Radio Talk Show.
[00:00:14] I'm happy to have you along my fellow Americans. The incredible interviews continue from Freedom Post. Ladies and gentlemen, I have Barbara Kolm with me. And she is a bunch of things. Number one, she's an incredible economist, an Austrian economist. She is a currently elected member of parliament in her country, Austria.
[00:00:40] And she is well known for financial issues, which we're going to dig into now. Barbara, welcome to Liberty Roundtable Live. Well, thank you very much for having me. You've done a lot of things at your resume as long as my arm. How'd you get started? Well, I got started as a native Tirlian who believes in freedom. We were brought up with freedom genes.
[00:01:05] And that's just a family that just told us individual responsibility, entrepreneurial freedom, individual freedom are the cornerstones of a functioning society. And this is what you get. And then later I got in touch with the Austrian School of Economics when I studied in the U.S. And of course, this is not taught in Europe. Of course not. We teach canes still at our public universities. Yes, unfortunately so.
[00:01:30] Yes. But all over, you know. And then if you have this freedom gene in your minds and in your DNA, then you just have to work on it. So you come from a long line of ancestral freedom fighting? Yes. Totally. Totally. Tell me about that a little bit. Well, you know, it's easy. Because we Americans know about that too, right? Yeah, I do know. Well, you might recall we had the revolution in Austria was in 1848, a little bit later than the French one.
[00:01:57] And we were back then, it was against the emperor and the students, the labor class, and even some aristocrats went on the barricades in order to fight for more individual freedom and more rights. And unfortunately, back then in 1848, the Habsburg monarchy did not grant those rights.
[00:02:18] So we had another revolution in 1860. And then finally, we got the two chamber system in the parliament and people were allowed to vote. And this just proves though that keeping at it matters, right? Exactly. You know, my family was part of this 1848 revolution is one thing. And the other part, as I mentioned, I'm a Tirolian and we have the freedom gene in our DNA.
[00:02:42] So that's, that's the reason. And then of course, you know, you stumble across Hayek, you stumble across the Austrian school, and then, you know, we just have to do something. And when you have a country that is as socialist as my home country is, you just have to say, no, I'm now getting involved in politics and do something. And with the Hayek Institute and the Austrian economic center, it's a given that you just fight is great about it. So how did you get elected that day?
[00:03:08] Well, the leader of the party asked me and said, Barbara. And it's the Freedom Party, right? It's the Freedom Party. Yeah. Sure. And they asked me, listen, you have used your advice.
[00:03:21] You have been our expert on various, on various issues, whether it was the European stability mechanism back then in 2012, whether it was advising the party on smoking, for example, freedom of, you know, liberties and freedom of speech, etc. All those issues. And then I was an elected vice president of the Austrian central bank, which I was on the ticket of the Freedom Party.
[00:03:49] And then two years ago, the leader asked me and said, you know, Mr. Kickel said, well, Barbara, you're having elections and we need somebody who is an Austrian economist. And that was it. And were you just like, I'm in or were you like, I got to think about this? No, I've been I've been in politics as a student already. But student politics, you know, is totally different, as you know. Well, at least, you know, both sides, right?
[00:04:16] Yeah. And that's no. But and then as a young entrepreneur, I was active in my own constituency in Tirol and Innsbruck and was there in the town hall and was elected a member of the city government. But this is a long time ago. OK, so it was nothing new to me. And now I have the freedom to say, yes, it is of interest. Let's try to bring in some supply side economics and make sure that our country is back on track.
[00:04:45] Amen to that. So how are you perceived in parliament then? Well, are you able to build bridges or are they just so hostile and so negative? That is a good question. Despite the fact that we are the largest party and we have the minority, the losers of the last election, the conservatives, the social democrats and another group formed the government together. And by now, by the way, in the polls, we are doing better than those two together.
[00:05:16] Just our own party will better than they. Right. But of course, they claim, well, Austrian economics is not needed. So we have canes. We can build up debt. We can. Doesn't matter whether we pay higher interest rates to our debt or not. As long as everybody's well taken care of and the taxpayer can be milked. Yeah. They don't understand the fundamental point of debt based economy or economics versus an asset based economy.
[00:05:45] Isn't that the core? That is totally. Well, it's supply side or demand side. And we believe in supply side economics. Sure. But it's based on assets, though. It's based on assets. It's based on property rights. It's based on individual freedom and it's based on choice. Yes. So tell me about this freedom party in Austria. Can you compare it to a party in America? What is it the most like? How do Americans understand? That's what I'm getting at.
[00:06:09] Well, we are we're conservative, but on the one hand, but we are totally fiscally conservative. So no, no debt. No, no new debt. Honest money, if you will. Sound money. Yeah. Sound money. Yep. Totally. And we are very strict when it comes to migration, when it comes to the. Don't want to be replaced. Don't want your country overrun.
[00:06:35] Well, this is one thing. Second thing, if people that integrate and don't contribute. Assimilate, right. Yeah. Well, assimilate and do not contribute to the system by being part of the working. Sure. How then. You got to have producers and you can't have people that bring their culture and deny your culture. Just to give you an example. I mean, our late, our productivity is on at the same level as it was 2006.
[00:07:00] It had been much higher in 2016, 2017. And now, thanks to those bad policies that our current government is doing and the last ones. By the way, with the Green Party together, they were just going down the drain. And if you just invest in public, a public investment and no private investment, then you're dead. Tell me why you're at Freedom Fest.
[00:07:28] I've been at Freedom Fest for the last 19 years. Only once when we were locked in Austria due to COVID and I could not come, I was, you know. Shame on them for that. Yeah, exactly. But I've been there because I know those people here who defend freedom, vote for individual freedom, who make sure that the word is spread like you do. When you're shown, you only spread freedom and make people aware that liberty matters. Try to, for sure.
[00:07:57] Oh, you are very successful on that. Trust me. Please. So tell me as a senator, do you have enough clout to really bring solutions to the table? Well, we do. But again, they are blocked right now because our system is different than the U.S. system. Sure. Teach me. So we have the majority role. So it's basically a democracy. Exactly. The reason I bring this up is because I don't support democracy. I think democracies really end up eventually becoming monarchs and tyrannies. Okay.
[00:08:27] So I believe we're a constitutional republic. We have overcome the monarchy already. Yeah. But if you're not careful, that democracy will lead to it again. Well, it might be. What we need are checks and balances based on like a constitution and based on making sure nobody pulls the lever in their favor, right? Yeah. At the expense of the rest of us. I fully agree with you. But however, our constitution unfortunately looks different than your U.S. constitution. I understand.
[00:08:52] And we're totally aware and we envy you for your constitution despite the fact that it's not- We can export you a copy. Oh yeah, thank you. And it's easy to carry, I know. Yes, I understand. I'm just teasing. Yeah, I know. So tell me then, with that difference, then what do you need to do? You need more elected people in parliament that will agree with you? Do you need to- What needs to happen? What do the people in Austria need to do? Well, to be honest, the people are pretty upset with what is going on with the current government.
[00:09:21] And our polls within a year went up 10%. Can you imagine? Yes. We won the elections with 27%, and now we are up at 37%. And the head of the party, Mr. Kikia, his personal polls are at 45%. Wow. Do you think you're going to see another revolution? Well, we will see a revolution because when we are back, when we are there and in charge, then we will definitely make difference and make sure that an asset-based economy-
[00:09:51] Do you think it can be peaceful along the way or no? Oh, yeah, of course. I hope so, right? The Austrians don't fight. They don't fight. At least not on that. And we are a neutral country. We're not a member of NATO. We're not a member of anything. I know you're smart. We're just a neutral country. Well, you know- You like the Switzerland plan, right? Well, if we were really smart, we would definitely follow Switzerland. But as I told you, after the peace treaty, World War II, we were forced to sign that. That's fine.
[00:10:20] Now we are happy about it. Yeah. So how do we get America to be more neutral? Can you help me? Well, I'm afraid you don't want to run into another world war and be beaten in order to have these peace treaties, but I would say diplomacy is one way of doing this. Amen. And you know, I was a big fan of Ronald Reagan and what he did was definitely the right Star Wars
[00:10:49] was definitely the right thing. Make sure you have your act together and hope that you will never need it. Yeah, we walk quietly with a big stick, huh? Yeah, exactly. You never need it. All right. So are you speaking at the conference? I have already been speaking on the main stage on global economic outlook, and I will be speaking on healthcare and have another panel. All right. So give me a 30 second on what you gave. Give me a summary.
[00:11:15] You don't only have to look at the negative sides. There is opportunity. And as an Austrian economist, I still believe that even though it looks do me for Europe, we will make it gloomy again because division of labor has always helped us in competition in order to come back on track. And you're saying that'll be the savior? Well, of course. I love it. Okay. Tell me about your health speech coming up.
[00:11:42] Well, the health panel will be about the differences between US healthcare politics and European healthcare politics, which are equally bad because... Amen. And they're bad for different reasons, right? Yes. That is totally true. But for example, our pillars with insurance system is definitely not working. We believe in big government who takes care of everybody. And this is inefficient. Womb the tomb coverage, right? This is inefficient and doesn't work. And what's the problem with Americans?
[00:12:12] It's become naked capitalism that's all about cash? I wish it were. I wish it were, but obviously there is not. And I think after Obamacare, you definitely went in the wrong direction and copy-pasted some of our bad policies that we got from Europe. Well, shame on you guys. Well, I know... And then shame on us. Yeah, that's for copying it. Exactly. How do we fix it? We fix it? In either country or both countries, really.
[00:12:40] In Austria or in Europe, I can say, you know, cut government spending, cut taxes, starve the beast in other words, make sure that there are more private opportunities. And that's, I think, what can be done in the States as well. And you know, my, as an economist, services, each and every service needs to have a price tag on. Yes. So that is something that the consumer also understands.
[00:13:11] Well, I know this. I pay cash for most of my insurance and I get 30 to 40 to 50% discounts all the time. Well, that's... I hope they price it right in the front, up front. Well, no, they don't. That's part of the problem. That's the point. Because really the government controls, even in America, the government controls healthcare. Everybody goes to a government chart and then prices off of their government chart, right? So that's the problem in America. Yeah. And that's what we don't want. All right, Barbara, how do people follow you?
[00:13:35] Well, my, the people follow me via either, uh, Barbara-com.com. Say the name again, Barbara. Barbara-com.com. Okay. Or A-T or org. Or AustrianEconomicCenter.com. Or the most important thing, freemarket-rs.com, which is our free market roadshow, the largest libertarian tour across the world. In Europe, we do 40 countries. Wow. In the US, we do 12 stops.
[00:14:05] Um, and then of course the Hayek Institute. And, you know, Hayek Institute.at. All right. Last question for you. If you could say anything you want to the whole world, what would you just tell them? Sorry, again. If... If you could say anything you want to the world, if you had a microphone to speak to the whole world, what would you say? Keep defending your freedom. That's it? Yes. Because it's the most important good we have. If it's lost, it's gone. And that's it.
[00:14:34] If you're not free, you're dead. You're a member of parliament. Do they call you a senator? Yeah. You're a senator in the parliament. Yeah. Okay. Well, we call it differently in German, but it will be the equivalent of a senator. Yeah. Well, Senator Barbara Kolm, thank you so much for joining me. It has been a pleasure. Thank you. That's a wrap. Liberty Roundtable Live. God save our constitutional republic.