Classical Liberal Summer Seminar 5-7 July 2026

Classical liberal thought and heritage continues to inspire discussion and debate in our time. The basic ideas of a free society and freedom to act as individuals are reinvented and discovered by every new generation and scholarly inquiry. In our time, governments seem to gain more power, and are asked to answer many problems. Adam Smith’s ”liberal plan”  – ”allowing every man to pursue his own intererst his own way” – must have a place in any liberal society. But how large a place should it have?

At 250 Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nation remains foremost in defining a liberal society and the value of a free economy. It teaches that voluntary processes, notably in economic exchange, contain principles that tend to prompt individual effort toward socially beneficial actions. But Smith also taught that the invisible hand of free enterprise operates within a framework of culture and institutions.

Timbro celebrates the 250th anniversary of The Wealth of Nations by focusing this year’s Classical Liberal Summer Seminar on the reception of Adam Smith book. We will explore the Nordic context during the time of and after 1776. We will explore such questions as:

• Who read it?
• Was it translated into Nordic languages?
• How did it influence liberal reform programs in Sweden and other countries?
• Why did is sometimes take so long before reform-measures were taken?

Nordic figures to be discussed include the Finn Anders Chydenius, the Swedes like Georg Adlersparre, Axel Gabriel Silfverstolpe,  Carl von Rosenstein, David von Schulzenheim, Hans Järta, Erik Gustaf Geijer and others.

Timbro has arranged the Classical Liberal Summer Seminars since 2015. The first two seminars were held at Christinehof Castle in Skåne, Sweden. In 2017 the seminar relocated to the Sigtuna Foundation in Sigtuna, north of Stockholm. The seminars have been led by Björn Hasselgren and Daniel Klein, George Mason University and Ratio.

Programme and readings

Further information will be added.

2026 Classical Liberal Summer Seminar

The Summer Seminar will be held 5 – 7 July at the Sigtuna Foundation, north of Stockholm.

Application is open. Please, send an email to bjorn.hasselgren@timbro.se with a short CV and a proposed theme for presentation. You are also welcome to contact dklein@gmu.edu.

About Sigtuna Foundation

In Sigtuna, 35 km North of Stockholm the Sigtuna Foundation was established more than 100 years ago as a private cultural foundation with a principle aim to inspire human thought and reflection. Society has changed in many ways since then, but the Foundation’s ambition is still the very same, to offer an open space for people with different backgrounds, traditions and viewpoints who wish to meet, interact and learn from one another in atmosphere of mutual respect. Today the Sigtuna Foundation operates as a center for education and research, and also for various kinds of cultural programs. The Sigtuna Foundation with its atmospheric facilities in peaceful and scenic surroundings, offers a splendid environment to connect to the classic message of freedom and liberty, as seen through 18-19th century perspectives.

More information on the Sigtuna Foundation here.