Economic Freedom in Action: Changing Lives (2013)

Each year, the Fraser Institute of Vancouver, Canada, releases its Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report (EFWR). This program is based on the findings of the 2012 report and reveals, in personal and dramatic terms, the impact of increased economic freedom on the lives of ordinary citizens across the globe. Daesung Kim escaped from North Korea in 1997. Today he is a venture capitalist in Seoul, South Korea, who funds fellow North Korean refugees, giving them their start in business and putting them on a path to self-reliance. Sylvia Banda is a Zambian entrepreneur who is playing a critical role in the development of rural Zambian farming. Working only with hand tools, and living in villages without electricity or plumbing, the farmers have found a reliable partner in Sylvia, who teaches them improved farming techniques. They, in turn, provide her with a supply of safe, hygienic food to sell. Farmers testify that they can now send their children to school because they're no longer needed to assist on the farm. John Hernandez is a bee farmer in Chile. Facing a drop in world honey demand, he transformed his business into selling queen bees to France. Because his Southern Hemisphere summer bees are available in January, he can double the capacity of European bee farmers. He now conducts a thriving international business. Presented by Swedish author and commentator Johan Norberg, Economic Freedom in Action: Changing Lives features these stories of economic freedom in action in Zambia, South Korea, Slovakia and Chile.