The historic city offered the venue for fostering professional friendships and exchanges. As the program formally opened with dinner on Sunday evening, the afternoon provided ample opportunity for introductions as participants settled in at the Armada Hotel, walked the streets of the Old City, or visited the world famous Blue Mosque, St. Sophia Church, and Topkapi Palace. The first session opened under the chairmanship of Vurual Fuat Savas, a professor at Marmara University who studied public choice economics with Nobel laureate James Buchanan. Peters pushed beyond the traditional funding role of corporations and offered an alternative model for public policy think tank and business cooperation. Think tanks are vital for their ability to communicate new ideas to the public.
Business are instrumental in generating, analyzing, and storing new information.
Together, the roles can be mutually reinforcing in advancing and influencing new public policy ideas. Accolades and kudos from many participants went to Peters for his outstanding presentation. Most governments now realize, says Lal, they can restore their tax bases by liberalizing. The Institute Reports session, a consistent feature of each Atlas workshop, offers the opportunity for participants to learn of new institute programs, ideas, and establishments. One of the most rewarding aspects of the program came from the enthusiasm of the Association for Liberal Thin king's staff.