Which is one of our signature gatherings of the year. Were here tonight to honor joseph henrik for his book the weirdest. People in the world how the west became psychologically peculiar and particularly prosperous. Weird stands for western educated industrialized rich and democratic and henrik explains how this part of the world the west came to lead the way in embracing markets and individual liberty. The book is a stunning accomplishment. And a testament to the power of culture to build prosperity. But before we hear more about joseph henrik and his research, i wanted to talk a bit about the hayek prize and what it stands for the prize comes with a 50,000 award which makes it one of the worlds most generous book prizes. It honors a book published within the past two years that best reflects the vision of its namesake friedrich von hayek the brilliant economist who shared a nobel prize with gunner murdal in 1974 for hayek. Economic freedom was the cornerstone of a Flourishing Society