High School Students Make the Case for Free Markets

Winning essays in the inaugural Bauervic Foundation High School Essay Competition are now available online. We hope you have the opportunity to read these well-researched and thoughtful articles about COVID-19 and government overreach, written by three Michigan high school students who represent the rising generation of free-market, limited government supporters.

These essays were selected as the top entries in the competition, sponsored by the Bauervic Foundation and jointly presented by the Mackinac Center and Northwood University in spring 2021.

The goal of the competition and its related activities is to educate high school students about a current policy issue and assist them to become effective advocates for free-market solutions.

The Bauervic Foundation recently announced that it will continue its sponsorship in 2022; details of next year’s contest will be released soon at the essay website, www.mackinac.org/ essay. The Mackinac Center is proud and grateful to help spearhead this project and encourages its supporters to share information about the contest with friends and family members.

Please visit www.mackinac.org/essay to read these winning entries:

• "Government Overreach Has Done More Harm Than Good,” by Liliana Lulgjuraj of Rochester. In her essay, Lulgjuraj describes the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on small businesses in Michigan.


• "Pandemic Policies and the Michigan Economy,” by Isaac Yokom-Mcdonald of Cheboygan. Yokom-Mcdonald’s essay focuses on unemployment and the state economy, an issue he experienced firsthand when the youth center where he worked at on a part-time basis closed its doors during the pandemic.


• "Emergency Declarations: Economic Destruction Put in Place by the Governor,” by Alexandria Gibson of Freeland. Gibson also researched the impact of small business closures on Michigan.

The Mackinac Center congratulates these winners again, as well as all the participants. We look forward to releasing details of the 2022 competition later this year.