How the free market created the greatest arts festival in the world

Dominic Frisby explains how the Edinburgh Festival Fringe grew in a manner Adam Smith would be proud of into the biggest arts festival in the world.

A street performer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe © Ken Jack - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

(Image credit: A street performer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe © Ken Jack - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

If ever there was a story with a moral about the incredible power of free markets, it's the story of the Edinburgh Fringe.

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Dominic Frisby

Dominic Frisby (“mercurially witty” – the Spectator) is as far as we know the world’s only financial writer and comedian. He is the author of the popular newsletter the Flying Frisby and is MoneyWeek’s main commentator on gold, commodities, currencies and cryptocurrencies. He has also taken several of his shows to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

His books are Daylight Robbery - How Tax Changed our Past and Will Shape our Future; Bitcoin: the Future of Money? and Life After the State - Why We Don't Need Government

Dominic was educated at St Paul's School, Manchester University and the Webber-Douglas Academy Of Dramatic Art. You can follow him on X @dominicfrisby