Free market think tank Opportunity Ohio announced its 2013 Distinguished Speaker Series, five free events to be held at the Dublin Recreation Center from late February through early June, in a February 1 release. Each of the midday events will include a boxed lunch and require registration on the Opportunity Ohio website.

Registration remains open for the first event, “Defending America During a Fiscal Crisis,” which is scheduled for noon on Wednesday, February 27. James Jay Carafano of The Heritage Foundation will discuss foreign policy and national defense.

The second event, “Freedom and the 50 States,” is scheduled for Thursday, March 7 at 11:30 AM, with featured speaker Jason Sorens of The Mercatus Center.

Opportunity Ohio President Matt Mayer and Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs President Michael Carnuccio will speak at the third event, “Leveraging Competitive Federalism to Save America,” at 11:30 AM on Tuesday, April 23.

The fourth event, “Increasing Ohio’s Competitiveness with Key Reforms,” is scheduled for 11:30 AM on Thursday, May 9, featuring Maurice McTigue of The Mercatus Center.

“The Michigan Story on Workplace Freedom and What It Means for Ohio” will be the final event in the series, and is scheduled for Wednesday, June 12 at 12:30 PM. Joseph Lehman and Vincent Vernuccio of The Mackinac Center for Public Policy will discuss the December 2012 passage of a workplace freedom law in Michigan.

Additional information about each of the featured guests is available on the Opportunity Ohio website.