Foundation for Economic Education

Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) Background The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is a non-profit free market organization based in Irvington, New York, and Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by Leonard E. Read, FEE describes itself as “one of the oldest free-market organizations in the United States,” and was one of the first think tanks designed specifically […]

Adam Smith Institute

Adam Smith Institute (ASI) Background The Adam Smith Institute (ASI) is a UK-based nonprofit think tank founded in 1977 by Madsen Pirie, Eamonn Butler and Stuart Butler, with the help of Antony Fisher of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). 2“Our People,” […]

Texas Public Policy Foundation

Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) Background The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) is a conservative think tank based in Austin, Texas, founded by James R. Leininger in 1989. […]

National Center for Public Policy Research

National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) Background The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) was founded in 1982 as a free market think tank and “communications and research foundation supportive of a strong national defense and dedicated to providing free market solutions to today’s public policy problems.”1“About Us,” The National Center for Public […]

State Policy Network

State Policy Network (SPN) Background The State Policy Network (SPN) is a group of free market think tanks in the U.S. According to its website, there is at least one member in every state “fighting to limit government and advance market-friendly public policy at the state and local levels.”1“About SPN,” State Policy Network. Archived September 16, 2015. Archive […]

Reason Foundation

Reason Foundation Background The Reason Foundation is a libertarian 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1978. It describes itself as advancing “free society by developing, applying, and promoting libertarian principles, including individual liberty, free markets, and the rule of law.” The Reason Foundation runs the […]

National Center for Policy Analysis

National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) Background The now-defunct National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) was a 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank founded by John C. Goodman in 1983 to “promote private, free-market alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector.” It dissolved as of […]

John Locke Foundation

John Locke Foundation (JLF) Background The John Locke Foundation was created in 1990 as an independent, nonprofit think tank working “for truth, for freedom, and for the future of North Carolina.” The Foundation is funded significantly by Art Pope, who previously […]

International Policy Network

International Policy Network (IPN) Background IPN started as a UK-based charity that went by the name of the International Institute for Economic Research, founded in 1971 by Sir Antony Fisher. The group has gone through a number of changes in structure, but appears to have been inactive in the UK since 2013. In the United […]

Independent Institute

The Independent Institute (TII) Background The Independent Institute (TII) is an Oakland, California-based think tank founded in 1986 and describes itself as a “non-profit, non-partisan, scholarly research and educational organization that sponsors in-depth studies of critical social and economic issues.” The Independent Institute has […]