Foundation for Economic Education

Foundation for Economic Education
Name	Foundation for Economic Education
Established	1946
Founder	Leonard Read
Type	Nonprofit
Headquarters	Irvington-on-Hudson, New York
Region served	United States

Contents

Foundation for Economic Education The Foundation for Economic Education is an American nonprofit think tank and educational organization founded in 1946 that promotes classical liberal and free-market ideas. It operates programs, publications, and events that engage with figures and institutions across the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and other countries, interacting with organizations such as the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Institute of Economic Affairs, and Adam Smith Institute. Its activities place it in networks alongside individuals like Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, Ayn Rand, Ludwig von Mises, and James Buchanan.

History

The organization's founding in 1946 by Leonard Read occurred amid debates involving Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Harry S. Truman, and postwar institutions such as the United Nations and the Bretton Woods Conference, aligning with broader movements represented by the Mont Pelerin Society and figures like Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises, and Henry Hazlitt. During the Cold War era the foundation associated with activists and scholars connected to John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Barry Goldwater, and Milton Friedman through conferences, publications, and collaborations with groups such as the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, Cato Institute, and the Institute of Economic Affairs. In the late 20th century it expanded activities that intersected with debates involving Welfare Reform Act (1996), Tax Reform Act of 1986, Reaganomics, and policy circles tied to figures like Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan, and Robert Nozick. Into the 21st century, the organization engaged with networks around Tea Party movement, Libertarian Party (United States), Occupy Wall Street, and institutional actors such as Hoover Institution, Manhattan Institute, and Mercatus Center.

The foundation articulates a mission rooted in classical liberalism and laissez-faire tenets traced to thinkers including Adam Smith, John Locke, Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and Milton Friedman, positioning itself among institutions like the Cato Institute, Adam Smith Institute, and Institute for Humane Studies. Its philosophical commitments invoke works such as The Wealth of Nations, The Road to Serfdom, Human Action, and Capitalism and Freedom, engaging with critiques from scholars like Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Thomas Piketty, and Amartya Sen. The foundation frames policy debates that intersect with legislation and events including the New Deal, Great Society, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and court decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States that influenced regulatory regimes debated by commentators like Richard Epstein, Robert Nozick, and Isaiah Berlin.

Programs emphasize seminars, seminars for youth, and fellowships comparable to offerings by Institute for Humane Studies, Charles Koch Foundation, Pegasus Scholars, and university centers at Yale University, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Chicago, and Columbia University. Educational initiatives have included summer programs that attract students linked to networks around Young Americans for Liberty, Students for Liberty, Turning Point USA, and collaborations with scholars such as Murray Rothbard, Deirdre McCloskey, Tyler Cowen, Niall Ferguson, and Thomas Sowell. The foundation’s training and mentorship activities mirror practices found at Baldwin Fund, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and programs associated with Hoover Institution and Mercatus Center.

The foundation publishes essays, commentaries, and educational materials that appear alongside outlets like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, and National Review, and in partnership with scholars who have written in journals such as The American Economic Review, The Journal of Political Economy, and The Public Choice Journal. Its media presence has included print pamphlets, online articles, podcasts, and video series similar to those produced by Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, and American Enterprise Institute, featuring interviews with commentators like Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, Thomas Sowell, George Will, and David Boaz. The foundation’s archives and anthologies intersect with collections held at institutions such as the Library of Congress, Hoover Institution Library and Archives, and university special collections at Duke University and Columbia University.

Funding sources historically have included private donors, foundations, and philanthropic networks connected to families and entities such as the Scaife family, Carnegie Corporation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Koch family, Earhart Foundation, and individual benefactors linked to business sectors represented by Council on Foreign Relations and Chamber of Commerce. Governance structures feature a board of trustees and executive leadership similar to nonprofit governance models at Brookings Institution, Heritage Foundation, and Cato Institute, with trustees drawn from academia, business, and public policy circles including figures associated with Princeton University, Harvard University, University of Chicago, and policy organizations like American Enterprise Institute and Institute of Economic Affairs.

The foundation has faced critiques from scholars and activists including Noam Chomsky, Paul Krugman, Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz, and organizations such as Public Citizen, Center for American Progress, and Occupy Wall Street over positions on deregulation, tax policy, and social welfare reforms debated in contexts such as the Great Depression, 2008 financial crisis, and subsequent regulatory responses like the Dodd–Frank Act. Controversies have addressed donor transparency and ties to political movements exemplified by scrutiny similar to that aimed at the Koch network and disputes over ideological influence comparable to debates involving Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute, eliciting responses from commentators including Heather Cox Richardson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Ezra Klein.

Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States