Foundation for Economic Education

Foundation for Economic Education

Founded	March 7, 1946 (1946-03-07)
Founder	Leonard E. Read
Type	Educational foundation IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt
Tax ID no.	136006960
Focus	Economics, libertarianism
Location	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Coordinates	33°48′04″N 84°23′36″W
Area served	United States
Method	literature, lecture, conferences, online courses, multimedia, academic scholarship
Budget	Revenue: $5,233,293 Expenses: $5,288,134 (FYE March 2018)
Website	fee.org

The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is an American conservative, libertarian economic think tank. Founded in 1946 in New York City, FEE is now headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a member of the State Policy Network.

FEE offers publications, lectures, and student workshops promoting free market principles.

Views

FEE states that its mission is to promote principles of "individual liberty, free-market economics, entrepreneurship, private property, high moral character, and limited government." Friedrich Hayek described FEE's goal as "nothing more nor less than the defense of our civilization against intellectual error."

History

FEE, founded in 1946, is considered the oldest free-market think tank in the United States. An early aim was to roll back policies of the New Deal. FEE opposed the Marshall Plan, Social Security, and minimum wages, among other American social and economic policies.

Its founding by Leonard E. Read, Henry Hazlitt, David Goodrich, Donaldson Brown, Leo Wolman, Fred Rogers Fairchild, Claude E. Robinson, and Jasper Crane followed a capital campaign started in 1945 by Crane, who was a DuPont executive, and Alfred Kohlberg. Early contributors included J. Howard Pew, Inland Steel, Quaker Oats, and Sears. As an "intellectual lighthouse", in Read's words, FEE distinguished itself from other business-supported groups by building up the intellectual framework for laissez-faire capitalism as an ideology.

Read served as president from 1946 until his death in 1983. Perry E. Gresham was an interim president in 1983. The presidency of FEE from 1983 to 1984 was held by John Sparks Sr., from 1984 to 1985 by Bob Love, from 1985 to 1988 by a series of acting presidents, then from 1988 to 1992 by Bruce Evans. After retiring from Grove City College where he taught economics, Hans Sennholz served as president from 1992 to 1997. Donald J. Boudreaux served as president from 1997 to 2001, before moving on to chair the Department of Economics at George Mason University. Economist Mark Skousen served as president from 2001 to 2002. Author and professor Richard Ebeling served as president from 2003 to 2008. From 2008 to 2019, FEE's president was economist, author, and professor Lawrence W. Reed.

Location

FEE first occupied two rooms in New York City's Equitable Building in 1946. Soon after, the organization moved to a residential property in Irvington, New York, purchased in 1946 and which served as its headquarters for the next 68 years. The Foundation sold the Irvington headquarters after the transfer of its operations to Atlanta, Georgia.

Impact

Murray Rothbard was influenced by FEE economist Baldy Harper and credited FEE with creating a "crucial open center" for a libertarian movement. Friedrich Hayek saw FEE as part of the inspiration for the formation of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1947, and FEE also provided a financial subsidy to the society. Hayek encouraged Antony Fisher to found the Institute of Economic Affairs after visiting FEE in 1952. Ludwig von Mises had a "long-term association with the Foundation for Economic Education."

According to the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania), FEE is number 55 in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States" (Table 7 – out of 110).

Leadership

Diogo Costa became the 12th president of FEE in 2024.

Lawrence W. Reed serves as FEE's President Emeritus. He is the author of Was Jesus a Socialist?.

Jon Miltimore is the managing editor at FEE. Kerry McDonald, an education policy writer, serves as a FEE senior fellow.

In 2019, Zilvinas Silenas became the president of FEE. He is one of the "most quoted opinion leader[s]" in Lithuania, previously serving as president of the Lithuanian Free Market Institute and expanding its teachings within Lithuanian high schools. The textbook Economics In 31 Hours, co-authored by Silenas, is now read by 80 percent of high school students in Lithuania.

Programs

FEE offers a variety of programs for high school students, undergraduates, and graduate students. It is known for free summer seminars.

Since 1946, FEE has sponsored public lectures by figures including Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, Milton Friedman, James M. Buchanan, Vernon Smith, Walter Williams, F.A. "Baldy" Harper, and William F. Buckley Jr.

The Leonard E. Read Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes FEE alumni whom the alumni board considers to have demonstrated "an exceptional dedication to liberty." Notable recipients have included:

• Matt Kibbe (2018), founder of Free the People, a non-profit organization promoting libertarian ideals
• Edwin Feulner, founder and former president of The Heritage Foundation
• Venkatesh Geriti, social entrepreneur
• Jack Kemp, former vice presidential candidate
• Charles Koch, chairman of Koch Industries
• Ron Paul, author, physician, and former Congressman
• Roger Ream, president of The Fund for American Studies
• Robert Sirico, founder of Acton Institute

Publications

FEE published The Freeman magazine from 1954 to 2016. FEE was the original publisher of the essay "I, Pencil", which explored how markets coordinate the disparate activities necessary for economic cooperation.

FEE publishes books, articles, and pamphlets both on paper and digitally that the foundation considers classic works on liberty. These include I, Pencil: My Family Tree by Read, The Law by Bastiat, Anything That's Peaceful by Read, Planned Chaos by Mises, Industry-Wide Bargaining by Wolman, Up from Poverty: Reflections on the Ills of Public Assistance by Sennholz, and The Virtue of Liberty by Machan.

See also

• The Foundation for Harmony and Prosperity
• Atlas Network
• Free to Choose Network

References

• Ashford, Nigel (December 22, 2011). "FEE College Summer Seminars". Kosmos. Arlington, VA. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
• Bastiat, Frédéric (1950). The Law (PDF). Irvington, NY: Foundation for Economic Education. OCLC 405451. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
• Boudreaux, Donald (October 13, 2011). "A Devalued Renminbi Makes Wealthier Americans". Debate Club. New York: U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
• Burns, Jennifer (2005). Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, 1930–1980. ISBN 978-1-109-09637-8.
• Dochuk, Darren (2010-12-13). From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism. W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-07927-2.
• Dodsworth, Barbara (1995). The Foundation of Historic Irvington. Irvington, NY: Foundation for Economic Education.
• Farrell, Steve (2011). "FEE Is Expanding to Atlanta". The Moral Liberal. Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
• Foley, Devin (March 16, 2010). "Free: Summer Liberty & Econ Seminars". Intellectual Takeout. Minneapolis, MN. Archived from the original on January 16, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
• Giannotta, Marissa (December 8, 2011). "Help Promote FEE Seminars to Your Campus Group!". Students For Liberty. Washington, DC. Archived from the original on January 28, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
• Gordon, David (2010). Strictly Confidential: The Private Volker Fund Memos of Murray N. Rothbard (PDF). Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute. p. ix, 14–19. ISBN 978-1-933550-80-0.
• Hamowy, Ronald, ed. (2008). The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, Cato Institute. pp. 62, 217, 221, 335, 416, 417. doi:10.4135/9781412965811. ISBN 978-1-4129-6580-4. LCCN 2008009151. OCLC 750831024. Archived from the original on 2024-09-27. Retrieved 2016-08-01.
• Hazlitt, Henry (May 1, 2006) [March 1984]. "The Early History of FEE". The Freeman. The original officers were David M. Goodrich, chairman of the Board (he was then also chairman of the board of the B.F. Goodrich Company); Leonard Read, president; myself, vice-president; Fred R. Fairchild, professor of economics at Yale University, secretary; and Claude Robinson, president of the Opinion Research Institute, treasurer. [The] sixteen [original] trustees ... included H.W. Luhnow, president of William Volker & Company; A.C. Mattei, president of Honolulu Oil Corporation; William A. Paton of the University of Michigan; Charles White, president of the Republic Steel Corporation; Leo Wolman, professor of economics at Columbia; Donaldson Brown, former vice-president of General Motors; Jasper Crane, former vice-president of Du Pont; B.E. Hutchinson, chairman of the finance committee of Chrysler Corporation; Bill Matthews, publisher of the Arizona Star; W.C. Mullendore, president of the Southern California Edison Company.
• Heller, Anne C. (2009). Ayn Rand and the World She Made. Random House Digital. ISBN 978-0-385-52946-4.
• —— (2012). Exempt Organizations Select Check (Report). Washington, DC: Internal Revenue Service. Archived from the original on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
• Lichtman, Allan J (2008). White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement. New York: Grove Press. pp. 160, 171, 173, 206. ISBN 978-0-8021-4420-1.
• Machan, Tibor (1994). The Virtue of Liberty. Irvington, NY: Foundation for Economic Education. ISBN 978-0-910614-93-1. OCLC 717721529.
• Mirowski, Philip; Plehwe, Dieter (2009). The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making of the Neoliberal Thought Collective. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 15, 19, 21, 53, 156, 190, 196, 243, 281, 284, 293, 387, 397, 410. ISBN 978-0-674-03318-4.
• Mises, Ludwig von (1947). Planned Chaos. Irvington, NY: Foundation for Economic Education. ISBN 978-0-910-61400-9. OCLC 782168388.
• Olson, Wayne (September 28, 2009). "An Inside Look at the Foundation for Economic Education FEE". Motorhome Diaires (Interview). Interviewed by Pete Eyre. Irvington, NY.
• —— (May 1, 2014). "Strategic Notes from FEE—Bricks & Mortar". FEE. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
• —— (September 1, 2016). "Passing the Torch: From the Freeman to FEE.org". FEE. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
• Phillips-Fein, Kim (2009). Invisible Hands: The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan. New York: W.W. Norton. p. ii, 27, 52, 60, 86, 101, 115, 116, 124, 149, 167, 265, 270, 285, 286. ISBN 978-0-393-05930-4.
• Plehwe, Dieter (2006). Neoliberal Hegemony: A Global Critique. London: Taylor & Francis. pp. 31, 48, 49. ISBN 978-0-415-37327-2.
• Read, Leonard E. (1998). Anything That's Peaceful (2 ed.). Irvington, NY: Foundation for Economic Education. ISBN 978-1-572460-79-9. OCLC 40829866.
• —— (1958). I, Pencil: My Family Tree (PDF). Irvington, NY: Foundation for Economic Education. ISBN 978-1-572462-09-0. OCLC 271625357. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
• Rothbard, Murray N. (2006). Making Economic Sense. Ludwig von Mises Institute. ISBN 978-0-945466-46-8.
• Schneider, Gregory L (2009). The Conservative Century: From Reaction to Revolution. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-7425-4284-6.
• Sennholz, Hans (1997). Up from Poverty. Irvington, NY: Foundation for Economic Education. ISBN 978-1-57246-060-7. OCLC 36854072.
• Sennholz, Mary (1993). Leonard E. Read, Philosopher of Freedom. Foundation for Economic Education. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-910614-85-6.
• Shiflett, Orvin Lee (2015). William Terry Couch and the Politics of Academic Publishing: An Editor's Career as Lightning Rod for Controversy. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-9981-6.
• Skousen, Mark (2015). The Making of Modern Economics: The Lives and Ideas of Great Thinkers. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-45586-8.
• Smith, Vernon L. (July 2006). Human Betterment Through Globalization (PDF) (Speech). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 17, 2015.
• Spikes, Judith D.; Leone, Anne M. (2009). Irvington. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7385-6519-4. OCLC 317925879.
• Vaughn, Karen I. (1998). Austrian Economics in America: The Migration of a Tradition. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-63765-7.
• Wilcox, Derk A. (2000). The Right Guide: A Guide to Conservative, Free-Market, and Right-of-Center Organizations. Ann Arbor, MI: Economics America. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-914169-06-2.
• White, Lawrence H. (2012). The Clash of Economic Ideas: The Great Policy Debates and Experiments of the Last Hundred Years. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-37877-3.
• Williams, Walter E. (July 2006). 2006 Adam Smith Award Recipient Addresses (PDF) (Speech). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 17, 2015.
• Wolman, Leo (1948). Industry-Wide Bargaining. Irvington, NY: Foundation for Economic Education. OCLC 785021186. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2013-07-09.

External links

• Official website
• "Foundation for Economic Education Internal Revenue Service filings". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.