Edward Harrison Crane (born August 15, 1944) is an
American libertarian
In the United States, libertarianism is a political philosophy promoting individual liberty. According to common meanings of conservatism and liberalism in the United States, libertarianism has been described as ''conservative'' on economic iss ...
and co-founder of the
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Indus ...
. He served as its president until October 1, 2012.
In the 1970s, he was one of the most active leaders within the
Libertarian Party. He directed the Party as its National Chair from 1974 to 1977, worked on
John Hospers
John Hospers (June 9, 1918 – June 12, 2011) was an American philosopher and political activist. Hospers was interested in Objectivism, and was once a friend of the philosopher Ayn Rand, though she later broke with him. In 1972, Hospers became ...
's Presidential bid and managed
Ed Clark's 1978
campaign for
Governor of California
The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard.
Established in the Constitution of California, the ...
. In 1980, Crane served as communications director to the Libertarian Party presidential ticket of Clark and vice presidential candidate
David Koch. Prior to founding the Cato Institute, Crane was chartered financial analyst and vice president of Alliance Capital in California.
Crane has been a member of the board of various political organizations, including
Americans for Limited Government
Americans for Limited Government (ALG) is a conservative 501(c)(4) non-profit organization "dedicated to restoring the constitutional, limited powers of government at the federal, state, and local level... by fighting to reduce the size and sco ...
, a group that assists grassroots efforts throughout the country, and the
Center for Competitive Politics. Crane is also a member of the
Mont Pelerin Society.
Tenure at Cato Institute
In 1977, with the funding of
Charles Koch
Charles de Ganahl Koch ( ; born November 1, 1935) is an American billionaire businessman. As of November 2022, he was ranked as the 13th richest person in the world on '' Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', with an estimated net worth of $66 billi ...
and the assistance of
Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
, Crane established the
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Indus ...
, a
libertarian think-tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental o ...
.
While at Cato, Crane grew the organization: from a staff of 10 and a budget of $800,000 when it first opened in San Francisco, to a staff of 127 and a $21 million budget in a newly renovated building in Washington, DC.
In 2012, a
shareholder dispute arose between Crane and Charles and David Koch. Crane accused the Kochs of trying to take control of the organization. The Kochs contended that the shares of deceased shareholder William Niskanen should have been offered to the Institute first, and not passed to his widow. Crane later said that he spoke to ''New Yorker'' journalist Jane Meyer, whose reporting indicated the conflict was also about the ideological direction of the Institute. As part of the dispute settlement, the Cato shareholder agreement was dissolved and Crane agreed to retire.
In 2013 Crane launched Purple PAC, a super-PAC that supports candidates and causes consistent with the libertarian philosophy.
Political views
Crane is politically
libertarian. He has described the core principles of libertarianism as being personal liberty,
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ...
s and limited government.
He was supportive of then-presidential candidate
Ron Paul on issues such as cutting spending, lowering taxes, support for a
non-interventionist foreign policy, protecting
civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
and promoting
Austrian economics
The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motivations and actions of individuals. Austrian schoo ...
. "Support for dynamic market capitalism (as opposed to
crony capitalism
Crony capitalism, sometimes called cronyism, is an economy, economic system in which Business, businesses thrive not as a result of free enterprise, but rather as a return on Capital (economics), money amassed through collusion between a busines ...
), social tolerance, and a healthy skepticism of foreign military adventurism is a combination of views held by a plurality of Americans," he states in his column. "It is why the 21st century is likely to be a libertarian century. It is why the focus should be on Ron Paul's philosophy and his policy proposals in 2012."
In 2016 he supported presidential candidate
Rand Paul. It was reported that Crane had stopped raising money for the Purple PAC that was supporting Rand; but Crane stated that the PAC was still operating and it wasn't shutting down. He stated, "I'm still 'standing with Rand,' as they say, and there's no one else I can think of supporting."
[ Weigel, David (September 29, 2015]
"Pro-Rand Paul PAC isn’t shutting down, just asking Paul to be more libertarian"
'' The Washington Post''
References
External links
Cato Institute – Edward Crane bio*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Ed
1944 births
Living people
Activists from California
American political activists
California Libertarians
Cato Institute people
Libertarian National Committee chairs
Monetary reformers
Non-interventionism
CFA charterholders
Marshall School of Business alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni