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The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is an American conservative, libertarian
economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...
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-govern ...
. Founded in 1948 in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, FEE is now headquartered in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...
. 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 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 ot ...
, entrepreneurship, private property, high moral character, and limited government."
Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. 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 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-govern ...
in the United States. An early aim was to roll back policies of the New Deal. FEE opposed the
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
, Social Security, and
minimum wages A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
, among other American social and economic policies. Its founding by Leonard E. Read, Henry Hazlitt, David Goodrich,
Donaldson Brown Frank Donaldson Brown (February 1, 1885 – October 2, 1965) was a financial executive and corporate director with both DuPont and General Motors Corporation. He is the originator of DuPont analysis, a widely used technique in finance. He ...
, Leo Wolman, Fred Rogers Fairchild,
Claude E. Robinson Claude E. Robinson (1900–1961) was an American pioneer in advertising research and opinion survey research techniques. Along with George Gallup, he was instrumental in developing many scientific sampling techniques that were later used in G ...
, and Jasper Crane followed a capital campaign started in 1945 by Crane, who was a DuPont executive, and
Alfred Kohlberg Alfred Kohlberg (January 27, 1887, San Francisco, California, April 7, 1960, New York City, New York) was an American textile importer. A staunch anti-Communist, he was a member of the pro-Chiang "China lobby", as well as an ally of Wisconsin Sen ...
. Early contributors included J. Howard Pew,
Inland Steel The Inland Steel Company was an American steel company active in 1893–1998. Its history as an independent firm thus spanned much of the 20th century. It was headquartered in Chicago at the landmark Inland Steel Building. Inland Steel was an ...
,
Quaker Oats The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by PepsiCo since 2001. History Precursor miller companies In the 1850s, Ferdinand Schumacher and Robert Stuart founded oat mills. ...
, 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 New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
'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 Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...
.


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 Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. 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 Sir Antony George Anson Fisher (28 June 1915 – 8 July 1988), nicknamed AGAF, was a British businessman and think tank founder. He participated in the formation of various libertarian organisations during the second half of the twentieth cen ...
to found the
Institute of Economic Affairs The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is a right-wing pressure group and think tank registered as a UK charity Associated with the New Right, the IEA describes itself as an "educational research institute", and says that it seeks to "further ...
after visiting FEE in 1952.
Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism. He is ...
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 The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
), FEE is number 55 in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States" (Table 7 – out of 110).


Leadership

Since 2019, Zilvinas Silenas has served as the president of FEE. He is one of the "most quoted opinion leader 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. 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.


Programs

FEE offers a variety of programs for
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
students,
undergraduates Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry- ...
, and graduate students. It is known for free summer seminars. Since 1946, FEE has sponsored public lectures by figures including
Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism. He is ...
, F.A. Hayek, Henry Hazlitt,
Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...
,
James M. Buchanan James McGill Buchanan Jr. (; October 3, 1919 – January 9, 2013) was an American economist known for his work on public choice theory originally outlined in his most famous work co-authored with Gordon Tullock in 1962, ''The Calculus of Consen ...
, 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 Edwin John Feulner Jr. (born August 12, 1941) is a former think tank executive who founded the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation and served as its president from 1977 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2018. Feulner's positions have in ...
, founder and former president of the Heritage Foundation *
Venkatesh Geriti Venkatesh Geriti is an Indian classical liberal, anti-corruption activist, and social entrepreneur. He is the founder of Swatantrata Center and India's Future Foundation, an educational organization in Hyderabad, and a scholar at Atlas Summit. ...
, social entrepreneur * Jack Kemp, former vice presidential candidate * Charles Koch, chairman of Koch Industries * Ron Paul, author, physician, and former Congressman *
Roger Ream Roger R. Ream (born November 12, 1954 in Neenah, Wisconsin, United States) is the president of The Fund for American Studies (TFAS). The mission of TFAS is "to change the world by developing leaders for a free society." Education Ream receiv ...
, president of The Fund for American Studies *
Robert Sirico Robert Alan Sirico (born June 23, 1951) is an American Roman Catholic priest, and the founder of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is a political, religious, and cultural commentator. He is ...
, founder of
Acton Institute The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is an American research and educational institution, or think tank, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, (with an office in Rome) whose stated mission is "to promote a free and virtuous society c ...


Publications

FEE published ''
The Freeman ''The Freeman'' (formerly published as ''The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty'' or ''Ideas on Liberty'') was an American libertarian magazine, formerly published by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). It was founded in 1950 by John Chamberla ...
'' magazine from 1954 to 2016. FEE was the original publisher of the essay "
I, Pencil ''I, Pencil: My Family Tree as Told to Leonard E. Read'', commonly known as ''I, Pencil'', is an essay by Leonard Read and it was first published in the December 1958 issue of ''The Freeman''. "I, Pencil" is written in the first person from the ...
", 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.


Gallery

File:Fee.library.tour.jpg, Group tours the FEE library at the Hillside estate File:Israel.kirzner.lecture.for.fee.july.28.2006.jpg, Israel Kirzner lecture for FEE on July 28, 2006 File:Faculty.panel.during.a.fee.seminar.jpg,
Faculty Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division) A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject ...
panel during a FEE seminar


Assets

As of 2018, the Foundation for Economic Education had assets of $8,186,066.


Funding details

Funding details as of 2018:


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foundation For Economic Education Classical liberalism Organizations established in 1946 Political and economic think tanks in the United States Libertarian think tanks Libertarian organizations based in the United States Charities based in Georgia (U.S. state) 1946 establishments in the United States