American Institute for Economic Research explained

American Institute for
Economic Research
Abbreviation:AIER
Founder:Edward C. Harwood
Type:501(c)(3) non-profit think tank
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:William P. Ruger[1]
Tax Id:04-2121305
Purpose:Free market advocacy
Location:Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Revenue:$2,222,727[2]
Revenue Year:2019
Expenses:$5,129,945
Expenses Year:2019

The American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) is a libertarian think tank located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.[3] [4] It was founded in 1933 by Edward C. Harwood, an economist and investment advisor, and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.[5] Since January 2022, the organization's president has been William P. Ruger.[6]

It has promoted climate change denial, and was known for the Great Barrington Declaration and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

History

Col. Edward C. Harwood was a graduate of the United States Military Academy and served in the Army Corps of Engineers. In the 1920s, he began writing freelance magazine articles on economic issues.[7] With $200 saved from selling his articles, Harwood founded AIER in 1933. According to The Berkshire Edge, this makes AIER the "oldest economic research institute in the United States".[8]

Almost since its inception, AIER has published periodicals. The initial two were the Investment Bulletin and the Research Reports.[9] Now, AIER publishes The Daily Economy, Fusion, and the Harwood Economic Review, which cover economics news, classical liberal and conservative philosophy, and economic and econometric scholarship, respectively.

Edward Stringham was appointed President of the Institute in 2017;[10] he was preceded by Stephen Adams,[11] and succeeded by Will Ruger in 2022.

In 2019, the Museum of American Finance loaned its entire library collection to AIER, to be hosted, catalogued and made available there. The initial loan period was for five years.[12]

Policy positions

AIER's stated mission is to "[educate] people on the value of personal freedom, free enterprise, property rights, limited government, and sound money."[13] They take positions on specific policies such as free trade, deregulation, and the defense of certain civil liberties.

The organization has a history of promoting climate change denial,[14] [15] [16] [17] with articles such as "Brazilians Should Keep Slashing Their Rainforest."[18] [19] [20] The institution has also funded research on the comparative benefits that sweatshops supplying multinationals bring to the people working in them.[21] [22]

According to historian and philosopher Philip Mirowski, AIER has been "leading the charge" to neutralize the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as "arbiters of public health" and favors abolishing other federal bureaucracies, such as the Federal Reserve and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.[23] [24] [25] [26]

COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, AIER was known for spreading misinformation and for promoting a herd immunity strategy of "focused protection" to deal with the pandemic.[27]

AIER issued a statement in October 2020 called the Great Barrington Declaration that argued for a herd immunity strategy of "focused protection" to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.[28] It was roundly condemned by many public health experts.[29] Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert appointed by the White House, called the declaration "total nonsense" and unscientific. Tyler Cowen, a libertarian economist at George Mason University, wrote that while he sympathized with a libertarian approach to deal with the pandemic, he considered the declaration to be dangerous and misguided.[30] The declaration was also criticized by the Niskanen Center,[31] a formerly libertarian think tank[32] that now calls itself moderate.[33]

AIER paid for ads on Facebook promoting its articles against government social distancing measures and mask mandates.[34]

In October 2020, Twitter removed a tweet by White House coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas linking to an AIER article that argued against the effectiveness of masks.[35]

Programs and affiliations

AIER maintains a global network of local chapters called the Bastiat Society.[34] According to its website, the Bastiat Society "is a global network of individuals committed to advancing free trade, individual freedom, and limited government...[and hosts] over 200 lectures, discussions, seminars, workshops, and conferences in over 15 countries each year."[36] It partners for events, initiatives, and other programming with the Atlas Network and other groups such as the Free to Choose Network, Young Voices, and several university centers across the country.[37] [38] [39] Though AIER's campus is in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in recent years the majority of its programming has taken place at a variety of academic and conference venues around the country.

Books

After more than two decades of printing pamphlets and booklets in the main AIER office in Great Barrington, the institute constructed a full printing press and bookbinding shop in 1957.[40] This press produced several self-published manuals of microeconomics for families and small business owners. The most widely distributed of these books included The Executor's Roadmap, How to Avoid Financial Tangles, and If Something Should Happen: How to Organize Your Financial and Legal Affairs, which has circulated more than 200,000 copies since 2008.[41]

Funding

AIER owns American Investment Services Inc., an investment advisory firm whose fund was valued at around $285 million in 2020.[42] [43] The fund includes holdings in a wide range of companies but holds a majority of its assets in diversified exchange-traded funds and gold investments. In 2020, about 14% of its investments were in information technology and telecom companies including Microsoft and Alphabet Inc., about 6% in electric and gas utilities, 5% in fossil fuel companies including Chevron and ExxonMobil, and 2% in food, alcohol, and tobacco stocks, including Mondelez International and Philip Morris International.[44]

Over half of AIER's funding comes from its investments, but it also receives contributions and foundation grants. In 2018 it reportedly received US$68,100 from the Charles Koch Foundation, approximately 3% of AIER's revenue for the year.[28] [45] It has partnered with Emergent Order, a public relations company also funded by the Charles Koch Foundation.

In 2019 the American Institute for Economic Research had total assets of $184,901,564.Funding details as of 2019:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AIER Welcomes Will Ruger | AIER.
  2. Web site: 2019 Annual Report . American Institute for Economic Research . 3 December 2020 .
  3. News: Bellow . Heather . 2020-10-22 . Draft town letter slams 'risky premise' of Great Barrington Declaration . The Berkshire Eagle . en-US.
  4. News: D'Ambrosio . Amanda . October 20, 2020 . Who Are the Scientists Behind the Great Barrington Declaration? . MedPage Today.
  5. Web site: Charity Navigator - Rating for American Institute for Economic Research . 2020-10-12 . Charity Navigator . en.
  6. Web site: AIER Staff . AIER Welcomes Will Ruger . American Institute for Economic Research . American Institute for Economic Research . 17 May 2024.
  7. Book: Harwood . Frederick C. . The Golden Constant: American Institute for Economic Research: 75 Years of Free Thinking on the Free Market (1933-2008) . Murray . Charles . 2008 . 9780913610626 . American Institute for Economic Research.
  8. Web site: Owens . Carole . Connections: The Huckleberry King of the Berkshires . 17 May 2024 . The Berkshire Edge.
  9. Web site: JONES, Chief Judge . American Institute for Economic Research v. the United States, 302 F.2d 934 (Ct. Cl. 1962) . U.S. Court of Claims (1855-1982) . 28 October 2023 . 9 May 1962 . almost from its inception, plaintiff has published two periodicals, the Investment Bulletin and the Research Reports.
  10. Web site: American Institute for Economic Research Names Next President . 18 November 2023 .
  11. News: GARY HABER . $5 million manufacturing tax credit proposed for Pennsylvania . 28 October 2023 . . 19 March 2015 . The personal income tax rate is one factor a CEO would look at in deciding where to relocate, said Stephen Adams, president of the American Institute for Economic Research.
  12. Sarah Poole . MoAF Loans Library Collection to the American Institute for Economic Research . Financial History Magazine . Fall 2019 . 131 . 6 . 27 October 2023 . . en . 1520-4723.
  13. Web site: AIER About. March 19, 2024.
  14. Ruth E.. McKie. Obstruction, delay, and transnationalism: Examining the online climate change counter-movement. Energy Research & Social Science. 1 October 2021. 2214-6296. 102217. 80. 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102217. 2021ERSS...8002217M . 238837623 .
  15. McKie . Ruth . Corrigendum to “Obstruction, delay, and transnationalism: Examining the online climate change counter-movement” . Energy Research & Social Science . 2023 . 84 . 25 May 2024 . Revised statement:This includes the anti-lockdown and misinformation campaigns libertarian American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) [75].Institute created the Great Barrington Declaration, similar to the OSIM’sPetition Project, and includes climate sceptic authors Dr Jay Bhattacharya and Sunetra Gupta promoted by the counter-movement organisation the Heartland Institute. This highlights similarities between the dissemination of climate change and COVID19 misinformation to protect a business as usual scenario even during the time of an international public health crisis on this international web platform.”The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.
  16. Lewandowsky . Stephan . Armaos . Konstantinos . Bruns . Hendrik . Schmid . Philipp . Holford . Dawn Liu . Hahn . Ulrike . Al-Rawi . Ahmed . Sah . Sunita . Cook . John . When Science Becomes Embroiled in Conflict: Recognizing the Public's Need for Debate while Combating Conspiracies and Misinformation . The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science . March 2022 . 700 . 1 . 26–40 . 10.1177/00027162221084663 . 36338265 . 7613792 . free.
  17. Book: Oreskes . Naomi . Why Trust Science? . 6 April 2021 . Princeton University Press . 978-0-691-22237-0 . xvii . en.
  18. News: Krugman . Paul . 2020-10-26 . Trump Tells Coronavirus, 'I Surrender' . en-US . The New York Times . 2021-02-08 . 0362-4331 . Well, it is, not surprisingly, linked to the Charles Koch Institute. And a perusal of its website reveals that until recently it devoted much of its time to climate denial, putting out articles with titles like “Brazilians Should Keep Slashing Their Rainforest.” More recently, however, the institute’s focus has shifted to Covid denial. Last month, for example, it published an article lauding Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, whose refusal to take action against the coronavirus has turned her state into what the article called “a fortress of liberty and hope protected from the grasps of overbearing politicians.”.
  19. News: Cowgill. Terry. 13 October 2020. 'Great Barrington Declaration' and AIER feeling heat on both sides of the Atlantic. The Berkshire Edge. 16 October 2020.
  20. News: Sodha . Sonia . 2020-10-11 . The anti-lockdown scientists' cause would be more persuasive if it weren't so half-baked . en . 2021-02-08 . what are scientists doing fronting a campaign whose back office is run by a thinktank that flirts with climate change denial?.
  21. News: Trish. Greenhalgh. Martin. McKee. Michelle. Kelly-Irving. 18 October 2020. The pursuit of herd immunity is a folly – so who's funding this bad science?. The Guardian. 18 October 2020.
  22. Powell . Benjamin . Skarbek . David . 2006-06-01 . Sweatshops and third world living standards: Are the jobs worth the sweat? . Journal of Labor Research . en . 27 . 2 . 263–274 . 10.1007/s12122-006-1006-z . 55642948 . 1936-4768.
  23. Web site: The Death of Neoliberalism Has Been Greatly Exaggerated. Mirowski. Philip . April 27, 2022 . . June 20, 2023 .
  24. Web site: CDC Has Become Centers for the Destruction of Childhood. March 19, 2024.
  25. Web site: Wright. Robert. Fed Up With the Fed. March 19, 2024. "But should we end the Fed? In a word, yes. What would replace it? You! And me. And every other person, negotiating through markets, just like the Founders wanted.".
  26. Web site: Richman. Sheldon. Abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. March 19, 2024.
  27. McKie . Ruth E. . 2022 . Obstruction, delay, and transnationalism: Examining the online climate change counter-movement . . 84 . 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102387 . 244355931 . Nevertheless, this subgroup maintains a presence in the network and promotes anti-science rhetoric, including nuclear conspiracies. Moreover, the technique of employing discredited scientific positions mirror anti-science and conspiratorial debates on the COVID19 pandemic. This includes the anti-lockdown and misinformation campaigns by the Kock funded libertarian American Institute for Economic Research (AIER). The Koch funded institute created the Great Barrington Declaration, similar to the OSIM’s Petition Project, and includes climate sceptic authors Dr Jay Bhattacharya and Sunetra Gupta promoted by the counter-movement organisation the Heartland Institute. Overlaps between AIER and other think tanks in a network funded by Koch Industries show the ongoing relationship between fossil interests and the dissemination of scientific misinformation to protect a business as usual scenario even during the time of an international public health crisis on this international web platform..
  28. News: Mandavilli. Apoorva. Stolberg. Sheryl Gay. 2020-10-23. A Viral Theory Cited by Health Officials Draws Fire From Scientists. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-10-28. 0362-4331.
  29. Web site: Critics Blast Controversial Declaration in Favor of Herd Immunity. 2020-10-28. Medscape.
  30. News: 2020-10-15. A Dangerous Libertarian Strategy for Herd Immunity. en. Bloomberg.com. 2020-10-28.
  31. Web site: 2020-10-27. The Useful Libertarian Idiocy of The Great Barrington Declaration. 2020-10-28. Niskanen Center. en.
  32. Web site: Coren. Michael J.. A libertarian think tank just gave up on libertarianism. 2020-11-10. Quartz. 31 October 2018 . en.
  33. Web site: 2018-12-18. The Center Can Hold: Public Policy for an Age of Extremes. 2020-11-10. Niskanen Center. en.
  34. Web site: American Institute for Economic Research. 2020-12-19. DeSmog. en.
  35. News: Rahman. Khaleda. October 18, 2020. Twitter Removes White House Adviser's Tweet Saying Masks Do Not Prevent COVID-19. Newsweek. October 25, 2020.
  36. Web site: AIER . The Bastiat Society Program . 2024-04-18 . www.aier.org . en-US.
  37. News: Greenhalgh . Trish . McKee . Martin . Kelly-Irving . Michelle . 2020-10-18 . The pursuit of herd immunity is a folly – so who's funding this bad science? . 2024-04-18 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  38. News: Ahmed . Nafeez . Nafeez Ahmed . 2020-10-13 . Koch-Funded PR Agency Aided Great Barrington Declaration Sponsor . 2024-04-18 . www.bylinetimes.com . en-GB.
  39. Web site: AIER Events. March 14, 2024.
  40. Web site: Cotswold Cottage at AIER. March 28, 2024.
  41. Web site: If Something Should Happen. March 28, 2024.
  42. Web site: American Investment Services: AIS - Disciplined, Diversified, Cost Effective. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201108174249/https://www.americaninvestment.com/. November 8, 2020. 2020-11-09. American Investment Services, Inc.. en-US.
  43. Web site: Nafeez Ahmed . Nafeez Ahmed . 2020-10-09 . Climate Science Denial Network Behind Great Barrington Declaration . 2020-10-11 . www.bylinetimes.com . en.
  44. Web site: American Investment Services. 2020-10-29. 13F-HR.
  45. Web site: American Institute for Economic Research . ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer . 20 August 2020 .

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