Difference between revisions of "Independent Institute"

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In May 1999 The Independent Institute published the book ''Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Technology'' by Stan J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis. A media release promoting the book stated that the book "makes a compelling case that the real danger to American high technology leadership is a too powerful, too intrusive government which believes it knows consumer preferences and needs better than they do." [http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=50]
 
In May 1999 The Independent Institute published the book ''Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Technology'' by Stan J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis. A media release promoting the book stated that the book "makes a compelling case that the real danger to American high technology leadership is a too powerful, too intrusive government which believes it knows consumer preferences and needs better than they do." [http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=50]
  
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On June 2, 1999 The Independent Institute "sponsored" a major advertisement - titled ''Open Letter on Antitrust Protectionism'' - in the ''Washington Post'' and the ''New York Times''. The ads were signed by 240 academic economists and claimed "headline-grabbing cases against Microsoft, Intel, Cisco Systems, Visa and MasterCard, along with a flurry of merger investigations now under way, would appear to demonstrate the need for a vigorously enforced antitrust policy that will create checks and balances to eliminate consumer harm. However, consumers did not ask for these antitrust actions — rival business firms did. [http://www.independent.org/pdf/open_letters/antitrust.pdf] (Pdf) (See accompanying [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=483 media release]). The advertisement also promoted ''Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Technology''. The same day, TII held a media conference in Washington D.C. unveiling the advertisements as well, co-inciding with the resumption of the anti-trust trial involving Microsoft.
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On June 2, 1999 The Independent Institute "sponsored" full-page advertisements - titled ''Open Letter on Antitrust Protectionism'' - in the ''Washington Post'' and the ''New York Times''. The ads were signed by 240 academic economists and claimed "headline-grabbing cases against Microsoft, Intel, Cisco Systems, Visa and MasterCard, along with a flurry of merger investigations now under way, would appear to demonstrate the need for a vigorously enforced antitrust policy that will create checks and balances to eliminate consumer harm. However, consumers did not ask for these antitrust actions — rival business firms did. [http://www.independent.org/pdf/open_letters/antitrust.pdf] (Pdf) (See accompanying [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=483 media release]). The advertisement also promoted ''Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Technology''. The same day, TII held a media conference in Washington D.C. unveiling the advertisements as well, co-inciding with the resumption of the anti-trust trial involving Microsoft.
  
 
A little over three months later ''New York Times'' reporter Joel Brinkley revealed that the advertisements had been paid for by [[Microsoft]]. Public relations manager for the company, Greg Shaw, told Brinkley that "we thought this was an important, substantive letter, and we were interested in contributing to making it visible. In our view, the letter speaks for itself." [http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/09/biztech/articles/18soft.html] Based on internal TII documents "provided to The New York Times by a Microsoft adversary associated with the computer industry who refused to be further identified", Brinkley revealed that Microsoft "has secretly served as the institute's largest outside financial benefactor in the last year." [http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/09/biztech/articles/18soft.html]
 
A little over three months later ''New York Times'' reporter Joel Brinkley revealed that the advertisements had been paid for by [[Microsoft]]. Public relations manager for the company, Greg Shaw, told Brinkley that "we thought this was an important, substantive letter, and we were interested in contributing to making it visible. In our view, the letter speaks for itself." [http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/09/biztech/articles/18soft.html] Based on internal TII documents "provided to The New York Times by a Microsoft adversary associated with the computer industry who refused to be further identified", Brinkley revealed that Microsoft "has secretly served as the institute's largest outside financial benefactor in the last year." [http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/09/biztech/articles/18soft.html]

Revision as of 02:17, 16 November 2006

The Independent Institute (TII) is a think tank that was founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux, who is also the president of the think tank.

TII has been a vocal opponent of the "war on drugs", immigration restrictions, corporate welfare, censorship, the neoconservative ("Bush Doctrine") of pre-emptive war, restrictions on reproductive rights, and the death penalty. Some of their analysts oppose the dominant view of scientists of the need for urgent action to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

TII, Microsoft Money and Oracle's Private Investigators

In May 1999 The Independent Institute published the book Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Technology by Stan J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis. A media release promoting the book stated that the book "makes a compelling case that the real danger to American high technology leadership is a too powerful, too intrusive government which believes it knows consumer preferences and needs better than they do." [1]

On June 2, 1999 The Independent Institute "sponsored" full-page advertisements - titled Open Letter on Antitrust Protectionism - in the Washington Post and the New York Times. The ads were signed by 240 academic economists and claimed "headline-grabbing cases against Microsoft, Intel, Cisco Systems, Visa and MasterCard, along with a flurry of merger investigations now under way, would appear to demonstrate the need for a vigorously enforced antitrust policy that will create checks and balances to eliminate consumer harm. However, consumers did not ask for these antitrust actions — rival business firms did. [2] (Pdf) (See accompanying media release). The advertisement also promoted Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Technology. The same day, TII held a media conference in Washington D.C. unveiling the advertisements as well, co-inciding with the resumption of the anti-trust trial involving Microsoft.

A little over three months later New York Times reporter Joel Brinkley revealed that the advertisements had been paid for by Microsoft. Public relations manager for the company, Greg Shaw, told Brinkley that "we thought this was an important, substantive letter, and we were interested in contributing to making it visible. In our view, the letter speaks for itself." [3] Based on internal TII documents "provided to The New York Times by a Microsoft adversary associated with the computer industry who refused to be further identified", Brinkley revealed that Microsoft "has secretly served as the institute's largest outside financial benefactor in the last year." [4]

Environmental Issues

Much of the Anti-Global Warming rhetoric published by The Independent Institute is the work of a few persons, and one stands out, both in quantity of releases, as well as notoriety, S. Fred Singer. Some of the other analysts of The Independent Institute agree that the environment is a pressing concern, including the issue of greenhouse gas emissions. Where they dissent from current environmental theory is in the proper methodologies for remediation, and they propose strong private property and free market solutions, a libertarian model for environmentalism.

Funding

On its website TII states that it "receives no government funding. Instead, it draws its support from a diverse range of foundations, businesses and individuals, and the sale of its publications and other services." [5] The Institute does not list its contributors on its website, stating their rationale for this is in compliance with the Donor's Bill of Rights. However, the Donor's Bill of Rights does not require secrecy.

However, some funders of the Institute have been identified. These include:

  • Philip Morris contributed a donation of $10,000 in 1997 [6] and a donation of $25,000 in 1998. [7]
  • Exxon donated $10,000 in 1998 [8]; $5,000 in 2000 and 2001, $10,000 as Exxon Mobil in 2002 [9]; $10,000 in 2003 and $30,000 in 2005. [10]
  • The San Francisco Foundation contributed $10,000 in fiscal year 2000 (July 1, 1999-June 30, 2000) ([11])

According to Media Transparency, TII has received $718,000 (unadjusted for inflation) between 1995 and 2005. [12] Grants have included those from:

Executives and Research Fellows

Board of Directors

In Memoriam Board of Directors

Board of Advisors

  • Herman Belz - Professor of History, University of Maryland
  • Thomas Bethell - Columnist and Author, The Noblest Triumph: Property and Prosperity Through the Ages
  • Thomas E. Borcherding - Professor of Economics, Claremont Graduate School
  • Boudewijn R. A. Bouckaert - Professor of Law, University of Ghent, Belgium
  • James M. Buchanan - Nobel Laureate in Economic Science University Professor, Center for the Study of Public Choice, George Mason University
  • Allan C. Carlson - President, Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society
  • Robert D. Cooter - Herman F. Selvin Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley
  • Robert W. Crandall - Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution
  • Richard A. Epstein - James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago
  • A. Ernest Fitzgerald - Author, The High Priests of Waste and The Pentagonists: An Insider's View of Waste, Mismanagement and Fraud in Defense Spending
  • B. Delworth Gardner - Emeritus Professor of Economics, Brigham Young University
  • George Gilder - Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute
  • Nathan Glazer - Professor of Education and Sociology, Harvard University
  • William M. H. Hammett - Former President, Manhattan Institute
  • Ronald Hamowy - Emeritus Professor of History, University of Alberta, Canada
  • Steve H. Hanke - Professor of Applied Economics, Johns Hopkins University
  • Ronald Max Hartwell - Emeritus Professor of History, Oxford University, England
  • James J. Heckman - Nobel Laureate in Economic Science, Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, University of Chicago
  • Wendy Kaminer - Contributing Editor, The Atlantic Monthly; Member, Board of Directors, ACLU
  • Lawrence A. Kudlow - Chief Executive Officer, Kudlow & Company; Co-Host, Kudlow & Cramer, CNBC; Former Associate Director for Economics and Planning, Office of Management and Budget
  • John R. MacArthur - Publisher, Harper's Magazine
  • Deirdre N. McCloskey - Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago
  • J. Huston McCulloch - Professor of Economics, Ohio State University
  • Thomas Gale Moore - Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
  • Charles Murray - Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
  • Michael Novak - George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion and Public Policy, American Enterprise Institute
  • June E. O’Neill - Director, Center for the Study of Business & Government, Baruch College; Former Director, U.S. Congressional Budget Office
  • P. J. O’Rourke - Author, Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism, Eat the Rich, and Parliament of Whores
  • Tom Peters - Co-Author, In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies ; Author, Liberation Management and A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership Diffference
  • Charles E. Phelps - Provost and Professor of Political Science and Economics, University of Rochester
  • Paul Craig Roberts - Chairman, Institute of Political Economy; Former Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, U.S. Department of the Treasury
  • Nathan Rosenberg - Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr. Professor of Public Policy, Stanford University
  • Simon Rottenberg - Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Massachusetts
  • Paul H. Rubin - Professor of Economics and Law, Emory University
  • Bruce M. Russett - Dean Acheson Professor of International Relations, Yale University; Editor, Journal of Conflict Resolution
  • Pascal Salin - Professor of Economics, University of Paris, France
  • William F. Shughart II - Robert M. Hearin Chair in Economics and Finance, University of Mississippi
  • Vernon L. Smith - Nobel Laureate in Economic Science; Professor of Economics and Law, Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science, George Mason University
  • Joel H. Spring - Professor of Education, State University of New York, New Paltz
  • Richard L. Stroup - Professor of Economics, Montana State University
  • Thomas S. Szasz - Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus, Health Science Center, State University of New York, Syracuse
  • Robert D. Tollison - BB&T Senior Fellow and Professor of Economics, Clemson University
  • Arnold J. Trebach - Professor of Law, American University
  • William Tucker - Author, The Excluded Americans: Homelessness and Housing Policies
  • Gordon Tullock - University Professor of Law and Economics and Distinguished Research Fellow, George Mason University
  • Gore Vidal - National Book Award-Winner, Playwright, Screenwriter, and Author of the “American Chronicle” Series of Historical Novels
  • Richard E. Wagner - Hobart R. Hobart Professor of Economics, George Mason University
  • Alan Walters - Vice Chairman, AIG Trading Company
  • Paul H. Weaver
  • Walter E. Williams - Distinguished Professor of Economics, George Mason University
  • Charles Wolf - Senior Economist and Corporate Fellow, International Economics, RAND Corporation

In Memoriam Board of Advisors

  • Stephen E. Ambrose - Professor of History Emeritus, University of New Orleans
  • M. E. Bradford - Professor of English, University of Dallas
  • Arthur A. Ekirch Jr. - Late Professor of History, State University of New York, Albany
  • Jonathan Kwitny - Author, Endless Enemies and The Crimes of Patriots
  • Merton H. Miller - Nobel Laureate in Economic Science; Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Professor of Finance Emeritus, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago
  • Murray N. Rothbard - S. J. Hall Distinguished Professor of Economics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Arthur Seldon - Founder-Director, Institute of Economic Affairs, London, England
  • Julian L. Simon - Professor of Business Administration, University of Maryland
  • William E. Simon - Former Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury
  • Aaron B. Wildavsky - Class of 1940 Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley

Senior Fellows

  • Bruce L. Benson - DeVoe Moore Distinguished Research Professor of Economics, Florida State University
  • Ivan Eland - Senior Fellow and Director, Center on Peace & Liberty
  • Robert Higgs - Senior Fellow in Political Economy. Editor, The Independent Review.
  • Charles Peña - Senior Fellow, The Independent Institute
  • Alvaro Vargas Llosa - Senior Fellow, The Independent Institute
  • Richard K. Vedder - Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics, Ohio University

Research Fellows

(data scraped from Independent Institute Website] 2006.11.15)

Contact info

The Independent Institute
100 Swan Way, Oakland, CA 94621-1428
Orders: 1-800-927-8733
Phone: (510) 632-1366
Fax: (510) 568-6040
web site: http://www.independent.org

Related Links

Funding

TII, Microsoft and Anti-Trust Law

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