Independent Institute

The Independent Institute, founded in 1985, seems to be not as independent as the name suggests.

The New York Times had on September 18, 1999 an article by Joel Brinkley called "‘Unbiased’ Ads for Microsoft Came at a Price". The 'Ads' had the form of a letter signed by 240 academic "experts" and purported to be a scholarly, unbiased view of why the government had gone overboard in its case against the Microsoft. In reality, according to that article, Microsoft had not only paid for the ads, but was in fact the single largest donor to 'The Independent Institute'. David J. Theroux, the founder and president of this institute, confirmed in his reply that they received money from Microsoft. However, that was ± 8% of their total revenues and he stated that Microsoft was not their largest supporter. Despite Jacob Sullum's denail, it later turned out that Microsoft paid $203,217 to 'The Independent Institute' in 1999 which made Microsoft the largest supporter. [1]

Richard Vedder is Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute and Thomas Gale Moore is a Member of the Board of Advisors at The Independent Institute. Both were also a members of the 'Academic Advisory Board' for the pro-tobacco junk science report 'Science, Economics, and Environmental Policy: A Critical Examination' published by the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution (AdTI) on August 11, 1994. (See: AdTI-Funding)

The Independent Institute received from Philip Morris in 1998 a donation of $25,000. [2]

Exxon donated $10,000 in 1998 [3] and again $10,000 as Exxon Mobil in 2002. [4]

Grants according to 'Media Transparency'

• The John M. Olin Foundation gave in 1996 to The Independent Institute $40,000 for "The promotion of two books: The Diversity Myth, by David O. Sacks and Peter a Thiel; and The Melting Pot, by Richard K. Vedder and Lowell E. Gallaway" and in 1998 another $25,000 for "The Institute's book program".
• The David H. Koch Charitable Foundation gave in 1995 - 2001 in total $160,000 for "General Operating Support".
• The Earhart Foundation gave in 1998 - 2001 in total $46,095 to support editor Dr. Robert Higgs.
• The Castle Rock Foundation gave in 2002 for "General operating support" $25,000.

What adds up to the total amount of $296,095.

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

• David Callahan, "The Think Tank As Flack, How Microsoft and other corporations use conservative policy groups", Washington Monthly, September 1999
• David J. Theroux, "Winners, Losers & Microsoft - Strikes a Sensitive Nerve, Response to New York Times Article", The Independent Institute, September 19, 1999
• Uriel Wittenberg, "The Independent"
• Uriel Wittenberg, "The Independent Institute’s Response", May 8, 2000
• Independent Institute, Oakland, CA, Media Transparency, 2002