Showing posts with label Institute for Humane Studies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Institute for Humane Studies. Show all posts

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Dunn's Foundation gives libertarians $10M/year

This Foundation Is a Stalwart Backer of Libertarian Policy. Have You Heard of It? — Inside Philanthropy - Philip Rojc:

June 2, 2016 - "Most of the time, it’s hard to pick up on a foundation’s funding philosophy from its name alone. Dunn’s Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking makes it easier than most.... Founded in 1994, Dunn’s Foundation ... isn’t the oldest or most well-known funder around, but its low profile belies grantmaking of about $10 million a year, money that goes a long way in the think tank world.

"Dunn’s Foundation is devotedly libertarian in its outlook. While the foundation maintains no website or social media presence, public tax documents reveal a twofold purpose: to advocate for free enterprise and market capitalism, and to 'reduce the impact of the use or threat of force by coercive organizations (both public and private) against the people of America and the world, principally through education.'

"Since the year 2000, Dunn’s Foundation has provided major and ongoing funding to some of the biggest names in libertarianism like the Cato Institute, the Reason Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Atlas Society. Dunn’s persistent support for the Marijuana Policy Project cements the foundation’s libertarian status....

"Another feature of Dunn’s grantmaking is its direct support for several libertarian public interest law firms. Some highlights: the Institute for Justice ($5,910,000 between 2002 and 2013), the Pacific Legal Foundation ($3,713,000), and the Landmark Legal Foundation ($2,340,000)....

"A theoretical physics Ph.D., Dunn left the sciences for finance in 1974, establishing what is now Dunn Capital Management, LLC. According to the firm’s website, Dunn was an early pioneer of quant trading in commodity futures, applying then-new computer technology to manage financial portfolios.... Dunn ...  is a Reason Foundation trustee and sits on the board of the Cato Institute, both major recipients of his money....

"Dunn is said to maintain strict control over his foundation’s grantmaking. Despite assets of around $130 million, Dunn’s Foundation has a small, tight-knit board of trustees and few apparent staff. In addition to Dunn himself, officers include Dunn’s wife Rebecca Walter Dunn, Dunn Capital general counsel David Dreyer, and Thomas A. Beach, who is also current chairman of the Reason Foundation....

In addition to the grantees mentioned above, others include the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Americans for Limited Government, Chapman University, the Heartland Institute, and the Institute for Humane Studies.... The foundation has also given around $4 million over the past decade to the Property and Environment Research Center, a proponent of free market solutions to environmental problems and a critic of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts."

Read more: http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016/6/2/this-foundation-is-a-stalwart-backer-of-libertarian-policy-h.html
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Sunday, November 16, 2014

Remembering Leonard P. Liggio (1933–2014)

RIP: Leonard P. Liggio (1933–2014) « Antiwar.com Blog - Sheldon Richman:

October 18, 2014 - "I lost one of my favorite teachers this week, as did so many other libertarians, not to mention the freedom movement as a whole. Leonard P. Liggio, 81, died after a period of declining health....

"Since the early 1950s, before he had reached the age of 20, Leonard was a scholar and activist for individual liberty, the free-market order, and the voluntary network of social cooperation we call civil society. He was in Youth for Taft in 1952, when the noninterventionist Sen. Robert Taft unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination....

"In his long career, Leonard was associated with the Volker Fund (a pioneering classical-liberal organization), the Institute for Humane Studies, Liberty Fund, the Cato Institute, and finally, the Atlas Network. He was also on the faculty of several universities, including George Mason Law School, after doing graduate work in law and history at various institutions.

"Leonard studied with Ludwig von Mises and a long list of eminent historians. He knew the founders of the modern libertarian movement: F.A. Harper, Leonard Read, Pierre Goodrich, Ayn Rand, and more. He was an early member of the Mont Pelerin Society, founded by F.A. Hayek, and eventually president of the organization. As a young man he became close friends with Murray Rothbard, Ralph Raico, George Reisman, Ronald Hamowy, Robert Hessen, and others who comprised their Circle Bastiat. He literally was present at the creation of the movement and helped to make it what it would become."

Read more: http://antiwar.com/blog/2014/10/18/rip-leonard-p-liggio-1933-2014/
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Friday, August 29, 2014

EDvantage offers libertarian resources for schools

Koch-funded think tank offers schools course in libertarianism | Center for Public Integrity - Chris Young:

August 26, 2014 - "Pop quiz, teachers: Would you like to inject a strong dose of libertarianism into the curriculum you take back to school this fall?

"If you answered yes, then a Koch-funded think tank has exactly what you need. And it won’t cost you or your school a penny.

"The EDvantage, a project of the libertarian Institute for Humane Studies, bills itself as an online 'curriculum hub for pioneering educators.' The website offers high school teachers and college professors educational videos, articles and podcasts on topics including economics, history and philosophy....

According to its website, EDvantage is funded by the John Templeton Foundation, whose core funding areas include 'individual freedom and free markets.'

"Program director Daniel Green said through a foundation spokeswoman that the two-year, $739,000 grant is meant 'to further Sir John Templeton’s objective of supporting education about the enhancement of individual freedom and free markets.' In addition to funding free-market initiatives, the foundation — founded by the billionaire global investor and mutual fund pioneer — supports a variety of other causes, including ones related to science and religion.

"The Institute for Humane Studies, which is housed at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, is funded largely by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. The think tank, whose mission is to advance 'a freer society,' received $12.4 million from the Charles Koch Charitable Foundation from 2008 to 2012, according to annual tax documents."

Read more: http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/08/26/15387/koch-funded-think-tank-offers-schools-course-libertarianism
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