We will be performing maintenance on the SourceWatch wiki on Friday, November 20, 2009, beginning at 6pm EST. During this time, editing will be suspended and the wiki will be offline at times. The process will take several hours. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. Thank you for your continued support of the SourceWatch project!

American Enterprise Institute

From SourceWatch

Jump to: navigation, search


This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch, sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation. Help expose the truth about the tobacco industry.

The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) is an extremely influential, pro-business, conservative think tank founded in 1943 by Lewis H. Brown. It promotes the advancement of free enterprise capitalism[1], and succeeds in placing its people in influential governmental positions. It is the center base for many neo-conservatives.

Contents

[edit]

History

Originally set up as a spokesperson for big business and the promotion of free enterprise, the AEI came to major national prominence in the 1970s under the leadership of William Baroody, Sr.[2], during which time it grew from a group of twelve resident "thinkers" to a well-funded organization with 145 resident scholars, 80 adjunct scholars, and a large supporting staff. This period of growth was largely funded by the Howard Pew Freedom Trust [1].

Ronald Reagan said of the AEI in 1988:

"The American Enterprise Institute stands at the center of a revolution in ideas of which I, too, have been a part. AEI's remarkably distinguished body of work is testimony to the triumph of the think tank. For today the most important American scholarship comes out of our think tanks – and none has been more influential than the American Enterprise Institute."

In 1986, the Olin and Smith Richardson foundations withdrew their support from AEI because of substantive disagreement with certain of its policies, causing William Baroody, Jr.[3][4][5] to resign in the ensuing financial crisis. Following criticism by conservatives that the AEI was too centrist, it moved its programme further to the right and became more aggressive in pursuing its public policy goals. [2]

[edit]

Work on issues

[edit]

Iraq

More recently, it has emerged as one of the leading architects of the Bush administration's foreign policy. AEI rents office space to the Project for the New American Century, one of the leading voices that pushed the Bush administration's plan for "regime change" through war in Iraq. AEI reps have also aggressively denied that the war has anything to do with oil.

[edit]

Tobacco issues

In 1980, the American Enterprise Institute for the sum of $25,000 produced a study in support of the tobacco industry titled, Cost-Benefit Analysis of Regulation: Consumer Products. The study was designed to counteract "social cost" arguments against smoking by broadening the social cost issue to include other consumer products such as alcohol and saccharin. The social cost arguments against smoking hold that smoking burdens society with additional costs from on-the-job absenteeism, medical costs, cleaning costs and fires.[3] The report was part of the global tobacco industry's 1980s Social Costs/Social Values Project, carried out to refute emerging social cost arguments against smoking.

[edit]

Water Policy

At a conference on water policy hosted by AEI in 2006, William Morris, a Professor at Case Western Law School, argued that "markets are essential in providing people with water," because they "provide more information at a lower cost." Yet Morris also acknowledged the downfall of market water management, in the form of the "inevitable movement of water from poor rural areas to rich urban areas." [6]

[edit]

Case Studies

[edit]

NGO Watch

In June 2003, AEI and another right-wing group, the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, launched a new website NGOWatch.org/NGOwatch.org to expose the funding, operations and agendas of international NGOs, and particularly their alleged efforts to constrain U.S. freedom of action in international affairs and influence the behavior of corporations abroad. [4] AEI states that "The extraordinary growth of advocacy NGOs in liberal democracies has the potential to undermine the sovereignty of constitutional democracies, as well as the effectiveness of credible NGOs."[5] Ralph Nader responds with "What they are condemning, with vague, ironic regulatory nostrums proposed against dissenting citizen groups, is democracy itself." [6]

[edit]

Casting Doubt on Global Warming

In February 2007, The Guardian (UK) reported that AEI was offering scientists and economists $10,000 each, "to undermine a major climate change report" from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). AEI asked for "articles that emphasise the shortcomings" of the IPCC report, which "is widely regarded as the most comprehensive review yet of climate change science." AEI visiting scholar Kenneth Green made the $10,000 offer "to scientists in Britain, the US and elsewhere," in a letter describing the IPCC as "resistant to reasonable criticism and dissent." [7]

The Guardian reported further that AEI "has received more than $1.6m from ExxonMobil, and more than 20 of its staff have worked as consultants to the Bush administration. Lee Raymond, a former head of ExxonMobil, is the vice-chairman of AEI's board of trustees," added The Guardian. [8]

[edit]

Officers

  • Christopher DeMuth - President. Researches government regulation. He has been president of AEI since 1986.
  • David Gerson - Executive Vice President
  • Jason Bertsch - Vice President, Marketing
  • Henry Olsen III - Vice President, National Research Initiative
  • Danielle Pletka - Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies. Research areas include the Middle East, South Asia, terrorism, and weapons proliferation.

[7]

[edit]

Personnel

[edit]

Current list of Scholars and Fellows

(Data June, 2007 from AEI. Links after each name are to their AEI personal Bio page)

  • Gerard Alexander; Democracy; Democratization; American government; Government spending - [10]
  • Joseph Antos; Medicare; Health care policy; Private health insurance - [11]
  • Leon Aron; Russian domestic politics and foreign policy; Russia-U.S. relations - [12]
  • Claude Barfield; Economics; International trade policy; Science policy; Technology policy; The functioning of the GATT/WTO system - [13]
  • Roger Bate; Performance & effectiveness of USAID, World Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and NGOs in Africa and the developing world; International environmental and health agreements (industrial chemicals, climate change, and water); Water policy in developing countries; Genetically modified organisms and pesticide policy; Health policy and endemic diseases in developing countries (AIDS and malaria) - [14]
  • Walter Berns; Political philosophy; Constitutional law; Legal issues - [15]
  • Douglas J. Besharov; Education (vocational, high-school counseling, Affirmative Action, and student aid); Poverty (trends, causes, and remedies); Welfare reform (job training and program evaluation); Families (marriage, divorce, same-sex marriage, and nonmarital births); Child abuse/child welfare (foster care and delinquency); Preschool and child care (Head Start); Race and ethnicity (Affirmative Action and black middle class) - [16]
  • Edward Blum; Civil rights policy; Affirmative action; Multiculturalism; Redistricting; Voting rights - [17]
  • Dan Blumenthal; China; Taiwan; East Asia; U.S.-China relations - [18]
  • John R. Bolton; Foreign Policy; International Organizations - [19]
  • Karlyn H. Bowman; Public opinion/polls; U.S. politics; Media - [20]
  • Arthur C. Brooks; Culture, politics, and economic life in America; Social entrepreneurship ; Philanthropy - [21]
  • John E. Calfee; Advertising; U.S. Food and Drug Administration policies; Health care policy; Pharmaceuticals; Tobacco; Tort liability system - [22]
  • Charles W. Calomiris; Financial markets; International trade and finance; Monetary policy; Banking regulation; Corporate finance - [23]
  • Lynne V. Cheney; Culture; Education - [24]
  • Steven J. Davis; Impact of taxes on work and leisure time; Labor market issues; Job creation, employment and unemployment - [25]
  • Mauro De Lorenzo; Chinese overseas investment; Refugee and humanitarian policy; East and Central Africa (Rwanda, Congo, Burundi, Uganda); Development Aid - [26]
  • Christopher DeMuth; Government regulation; Law and economics; Environmental policy; Liability reform - [27]
  • Thomas Donnelly; Defense; National security - [28]
  • Nicholas Eberstadt; Infant mortality and health disparities in the United States; Economics; Economic development policy; Foreign and Defense; Poverty; Foreign aid; Korea; East Asia; Russia and other former Soviet republics; Social and Political; Demographics; Health and mortality in foreign locales (including HIV/AIDS) - [29]
  • Mark Falcoff; Latin America - [30]
  • John C. Fortier; Elections; Congress; Continuity of government; Election reform, presidential succession, and disability; The Electoral College; The presidency - [31]
  • Ted Frank; Liability reform; Law and economics; Constitutional law; Medical malpractice; Antitrust policy; Regulation through litigation; Intellectual property - [32]
  • David Frum; Canadian politics; U.S. politics; Bush administration - [33]
  • David Gelernter; American history; Religion, culture, and science - [34]
  • Reuel Marc Gerecht; Afghanistan; Iran; Intelligence; Middle East; Terrorism; Central Asia/former Soviet Union - [35]
  • Newt Gingrich; Health care policy; Military; U.S. politics; Information technology - [36]
  • James K. Glassman; Social Security; Economics; Technology and politics; Federal budget; Interest rates; Stock market; Taxes; Education - [37]
  • Jack Landman Goldsmith; International law (treaties and war powers); Sovereignty; Intelligence reform - [38]
  • Robert A. Goldwin; Constitutional studies; Education; Human rights and democracy - [39]
  • Scott Gottlieb, M.D.; Food and Drug Administration policies; Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services policies; Trends in medicine (political and clinical); Medical technology development - [40]
  • Kenneth P. Green; Environmental policy; Environmental chemicals; Air pollution; Climate change; Energy and environment; Transport and environment - [41]
  • Michael S. Greve; Federalism; Constitutional law; Courts; Business regulation - [42]
  • Christopher Griffin; Japan; Taiwan; Southeast Asia; India; Defense industrial cooperation in the Asia Pacific; China - [43]
  • Robert W. Hahn; Energy; Environment; Regulation - [44]
  • Kevin A. Hassett; Investments; Stock market; Tax policy; U.S. economy - [45]
  • Steven F. Hayward; Environment; Law; The presidency; Political economy - [46]
  • Robert B. Helms; Health care policy; Medicaid; Medicare; Economics of the pharmaceutical industry; Private health insurance - [47]
  • Frederick M. Hess; Education - [48]
  • Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Islam and the West; Islam and women; Islam in Europe - [49]
  • R. Glenn Hubbard; Tax and budget issues; Tax policy; Health care policy; International finance; Monetary policy; Regulation - [50]
  • Frederick W. Kagan; Defense issues; Defense budget; Defense strategy and warfare; American military; Russian and European military history; Defense transformation - [51]
  • Leon R. Kass, M.D.: Bioethics; Ethics; Philosophy; Marriage, family, and social mores - [52]
  • Herbert G. Klein; U.S. media and political issues; Presidential communications - [53]
  • Marvin H. Kosters; Income inequality; Labor issues - [54]
  • Irving Kristol; Culture; Ethics; Religion; Politics - [55]
  • Desmond Lachman; Role of multilateral lending institutions; Major emerging market economies - [56]
  • Michael A. Ledeen; Italy; Africa (Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe); Europe; Intelligence; Middle East; U.S. foreign policy; Iran; Leadership and the use of power; Terrorism; U.S.-China relations - [57]
  • Adam Lerrick; International capital markets; Role of hedge funds; International financial crises and sovereign debt restructuring; Economic development including the impact of aid and the role of multilateral institutions; World Bank and IMF reform - [58]
  • Philip I. Levy; International trade policy; U.S. foreign assistance and economic development policy; Globalization - [59]
  • James R. Lilley; Korea; China; Taiwan - [60]
  • Lawrence B. Lindsey; Tax policy; Fiscal policy; International economic development; Monetary policy - [61]
  • John H. Makin; U.S. economy (monetary policy, taxes, and budget issues); Financial markets (stocks, bonds, and currencies of major industrial countries); Japanese economy; European economies - [62]
  • N. Gregory Mankiw; U.S. economy; Fiscal policy; Entitlements; International trade policy - [63]
  • Aparna Mathur; Health economics; Tax policy; Small businesses and bankruptcy - [64]
  • Mark B. McClellan, M.D.; Medical innovation; Medicare; Medicaid; Quality of health care; Health care policy - [65]
  • Allan H. Meltzer; Financial services; International finance; Monetary policy and history; Tax and budget issues - [66]
  • Thomas P. Miller; Information transparency for health services; Consumer-driven health care; Health insurance regulation (interstate competition) - [67]
  • Joshua Muravchik; United Nations; Neoconservatism; History of socialism and communism; Arab-Israeli conflict; Global democracy, terrorism, and the Bush Doctrine - [68]
  • Charles Murray; Culture; Human intelligence and social structure; Marriage, family, and social mores; Family; Crime; Libertarianism - [69]
  • Roger F. Noriega; Latin America; The Caribbean; Canada - [70]
  • Michael Novak; U.S. politics; Ethnicity; Sports; Religion; Culture - [71]
  • Norman J. Ornstein; U.S. politics; Congress; Elections - [72]
  • Richard Perle; Defense; Europe; Intelligence; Middle East; National security; Russian region - [73]
  • Danielle Pletka; Middle East; Terrorism; South Asia (India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan); Weapons proliferation - [74]
  • Alex J. Pollock; Accounting standards (FASB); Financial system; Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), including Fannie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Banks; Retirement finance; Housing finance; Corporate governance; Banking structure - [75]
  • Sarath Rajapatirana; Economic policy reforms in Latin America; Macroeconomic policies of developing countries; Multilateral trade negotiations; Trade policies of developing countries - [76]
  • Michael Rubin; Arab democracy; Domestic politics in Iran and Iraq; Kurdish society - [77]
  • Sally Satel, M.D.: Domestic drug policy; Mental health policy (including the psychological impact of war and disasters); Political trends in medicine - [78]
  • Gary J. Schmitt; Strategic studies; National security; Intelligence; Europe - [79]
  • Joel Schwartz; Environment (air pollution, vehicle emissions, and chemical risks)   - [80]
  • Daniel Shaviro; Social Security; Medicare; Tax and budget policy - [81]
  • Kent Smetters; Insurance; Risk management - [82]
  • Christina Hoff Sommers; American adolescents; Feminism and American culture; Morality in American society - [83]
  • Samuel Thernstrom; Environment; American political culture - [84]
  • Bill Thomas; Tax policy; Health care policy; Trade policy; Elections; Legislative and political process - [85]
  • Fred Thompson; National security and intelligence (China, North Korea, and Russia) - [86]
  • Richard Vedder; Labor issues; Income inequality; Higher education financing; Fiscal policy; Immigration - [87]
  • Alan D. Viard; Federal tax and budget policy; Social Security - [88]
  • Peter J. Wallison; Banking and financial services; GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac); Financial markets - [89]
  • Ben J. Wattenberg; Culture; Demographics; Public opinion/polls - [90]
  • Paul Wolfowitz ex-World Bank President (and neo-conservative) who was forced to resign amid controversy [91]
  • John Yoo; Constitutional law; International law - [92]
[edit]

Alumni

[edit]

Connections

The following was compiled by RightWeb.[8]

[edit]

Funding

In 2006 AEI reported that its income was $28.4 million. Of this it states on its website that "individual contributions of more than $10 million provided the largest share of the revenue base, followed by $6 million in corporate support, and $4.7 million from foundations."[9]

[edit]

Corporate donations

While the AEI acknowledges that it received over $6 million in corporate contributions in 2006, the donors are not identified in either its annual report or on its website. However, it is known that during 1997, Philip Morris contributed $100,000 to the Institute[10]. During 2007, ExxonMobil contributed $240,000 (including an addition $30,000 for the joint AEI Brookings "Judicial Education Program".)[11] (It is worth noting that AEI notes in its 2006 annual report that Lee R. Raymond, the now retired Chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation is a member of the [12]

On its website it states that "national and multinational corporations who support AEI maintain close relationships with the Institute's scholars and regularly receive top-level research and analysis on specific policy interests and priorities. In addition, corporations provide important input to AEI on a wide variety of issues. Corporate involvement with AEI includes special invitations to public and private events; AEI's full slate of research studies, articles, books and other publications; access to our scholars, fellows, and senior management; and more."[13] It also states that "the Institute does not perform contract research and, with rare exceptions, does not accept government grants."[14]

It also claims that "a diversity of interests can render any individual conflict of interest small or de minimis. AEI has many hundreds of corporate, foundation, and individual donors, none of them accounting for more than a small fraction of the Institute's budget."[14] It also states that "AEI scholars and fellows are required to disclose in their published work any affiliations they may have with organizations with a direct interest in the subject of that work. AEI discloses the source of project-specific donations to research on subjects in which the donors have a material interest."[14]

[edit]

Foundation funding

Media Transparency estimates that between 1985 and 2006, AEI received $44,636,101 (unadjusted for inflation) from the following funding sources[15]:

Amounts contributed by the Coors Foundation are not included.

Funding has come from many other sources, such as Amoco, the Kraft Foundation, and the Procter & Gamble Fund. AEI, unlike some think tanks, has no endowment - something which has led the organization into financial embarrassment in 1985 when its operating budget outstripped its donations by 25 percent (Newsweek, 1984).

[edit]

Contact Information

American Enterprise Institute
1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-862-5800
Fax: 202-862-7177
E-mail: info AT aei.org
Website: http://www.aei.org

[edit]

Publications

American Enterprise - a bi-monthly magazine published by AEI. [94]

[edit]

Articles and Resources

[edit]

Related SourceWatch articles

[edit]

References

  1. ↑ Article on capitalism in the Wikipedia. Note that the Wikipedia states that "free enterprise" is another term for "capitalism".
  2. ↑ "AEI's Diamond Jubilee, 1943-2003", an essay from the American Enterprise Institute's 2003 Annual Report.
  3. ↑ William Baroody, Jr., Assistant to the President for Public Liaison: Files, 1974?77, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
  4. ↑ "AEI's Diamond Jubilee, 1943-2003", an essay from the American Enterprise Institute's 2003 Annual Report.
  5. ↑ Todd Lencz, "The Baroody bunch - William Baroody Jr," National Review (FindArticles.com), September 12, 1986.
  6. ↑ "Event Summary" American Enterprise Institute Events, accessed May 2009.
  7. ↑ Officers of AEI, accessed June 2007
  8. ↑ Profile: American Enterprise Institute, RightWeb.
  9. ↑ "Finances", 2006 Annual Report, accessed December 2008.
  10. ↑ Matt Winokur, "Public Policy Groups", Philip Morris memo, April 21, 1997.
  11. ↑ ExxonMobil, 2007 "Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments", ExxonMobil website, accessed December 2008, page 1.
  12. ↑ American Enterprise Institute, "Board of Trustees", American Enterprise Institute website, accessed December 2008.
  13. ↑ American Enterprise Institute, "Corporations", American Enterprise Institute website, accessed December 2006.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 American Enterprise Institute, "AEI's Organization and Purposes", American Enterprise Institute website, accessed December 2008.
  15. ↑ "American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research", Media Transparency, accessed December 2008.
[edit]

External resources

[edit]

External Articles

[edit]

Profiles

[edit]

General articles

Retrieved from "http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Enterprise_Institute"
Personal tools

This encyclopedia is written by people like you, so jump in.

Be a SourceWatcher!

Enter your e-mail address to get the Center for Media and Democracy's free weekly e-newsletter.