Cato Institute

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Cato Institute

The Cato Institute is one of the most influential economic and political think tanks in the United States . It was founded by Edward H. Crane , Murray Rothbard and Charles G. Koch in San Francisco in 1977 and has a libertarian - minimal state orientation. The Cato Institute is based in Washington, DC

Political orientation

Panel discussion in the Rayburn House Office Building ( Capitol Hill ), August 18, 2014

The institute sees itself in the tradition of classical liberalism . The self-mandate of the think tank is to promote political debates that take into account values ​​such as individual freedom, free market economy , minimal state and peace :

“The mission of the Cato Institute is to increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace. The Institute will use the most effective means to originate, advocate, promote, and disseminate applicable policy proposals that create free, open, and civil societies in the United States and throughout the world. "

It advocates less government, lower taxes and more individual freedom. Ideologically it is particularly close to Friedrich Hayek , but also refers to the theories of Ayn Rand and Robert Nozick . Nationally, the Cato Institute represents business-liberal positions, including with regard to raising children , labor law , national security and tobacco consumption . It is seen by many governments as the strongest advocate of social security privatization . Internationally, the think tank is strongly committed to free trade , but rejects the support of developing countries by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund .

The think tank also represents libertarian positions in socio-political terms and puts personal freedoms in the foreground, in particular protection against state interference in freedoms. In addition, the think tank advocates social freedoms such as sexual independence and condemns the “ war on drugs ”. In addition, the Iraq war was rejected.

The think tank rejects state-mandated environmental protection measures because private individuals and companies would automatically do the right thing when it comes to environmental protection if no state measures existed. The Cato Institute rejects the polluter pays principle that applies to combating environmental pollution as well as the principle of sustainable development .

Critics view the organization as a front group that advocates the economic interests of companies and foundations that want to benefit from deregulation . According to the Americanist Eva Schweitzer , the think tank advocates “less taxes, less welfare and less environmental protection”.

Environmental problems, especially man-made climate change , are often generally called into question by the Cato Institute. Among other things, scientists accuse the Cato Institute of selective quoting and false assertions. Accordingly, the Cato Institute, together with other conservative think tanks such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute , the Heartland Institute and the George C. Marshall Institute, plays a crucial role in attempts to deny the existence of man-made global warming through targeted attacks on climate science .

The social scientists Dieter Plehwe and Bernhard Walpen lead the Cato Institute in a list of 93 neoliberal think tanks with a direct relationship to members of the Mont Pèlerin Society (MPS), whereby “direct relationship” means that at least one MPS member has an official position is active and / or founded the think tank. Both Edward Crane and Murray Rothbard and Charles Koch are or were members of the MPS.

financing

The Cato Institute partially discloses its funding in the form of annual reports.

According to FAIR (1998), the donors include the tobacco industry , the pharmaceutical industry , energy companies , Wall Street banks and large companies in the media and online sectors.

The organization’s annual report for 2012/2013 also mentions AltriaGroup, BB&T , Caterpillar Inc. , eBay , Facebook Inc. , Google Inc. , Mazda North America, Metlife , National Association of Broadcasters , Reynolds American , Southern Company Services, Verisign and Whole Foods Market . Companies that have donated more than US $ 5,000 are named there. In total, corporate donations represented $ 493,000, or 2.23% of total annual revenue. According to this, 82.44% of the income comes from individuals.

In 2013 the Center for Global Development gave the organization a visibility right behind the Heritage Foundation and the Brookings Institution , although these think tanks have nearly four times the budget.

Naming

It was named after Cato's letters , a series of anonymously published essays from the early 18th century that were written by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon and dealt with the philosophy of John Locke . The authors named their essays after Cato the Younger , a defender of republican institutions in ancient Rome. The total of 144 essays were first published in the London Journal and later in the British Journal . They condemned tyranny and advocated freedom of conscience and speech. In doing so, they contributed significantly to the dissemination of fundamental ideas that John Locke had formulated.

Publications

The organization gives Periodicals Cato Journal , regulation , Cato Supreme Court Review , and Cato Policy Report out. In addition, z. B. the following monographs : Social Security: The Inherent Contradiction ; In Defense of Global Capitalism ; Voucher Wars ; You Can't Say That! ; Peace and Freedom: A Foreign Policy for a Constitutional Republic ; Restoring the Lost Constitution or Reclaiming the Mainstream: Individualist Feminism Reconsidered . Inquiry magazine was published from 1977 to 1984 . By 2013, the Cato Institute had also published at least five books, the purpose of which was to attack climate research and specifically sow doubts about man-made global warming.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cato.org
  2. ^ Cato Institute: About Cato
  3. ^ A b Debra A. Schwartz, Cato Institute . In: Matthew Lindstrom (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the US Government and the Environment. History, Policy and Politics . Volume 1. ABC-CLIO , 2011, p. 173 f.
  4. ↑ a b c d Lori Verstegen Ryan, Cato Institute . In: Robert W. Kolb (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society . Volume 1. Sage Publications, 2008, pp. 269 f.
  5. ^ A b Eva C. Schweitzer: Tea Party - The white rage. What makes America's New Right so dangerous . Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2012, p. 164.
  6. ^ Douglas Fischer, The Daily Climate: Fake Addendum by Contrarian Group Tries to Undo US Government Climate Report. (No longer available online.) In: Scientific American . October 22, 2012, archived from the original on February 4, 2015 ; Retrieved February 3, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Eric Bonds: Beyond Denialism: Think Tank Approaches to Climate Change . In: Sociology Compass . tape 10 , no. 4 , 2016, p. 306-317, here 311 , doi : 10.1111 / soc4.12361 .
  8. ^ Riley E. Dunlap, Aaron M. McCright: Organized Climate Change Denial , in: John S. Dryzek, Richard B. Norgaard, David Schlosberg (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society . Oxford University Press 2011, pp. 144-160, esp. 149.
  9. ^ Dieter Plehwe, Bernhard Walpen: Buena Vista Neoliberal? In: Klaus-Gerd Giesen: Ideologies in der Weltpolitik , VS-Verlag, 2004, pp. 49–88.
  10. ↑ CATO Annual Report s. Retrieved September 19, 2019 .
  11. ^ Norman Salomon: Media Moguls on Board - Murdoch, Malone and the Cato Institute. Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, accessed on September 20, 2019 .
  12. ↑ CATO Annual Report 2012. (PDF; 11.5 MB) p. 37 , accessed on February 3, 2015 .
  13. ↑ Cato Tops New CGD Index of Think Tank Profile. In: Internet presence of the Center for Global Development (cgdev.org). Retrieved February 4, 2015 .
  14. ^ Riley E. Dunlap, Peter J. Jacques: Climate Change Denial Books and Conservative Think Tanks: Exploring the Connection . In: American Behavioral Scientist . tape 57 , no. 6 , 2013, p. 699-731; here p. 707. , doi : 10.1177 / 0002764213477096 .

Coordinates: 38 ° 54 '11.7 "  N , 77 ° 1' 34.7"  W.