Cato Institute

The Cato Institute is an influential non-profit public policy research foundation (think tank) with strong libertarian leanings (despite wide public perception that it is a "conservative" think-tank), headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is named after Cato's Letters, a series of early 18th century British essays expounding the libertarian principles of John Locke. Collected and published in sets of volumes, Cato's Letters could be found in the libraries of American patriots and helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution. The pseudonymous authors of the Letters named their essays in turn after Cato the Younger, the defender of republican institutions in Rome.

Funding

The Cato Institute has a budget of about $14 million a year, derived from 15,000 contributors. More than 70 percent of its funding comes from individuals, with about 10 percent each from corporations and foundations. According to one critical source, in the 17 years spanning 1985 to 2001, the Institute received $15,633,540 in 108 separate grants from eight different foundations:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Castle Rock Foundation (Formerly Coors Foundation)
• Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation
• Earhart Foundation
• JM Foundation
• John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.
• Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation
• Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
• Scaife Foundations (Sarah Mellon Scaife, Carthage)

As Social Security reform has become a more prominent issue, the Knight Ridder newspapers reported that the Institute, a strong advocate of privatization, had received backing from "the American International Group, an insurance and financial services company whose business includes managing U.S. retirement plans." http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/10809767.htm

Related Topics:
Knight Ridder - American International Group

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has served on the board of directors of Cato.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~