Recipients of 2009 Fisher Venture Grants
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF LIBERTY: ATLAS ANNOUNCES FIVE $100,000 GRANTS TO PROMISING YOUNG THINK TANKS
WASHINGTON, DC, April 15, 2009 - The Atlas Economic Research Foundation announced five new recipients of Dorian & Antony Fisher Venture Grants, a program to help some of the most promising young think tanks in the world. Each of the five institutes will receive up to $100,000 over a three-year term, during which time Atlas will be in frequent contact to help develop plans and to monitor performance. Selected from over 100 applications, the five institutes represent “great investments” for the future of liberty.
To earn the full grant, these young organizations must work with Atlas on their business plans, reach certain milestones, and raise matching funds. Via the Fisher Venture Grants program, Atlas donors are involved in putting significant funding into budding organizations that could have a major impact on the direction of liberty in different parts of the world. The 2009 class of Fisher Venture Grantees are: Center for Political Studies in Denmark, Institute of Economic and Social Studies in Slovakia, Instituto Juan de Mariana in Spain, Samriddhi in Nepal, and Show-Me Institute of Missouri.
Since its inception in 2005, the Center for Political Studies (CEPOS) has put tax reform on the map in Denmark. By emphasizing the benefits of reducing the top marginal tax rate of 63 percent, CEPOS has put the pressure on policy officials and the Danish media to debate tax reform and their economists are repeatedly asked weigh in.
Using innovative techniques to tackle the government leviathan in Slovakia, the Institute of Economic and Social Studies (INESS) is educating the general public on “how much people really pay for services they believed were free.” INESS recently launched a website called The Price of the State which is increasing pressure on political representatives to restrain public expenditure.
In its fourth year educating talented Spaniards, Instituto Juan De Mariana (IJM) in Madrid has grown into its role as one of the premier institutions for teaching the foundations of liberty in the Spanish-speaking world. Using its Summer Program and Masters in Austrian Economics, IJM is helping to develop the future generation of great thinkers.
To spread its message, the Samriddhi (Prosperity Foundation) has aligned with local chambers of commerce and industry, launching an educational program called Entrepreneurs Speak. Samriddhi’s other programs its Youth Empowerment for Economic Freedom, which is designed to explain the ideas of classical liberalism and train young Nepalis for careers in public policy, and its new Docu-Talks program organizes discussions around viewings of documentaries on the ideas of liberty. In June, Samriddhi is launching the Nepali translations of Hernando de Soto’s Mystery of Capital and F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom as part of its Constitutional Roundtable Series.
State-based think tank, the Show-Me Institute in Missouri, published eight articles in the Peabody Journal of Education that were crucial for defeating unprecedented increases in public spending on education, saving Missourians almost $1 billion. Show-Me changed the climate of ideas by providing policymakers and the media with a different perspective on how to enhance school performance without taking away more taxpayer dollars.
The inaugural class recipients announced last year were: Alternate Solutions Institute (Pakistan); Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions (Kentucky); Canadian Constitution Foundation (Canada); Cathay Institute for Public Affairs (China); Fundación Ecuador Libre (Ecuador); Fundación F. A. von Hayek (Argentina); IMANI: Center for Policy and Education (Ghana); Istituto Bruno Leoni (Italy); and New Economic School (Georgia).
Founded in 1981, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation is a tax-exempt charity based in Washington D.C. that develops and strengthens a worldwide network of independent think tanks. Atlas does not seek or accept government funding. Its grants and programs are made possible entirely by voluntary contributions from individuals and organizations sharing Atlas’s belief in the principles of a free society. For more information about this program, visit www.atlasnetwork.org or call 202-449-8449.
For a PDF version of the press release, click here. To view the FVG winners announcement flier, click here.
