FEE offers publications, lectures, and student workshops promoting free market principles.[8][9] FEE was ranked the 55th top think tank in the United States.[10]
FEE states that its mission is to promote principles of "individual liberty,free-market economics, entrepreneurship,private property, high moral character, and limited government."[11]Friedrich Hayek described FEE's goal as "nothing more nor less than the defense of our civilization against intellectual error."[12]
Read served as president from 1946 until his death in 1983. Perry E. Gresham was an interim president in 1983.[31] The presidency of FEE from 1983 to 1984 was held by John Sparks Sr., from 1984 to 1985 by Bob Love, from 1985 to 1988 by a series of acting presidents, then from 1988 to 1992 by Bruce Evans.[citation needed] After retiring fromGrove City College where he taught economics,Hans Sennholz served as president from 1992 to 1997.[32]Donald J. Boudreaux served as president from 1997 to 2001, before moving on to chair the Department of Economics atGeorge Mason University.[33] EconomistMark Skousen served as president from 2001 to 2002.[citation needed] Author and professorRichard Ebeling served as president from 2003 to 2008.[citation needed] From 2008 to 2019, FEE's president was economist, author, and professorLawrence W. Reed.[34]
FEE first occupied two rooms inNew York City'sEquitable Building in 1946.[35] Soon after, the organization moved to a residential property inIrvington, New York, purchased in 1946 and which served as its headquarters for the next 68 years.[36] The Foundation sold the Irvington headquarters after the transfer of its operations toAtlanta, Georgia.[37]
Jon Miltimore is the managing editor at FEE.[48][49] Kerry McDonald, an education policy writer, serves as a FEE senior fellow.[50][51][52]
In 2019, Zilvinas Silenas became the president of FEE.[53] He is one of the "most quoted opinion leader[s]" in Lithuania, previously serving as president of theLithuanian Free Market Institute and expanding its teachings within Lithuanian high schools.[54][55] The textbookEconomics In 31 Hours, co-authored by Silenas, is now read by 80 percent of high school students in Lithuania.[56][55]
The Leonard E. Read Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes FEE alumni whom the alumni board considers to have demonstrated "an exceptional dedication to liberty." Notable recipients have included:[69][non-primary source needed][permanent dead link]
Matt Kibbe (2018), founder of Free the People, a non-profit organization promoting libertarian ideals[70]
FEE publishedThe Freeman magazine from 1954 to 2016.[71][29][72] FEE was the original publisher of the essay "I, Pencil", which explored how markets coordinate the disparate activities necessary for economic cooperation.[73]
FEE publishes books, articles, and pamphlets both on paper and digitally that the foundation considers classic works on liberty.[74] These includeI, Pencil: My Family Tree by Read,[75]The Law by Bastiat,[76]Anything That's Peaceful by Read,[77]Planned Chaos by Mises,[78]Industry-Wide Bargaining by Wolman,[79]Up from Poverty: Reflections on the Ills of Public Assistance by Sennholz,[80] andThe Virtue of Liberty byMachan.[81][non-primary source needed]
^Phillips-Fein 2009, p. 86 "From the Mont Pelerin Society to the National Review, from Spiritual Mobilization to the American Enterprise Association, from the Foundation for Economic Education to the Manion Forum, they produced the ideas, popularized the language, and built the support for conservative economic politics at the very height of postwar liberalism."
^Lichtman 2008, p. 173 "He made substantial contributions to Plain Talk, the Freeman, Spiritual Mobilization, the Intercollegiate Society of Individuals, the Foundation for Economic Education, and other conservative groups."
^Dochuk, Darren (2011).From Bible Belt to Sunbelt : plain-folk religion, grassroots politics, and the rise of evangelical conservatism. New York. p. 117.ISBN978-0-393-07927-2.OCLC916030027.A year later, with the help of a few high-powered executives and intellectual conservatives, he established the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), in Irvington-on-Hudson, with the goal of reeducating Americans in classical liberalism.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^White 2012"The oldest free-market American think tank is the foundation for Economic Education, founded in 1946...";Skousen 2015"In his eighties, he continued to lecture at the Foundation for Economic Education in IrvingtononHudson, New York (the oldest freemarket think tank, founded in 1946 by Leonard Read), and ...";Hazlitt 2006"The original officers were David M. Goodrich, chairman of the Board (he was then also chairman of the board of the B.F. Goodrich Company); Leonard Read, president; myself, vice-president; Fred R. Fairchild, professor of economics at Yale University, secretary; and Claude Robinson, president of the Opinion Research Institute, treasurer. [The] sixteen [original] trustees ... included H.W. Luhnow, president of William Volker & Company; A.C. Mattei, president of Honolulu Oil Corporation; William A. Paton of the University of Michigan; Charles White, president of the Republic Steel Corporation; Leo Wolman, professor of economics at Columbia; Donaldson Brown, former vice-president of General Motors; Jasper Crane, former vice-president of Du Pont; B.E. Hutchinson, chairman of the finance committee of Chrysler Corporation; Bill Matthews, publisher of the Arizona Star; W.C. Mullendore, president of the Southern California Edison Company.";Dochuk 2010, p. 114"The job of economic education must be undertaken now while those who appreciate the value of liberty are still in a position to support it."
^Dodsworth 1995, p. 2"In those anxious moments, Thomas I. Parkinson, president of Equitable Life Assurance Company, came to the rescue. He provided Fee with two rooms in the Equitable Building at 737 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. On the 30th floor, with a magnificent view over the city, Leonard Read set about conducting the affairs of his new organization."
^Spikes & Leone 2009, p. 26" Hillside was sold in 1922 to Gordon Harris, a son of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad president. ... was purchased in 1946 by Leonard Read and remains the headquarters of Read's Foundation for Economic Education.";Dodsworth 1995.
^Farrell 2011"In early May 2010, FEE opened a branch office in downtown Atlanta.";Olson 2014.
^Gordon 2010, p. 12-14(Rothbard was influenced by Harper at Columbia University);Hazlitt 2006, p. 1(Harper's title of economist)
^Mirowski & Plehwe 2009, p. 387:Anthony Fisher, founded the Institute of Economic Affairs with Hayek's encouragement, following a visit to the Foundation for Economic Education in 1952.
^Vaughn 1998"long-term association with the Foundation for Economic Education..."
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Dochuk, Darren (2010-12-13).From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism. W.W. Norton.ISBN978-0-393-07927-2.
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Hazlitt, Henry (May 1, 2006) [March 1984]."The Early History of FEE".The Freeman.The original officers were David M. Goodrich, chairman of the Board (he was then also chairman of the board of the B.F. Goodrich Company); Leonard Read, president; myself, vice-president; Fred R. Fairchild, professor of economics at Yale University, secretary; and Claude Robinson, president of the Opinion Research Institute, treasurer. [The] sixteen [original] trustees ... included H.W. Luhnow, president of William Volker & Company; A.C. Mattei, president of Honolulu Oil Corporation; William A. Paton of the University of Michigan; Charles White, president of the Republic Steel Corporation; Leo Wolman, professor of economics at Columbia; Donaldson Brown, former vice-president of General Motors; Jasper Crane, former vice-president of Du Pont; B.E. Hutchinson, chairman of the finance committee of Chrysler Corporation; Bill Matthews, publisher of the Arizona Star; W.C. Mullendore, president of the Southern California Edison Company.
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