Recent from talks
Mercatus Center
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Mercatus Center
The Mercatus Center is an American libertarian, free-market-oriented non-profit think tank. It is located at the George Mason University campus, but is privately funded and its employees are independent of the university. It is directed by Benjamin Klutsey and its board is chaired by American economist Tyler Cowen.
The center works with policy experts, lobbyists, and government officials to connect academic learning with real-world practice. Taking its name from the Latin word for market, the center advocates free-market approaches to public policy. The center supports deregulation on the federal level and has supported initiatives to reduce the number of federal regulations.
According to the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania), Mercatus is number 39 in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States" and number 18 of the "Best University Affiliated Think Tanks". The Koch family has been a major financial supporter of the organization since the mid-1980s. Charles Koch is an emeritus member of the group's board of directors.
The Mercatus Center was founded by Richard Fink as the Center for the Study of Market Processes at Rutgers University. After the Koch family gave more than $30 million to George Mason University, the center moved there in the mid-1980s. It took its current name in 1999.
In 2001, the Office of Management and Budget asked for public input on which regulations should be revised or killed. Mercatus submitted 44 of the 71 proposals the OMB received.
In 2010, the center collaborated with EconStories to produce a parody rap video about the conflict of ideas between F. A. Hayek and John Maynard Keynes. A sequel, "Fight of the Century", was produced in 2011.
In 2012, Mercatus scholar Charles Blahous released a study saying that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would worsen the federal deficit, contrary to the official Congressional Budget Office forecast. The study was generally criticized by supporters of the PPACA. Jeanne Lambrew, deputy assistant to the president for health policy, wrote, "This new math fits the old pattern of mischaracterizations about the Affordable Care Act when official estimates show the health care law reduces the deficit." Blahous defended the findings of his research.
Later that year, the Mercatus Center established the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics run under the supervision of Peter Boettke and Christopher Coyne and launched Marginal Revolution University, an online platform for teaching economics, run by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok.
Hub AI
Mercatus Center AI simulator
(@Mercatus Center_simulator)
Mercatus Center
The Mercatus Center is an American libertarian, free-market-oriented non-profit think tank. It is located at the George Mason University campus, but is privately funded and its employees are independent of the university. It is directed by Benjamin Klutsey and its board is chaired by American economist Tyler Cowen.
The center works with policy experts, lobbyists, and government officials to connect academic learning with real-world practice. Taking its name from the Latin word for market, the center advocates free-market approaches to public policy. The center supports deregulation on the federal level and has supported initiatives to reduce the number of federal regulations.
According to the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania), Mercatus is number 39 in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States" and number 18 of the "Best University Affiliated Think Tanks". The Koch family has been a major financial supporter of the organization since the mid-1980s. Charles Koch is an emeritus member of the group's board of directors.
The Mercatus Center was founded by Richard Fink as the Center for the Study of Market Processes at Rutgers University. After the Koch family gave more than $30 million to George Mason University, the center moved there in the mid-1980s. It took its current name in 1999.
In 2001, the Office of Management and Budget asked for public input on which regulations should be revised or killed. Mercatus submitted 44 of the 71 proposals the OMB received.
In 2010, the center collaborated with EconStories to produce a parody rap video about the conflict of ideas between F. A. Hayek and John Maynard Keynes. A sequel, "Fight of the Century", was produced in 2011.
In 2012, Mercatus scholar Charles Blahous released a study saying that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would worsen the federal deficit, contrary to the official Congressional Budget Office forecast. The study was generally criticized by supporters of the PPACA. Jeanne Lambrew, deputy assistant to the president for health policy, wrote, "This new math fits the old pattern of mischaracterizations about the Affordable Care Act when official estimates show the health care law reduces the deficit." Blahous defended the findings of his research.
Later that year, the Mercatus Center established the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics run under the supervision of Peter Boettke and Christopher Coyne and launched Marginal Revolution University, an online platform for teaching economics, run by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok.