Monday, June 4, 2012

WaPo: Ed Crane's Days at Cato May Be Numbered

The Washington Post seems to be much more pessimistic about Ed Crane staying on at the Cato Institute, than Crane himself. WaPo's Allen McDuffee writes this morning:
Think tanks may be known as the ideas industry, but they are equally described as the government in exile, or the revolving door to government.

The latter designation has been more apt for think-tank scholars with political aspirations than for think-tank presidents, whose long tenures go unrivaled.

That is, until now.

In the past 18 months, many of the leaders associated with institutions such as the Rand Corp., the Center for New American Security, the Asia Society, the Urban Institute and several other think tanks have stepped down or announced plans to do so...

Edward H. Crane, who founded the Cato Institute in 1977 with billionaire Charles Koch and has been its only president, may see the end of his tenure, though Crane says he has “at least a few good years” left. Should the Koch brothers win a lawsuit they filed for control of Cato, Crane likely will either be relieved of his duties or forced to resign.
Also noteworthy, WaPo has taken on the bad habit of failing to acknowledge that Cato founders not only included Crane and Koch, but also the great libertarian thinker, Murray Rothbard. Rothbard had an important role in the founding of Cato. He came up with the name for the institute and had an important vision of what the institute should be about. The all knowing David Gordon does a masterful job of recounting the epic history of Murray Rothbard and the founding of Cato plus Rothbard's battle against Crane and the Kochtopus, here.

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