So I was reading youtube comments this morning, and I came across a user who made the claim that ‘’free markets’’ are in opposition to corporate interests and lobbyists. I found this claim funny, because it is well documented (and well-known) that corporate institutions have fiercely resisted regulations, taxes and other forms of government intrusion since the Progressive Era and the end of 100% unregulated capitalism.
For example (more recent), investment banks lobbied like hell to prevent mortgage regulation, CEO compensation caps, stricter capital rules, federal bank fraud oversight and restrictions/guidelines regarding the usage of TARP funds. (by that last one, I mean the government told the banks to use the funds to restructure debt, and the banks didn’t like someone telling them how to use their bailout money) That’s just one example.
But let’s go a little deeper. Let’s look at who actually promotes free market policy in the United States, and let’s look at where they get their funding and their ‘’ideas’’ from, shall we? This is gonna be fun!
The most prominent ‘’free market,’’ laissez-faire or neoliberal advocacy group in the nation is probably the Cato Institute, formerly known as the Charles G. Koch Foundation, so let’s look at them.
According to a report by SourceWatch, the libertarian think tank is funded by some of the biggest corporations and special interests in the world. The major corporate donors, include:
- BB&T
- CME Group
- Consumer Electronics Association
- Facebook Inc.
- Google Inc.
- Mcgraw-Hill Financial
- Metlife Inc.
- Property Casualty Insurers Association
- Reynolds American Inc.
- Seaworld Parks & Entertainment Inc.
- C. V. Starr & Company Inc.
- Overstock.com
- Whole Foods Market
Foundation donors:
Aequus Institute |
$9,500 |
|
2005-2011 |
Armstrong Foundation |
$99,500 |
|
1998-2012 |
Arthur N. Rupe Foundation |
$77,000 |
|
2007-2009 |
Aster, Richard F. Jr. Foundation |
$285,000 |
|
2006-2011 |
Atlas Economic Research Foundation |
$10,000 |
|
2010 |
Barbara and Barre Seid Foundation |
$427,618 |
|
1998-2005 |
Barney Family Foundation] |
$400,000 |
|
2003-2012 |
Bradley, Lynde and Harry Foundation |
$1,872,500 |
|
1986-2012 |
Cain, Gordon and Mary Foundation |
$400,000 |
|
1998-2000 |
Carthage Foundation |
$185,000 |
|
1989, 2004-2005, 2012 |
Castle Rock Foundation |
$450,000 |
(formerly the Coors Foundation) |
2001-2008 |
Center for Independent Thought |
$217,000 |
|
2008-2012 |
Challenge Foundation |
$425,000 |
|
2007-2012 |
Chase Foundation of Virginia |
$286,840 |
|
2001-2012 |
Chiaroscuro Foundation |
$35,000 |
|
2010 |
CIGNA Foundation |
$10,000 |
|
2006 |
Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation |
$10,217,350 |
Koch Industries family foundation |
1986-2010 |
Claws Foundation |
$1,700,000 |
|
2009-2012 |
Curry, Ravenel and Elizabeth Foundation |
$267,500 |
|
2001-2012 |
Davis, Shelby Cullom Foundation |
$5,000 |
|
1999 |
DeVos, Dick and Betsy Family Foundation |
$10,000 |
Amway |
2008-2009 |
Donner, William H. Foundation |
$280,000 |
|
2001-2012 |
Donors Capital Fund |
$1,173,534 |
Koch-tied anonymous donor-directed fund |
2003-2012 |
DonorsTrust |
$413,506 |
Koch-tied anonymous donor-directed fund |
2004-2012 |
Dunn's Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking |
$5,055,000 |
|
2002-2013 |
Earhart Foundation |
$667,125 |
|
1996-2012 |
ExxonMobil |
$110,000 |
|
2001-2006 |
Friedman Foundation For Educational Choice |
$29,500 |
|
2004-2005 |
Friedmann, Philip M. Family Charitable Trust |
$180,000 |
Recycled Paper Greetings company |
2002-2006[93][94][95][96][97] |
George Edward Durell Foundation |
$290,000 |
|
2009-2012 |
Gilder Foundation |
$375,000 |
|
1999-2006 |
Goodrich, Pierre F. and Enid Foundation |
$335,000 |
|
2001-2013 |
Hansen, Robert and Marie Foundation |
$225,000 |
|
2003-2007 |
Herrick Foundation |
$489,050 |
|
2005-2011 |
Holman Foundation |
$430,708 |
|
2001-2012 |
Jaquelin Hume Foundation |
$150,000 |
|
1999-2000 |
JM Foundation |
$150,000 |
|
1995-2011 |
John Dawson Foundation |
$200,000 |
|
2002-2008 |
John M. Olin Foundation |
$832,500 |
|
1985-2000 (foundation closed in 2005) |
John Templeton Foundation |
$150,920 |
|
2006-2007 |
John William Pope Foundation |
$55,000 |
|
2010-2013 |
Kirby, F.M. Foundation |
$330,000 |
|
1998-2012 |
Koch, Charles G. Charitable Foundation |
$34,400 |
Koch Industries family foundation |
2008-2012 |
Koch, David H. Charitable Foundation |
$4,043,240 |
Koch Industries family foundation |
1986-2001 |
Krieble, Vernon K. Foundation |
$79,000 |
|
2001-2011 |
Lovett and Ruth Peters Foundation |
$40,000 |
|
2002-2011 |
Lowndes Foundation |
$339,950 |
|
2004-2012 |
McWethy Foundation |
$40,000 |
|
2006-2012 |
Neal and Jane Freeman Foundation |
$40,000 |
|
2004-2010 |
Opportunity Foundation |
$427,690 |
|
2001-2012 |
Randolph Foundation |
$33,200 |
|
2003-2012 |
Reams Foundation |
$290,000 |
|
2006-2012 |
Robertson-Finley Foundation |
$25,500 |
|
2004-2012 |
Rodney Fund |
$997,877 |
|
1998-2012 |
Roe Foundation |
$92,500 |
|
1998-2011 |
Rotella, Robert P. Foundation |
$200,000 |
|
2003-2012 |
Rumsfeld, Joyce and Donald Foundation |
$1,000 |
|
2012 |
Sarah Scaife Foundation |
$2,207,500 |
|
1986-2012 |
Searle Freedom Trust |
$1,300,000 |
|
2001-2012 |
Smith Richardson Foundation |
$50,000 |
|
2005 |
Stiles-Nicholson Foundation |
$11,000 |
|
2010-2012 |
Weiler Foundation |
$25,000 |
|
2012-2013 |
Whitcomb Charitable Foundation |
$15,000 |
|
2010-2012 |
Walton Family Foundation |
$39,000 |
Walmart fortune |
1998-2011 |
Just as a comment, what stands out here are ‘’Bank of America Foundation,’’ ‘’Exxon Mobil,’’ ‘’Devos, Dick and Besty Family Foundation,’’ ‘’CIGNA Foundation,’’ and ‘’Walton (yes, Walton) Family Foundation.’’
This should immediately call into question the financial, environmental, educational, health, and corporate policies of the Cato Institute. Libertarians (and conservatives) have long proposed ‘’getting government out of healthcare’’ as a ‘’solution’’ to rising healthcare costs. Well, turns out Cigna and Met Life, some of the biggest insurance companies in the United States are backing this think-tank and, by proxy, these ‘’solutions.’’
While that happens, Cato supports ending banking regulations while it is donated to by Bank of America, BB&T and McGraw-Hill Financial.
It’s almost as if these ‘’free marketers’’ support privatization, deregulation and lower taxes because big business (who is interested in all those things) donate to them. Just a thought! :)
And this isn’t even the end of it, it gets worse. SourceWatch continues:
Cato has also been funded by the tobacco industry (see Tobacco Funding to Cato Institute for more) and other corporations (see Cato Institute financial data for more), including:[98][99]
That’s what you need to know. The Cato Institute’s laissez-faire (neoliberal) agenda is well-funded by some of the world’s largest corporate giants. Microsoft, Exxon, Comcast etc.
Libertarians seem to have this delusional belief that because they want to eliminate ‘’corporate welfare,’’ that they are not pro-corporate. Anytime you pressure them, they’ll respond to you this way. They seem to forget that historically, the polices they advocate are much more beloved by big business. Ever since the Powell Memo, we know corporations have been dead-set on promoting ‘’free markets’’ to the public. This is because letting business do whatever they want is the most potent form of corporate welfare.
Removing dozens of regulations, all of which eat into those sweet profits $$$, is the best way for corporations to feed investors and executives. A subsidy from the government may be ‘large,’ but there is more money to be made in the long term by reducing things like compliance costs and expanding prohibited activities than anything else. Remember that.
Then there is the ‘other’ free-market think tank, the American Enterprise Institute.
I cannot find the ‘laundry list’ of current donors, but, we DO know who founded it. Thus, it is easier to determine who the institution serves if we know this information.
The think-tank was founded by executives of large corporations, during the New Deal-era.
‘’AEI grew out of the American Enterprise Association (AEA), which was founded in 1938 by a group of New York businessmen led by Lewis H. Brown. AEA's original mission was to promote a "greater public knowledge and understanding of the social and economic advantages accruing to the American people through the maintenance of the system of free, competitive enterprise".[18] AEI's founders included executives from Eli Lilly, General Mills, Bristol-Myers, Chemical Bank, Chrysler, and Paine Webber. To this day, AEA's board is composed of top leaders from major business and financial firms.[19]
Two pharma companies, a food company, a bank, a car manufacturer and a stock brokerage firm. I think that’s self-explanatory!
:)