Thirty Years ago at Atlas

Notes by Alex Chafuen (I will continue to polish this with stories, pictures, and anecdotes from the actors who are still with us)

Part one

Atlas was incorporated in the State of Delaware in July 14th, 1981.  That is the date when the French celebrate “Bastille Day.”  It is mere coincidence that the founder of Atlas, Antony Fisher, recorded that the first grant given abroad after incorporation was to a French institute, the Institute Economique de Paris, IEP.  It had Guy Plunier (1930-) as its executive director, and Pascal Salin (1939-) as research director.  At the young age of 52, Guy had left a promising career at Michelin to pursue his think tank dream.  Pascal Salin became a noted scholar and was president of the Mont Pelerin Society (1994-1996).  Although IEP closed its doors, both Plunier and Salin are still active.  They recently attended the Mont Pelerin Society meeting in Istanbul (September 2011).

Another institute in Antony’s radar was CREA (Center for Research in Applied Economics) in Italy.  It also closed its doors, but Antonio Martino, its leader, later became Foreign Minister and Minister of Defense in Italy.  There are so many successes in Atlas’s history of support and encouragement, that I do not feel bad starting by some of the efforts which were discontinued.  In both, France and Italy, free-market champions learned from past experiences and are consolidating outstanding programs.

Going back to Atlas history, the first trustees were Antony Fisher, Jim North (who was chairman of Pacific Institute), and executives at the attorney’s office of William Lehrfeld.  As soon as the foundation was legally incorporated and received its tax exempt status (December 30, 1981), T. Patrick Boyle, Chuck Brunie, and Ralph Harris (not yet “Lord”) joined the board.  Brunie was for many years chairman of the board of the Manhattan Institute.  Boyle, a founder and key trustee of the Fraser Institute in Canada, worked side by side with Mike Walker to make Fraser one of the leading think tanks in the world.  Ralph Harris was leading IEA U.K. which, at the time, had larger budgets than Manhattan and Fraser.

During Atlas launching, among all new US efforts, Fisher had high hopes for John Goodman, who had started the Center for Health Policy Studies at the University of Dallas, and had began to develop the plans of what later became the highly successful NCPA.   

Of the foreign think tanks mentioned by Fisher as receiving modest support, and that are still with us I should start with the Institute for Liberty and Democracy, founded by Hernando de Soto in Peru.  Another think tank in Atlas portfolio was CEEE in México.  It is still in existence.  It grew at a decent pace until the victory of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.   Salinas “neo-liberal” talk, and privatizations, made many Mexican businessman and donors think that the battle for ideas had been won.  Since then, CEEE had to retrench and tried to diversify its offering, starting an I.H.S. type organization, and an “Acton Institute” type center.  Its budget is a fraction of what it was in the mid 90’s.

Although CEDICE in Venezuela was not yet founded, Antony was in touch with several of those involved in CEDICE’s early years, like the Zuloaga family, the Vollmers, and the untiring intellectual and business entrepreneur, Jesús Eduardo Rodríguez.  

                                                    Fisher with Dorian, and                      

                                                    Ricardo Zuloaga

Fisher was also following the Centro de Estúdios Públicos (CEP), in Chile, but as he did not meet its leaders, he was unsure about providing support.  Unlike Milton Friedman, his friend, inspiration, and neighbor, Fisher missed the Mont Pelerin Society meeting in Chile, during which CEP members played a prominent role.   

Antony was also encouraging a younger generation.  Atlas decided to risk $500 as an encouragement grant, to support the Freedom Association in Iceland, founded by Hannes Gissurarson.  Hannes then went to get his Ph.D. at Oxford and founded the Jon Thorlaksson Institute in Iceland (the institute also became inactive).

Other groups mentioned in Atlas’s first report were the Adam Smith Institute (U.K.), and the Center for Independent Studies.  The latter was founded by Greg Lindsay in Sydney some time before the Atlas founding. 

Greg Lindsay at MPS Istanbul, 2011

Antony summarized: “There are ten operating institutes using similar methods, fourteen more trying to get started, and at least sixteen other places where help would be effective.  That would be a total of some forty institutes in thirty countries in twenty languages.”

Atlas has never been endowed, so I should devote at least a paragraph to the early donors which made the launching possible.  Some are still generous supporters, like a Canadian family that wishes to remain anonymous, and the Scaife foundation.  Scaife donated $30,000, which 30 years ago was 20% of Atlas’s budget.  Scaife’s last donation to Atlas was five times larger, but thanks to our growth, it represents today just under 3% of our support.  Using an analogy of the investment world, a 20% stake in Atlas made by Scaife, $30,000, would be worth today over $1,200,000.  Charles B. “Chuck” Brunie was also a generous donor during our first year. The other donors who helped Atlas start were Dorian, Antony’s wife, Milton Petrie, the Uranus Trust, and Donald Hodgson.  David Fasken donated the rent of the first office.  Thanks to all!

Thirty Years Ago at Atlas

Part two

The experience of Atlas with Dr. John Goodman deserves a longer story as it led Atlas and other players to be very cautious when starting think tanks under the umbrella of a university.  Thirty years ago, Fisher described John as a “young entrepreneurial academic who has already achieved recognition by such organizations as the Hoover Institution [another University based think tank].”  Goodman had written what Fisher considered an excellent book: The British Health Care in Great Britain: A Lesson for Americans, which Fisher remarked “was praised in the London Daily Telegraph by Arthur Seldon of the IEA.”  Praising John Goodman Fisher concluded: “I have known him for a long time and believe him to be capable of running and institute and also of fundraising.”

The University of Dallas was friendly to the ideas of free enterprise but did not allow Goodman to approach the donors and supporters of the university.  This led to the creation of the National Center for Policy Analysis, which retains a leadership position in the elaboration of health policy studies, but expanded to analyze most relevant areas of the national policy scene.  It took some time for scholars and donors to warm up to the idea of university and college based centers.

Continuing with donors, John Templeton (not yet knighted) also appears in Atlas’s first reports.  He is not listed as a major donor but as being the one who introduced Antony Fisher to the anonymous Canadian benefactor who was essential for Atlas success, especially in North America.   I continue to marvel at the culture of generosity preserved diligently by some in Canada and the United States.  Most of Atlas start-up grants to institutes in the United States came from donors who do not want to be mentioned and, as in the case of Atlas Canadian friends, do not even get a tax-deduction.

Although Atlas never received a major portion of its funding from corporations (our historical average must be less than 5%) Antony’s business background allowed him to have good access to leading business leaders.  During the first year Antony was able to tell the Atlas story to Peter Davidson, the retired head of General Electric, U.K.; Robert “Bob” Bee, who was Chairman of London Interstate Bank, became trustee of the Adam Smith Institute (before retiring to the San Francisco Bay Area with his lovely Italian wife Delores, Bob was considered as a potential CEO for Atlas); Nelson Brams (Chairman of the Equitable Life Holding Corporation of New York); and Malcolm Wilcox (Midland Bank in London).

During the first years of Atlas, Antony had some help, but not much.  Most came from Dorian, his wife, and most important collaborator.  Even before Atlas, in 1978, Antony and Dorian started Fisher Research Development, Inc., as a consulting company to help raise money for establishing and advising institutes.  Soon after they realized that a not-for-profit structure would be more appropriate for their goals.  I met two of the first Atlas collaborators, one very briefly, and many years later: Mrs. Patricia Patterson, described by Antony as having “worldwide contacts” and a “most successful fundraiser.  Recently she became very interested in the free market cause and hence her desire to help Atlas.”  Pamela Lentz joined Antony as full-time secretary/office manager on January 1, 1982, and remained until 1985.  Antony received part time help by Beryl Magilavy, who he praised, but I never met her.

Atlas was going to start its first full year of operations in 1982.  Its small offices in the elegant “Mills Building” at 220 Montgomery Street, in San Francisco, served Atlas well until Antony’s death. 

Fisher scouting for the first Atlas investments

During its first full year of operation, Atlas decided to support a number of established think tanks and also invest in new, always more risky, ventures.  In his native England, Antony targeted the Institute of Economic Affairs (he was Chairman), the Adam Smith Institute (he was trustee), the Economic Study Association (ESA) and the Social Affairs Unit (at the time still a unit of IEA).  Antony wrote that he was offering “the maximum supporting funds that Atlas can spare at the present time for these four organizations.”  IEA and ASI are well known so I will not spend much time on them. 

ESA was headed by Ronald Burgess who according to Antony, was “not accepted in the academic world.”  Burgess was conducting research on Colin Clark’s (1905-1989) assumption that there might be a correlation between taxation, inflation, and profitability.  Atlas offered him a $3,000 travel grant, which perhaps is the first travel grant in its history.

The Social Affairs Unit became independent soon after.  It continues to publish outstanding books with a very modest budget.  Two current Atlas officers, Leonard Liggio and I, are members of SAU’s international advisory board.

In the United States, the first investments were the Manhattan Institute, the Pacific Institute (later renamed Pacific Research Institute due to the existence of a prior group carrying that name) and the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA).   NCPA still did not have its current legal status, and it was recruiting what in Fisher words was “a quite excellent Board of Directors.”  Antony also joined NCPA board and had high hopes for its fundraising potential.  Antony was also on the board of Manhattan and Pacific.

The largest donation, $36,000 went for conferences in Canada organized by the Fraser Institute and “its new offshoot, The Institute for Religion and Economics.”  Dr. Walter Block was the director of this institute which, although different in many aspects, was a precursor to the highly successful Acton Institute, which was founded a decade later.

Atlas destined most grants in Continental Europe to promote the Institut Economique de Paris.  Antony used part of the funds from the donation from the Scaife foundation whose president at the time, Dick Larry, “as always, made no stipulation, but as I understand it, he wishes the money to be given outside the U.S.” 

As Antonio Martino, at CREA in Italy, was always able to attract leading figures to the board, I think that Antony thought that eventually, CREA was going to be able to attract considerable funding.  At the time it had Brandolino d’Adda, and important businessman, as Chairman, it later had Mr. Agnelli, the head of FIAT.  Atlas support for CREA was more modest.

Fisher was concerned that Schwartz political involvement would hinder the development of his institute

Pedro Schwartz, another great figure in the world of free-market economics, also appears in the early history of Atlas.  Pedro had the Instituto de Economía de Mercado, in Madrid.  Antony had great hopes for the institute, which wanted to follow the IEA model.  Yet, commenting on Pedro Schwartz effort to compete for a seat in Parliament, he concluded “this may make support for him difficult, impossible.”  I knew Pedro from the Mont Pelerin Society and at the time I was studying in Spain, so I followed the election.  I had not yet met Antony but since then have learned on many occasions how correct he was about the difficulties and sometimes insurmountable barriers which come up when think tank leaders get mixed up in politics.

As a precursor to efforts in Poland, still under the Soviets, Antony started to discuss the possibility of creating a Copernicus Institute to do studies in Polish, with Professor Andrej Brzeski, who at the time was teaching at the University of California in Davis.  Ljubo Sirc’s effort soon after, creating the Centre into the Research of Communist Economies, in the U.K. fulfilled some of the goals sought by Brzeski and Fisher.  Dr. Sirc, a noted Slovenian who escaped to England, created a publishing space for scholars still suffering under communism.

On the donor front, a couple of corporations began donating to Atlas (Pfizer and Procter & Gamble) and remained as supporters for some time.   To be fair to history and past and present players, I should note that during this time Atlas received its only grant from a US government source.  The United States Information Agency gave a grant to help bring think tank leaders to an Atlas international workshop.  No funds remained at Atlas, but there was sufficient discussion at the board, to warrant an apology from Antony to Chuck Brunie, who objected strongly.   Although I only joined Atlas in 1985, I do not recall any other instance in Atlas history where we sought or accepted any kind of government support.  It is a policy not to accept such funds.