Ed Crane | |
---|---|
Born | Edward Harrison Crane August 15, 1944 |
Nationality | American |
Academic career | |
Institution | Cato Institute (1977–2012) |
Field | Economics, politics, social science, culture |
School or tradition | Libertarianism |
Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (BSc) University of Southern California (MBA) |
President of the Cato Institute | |
In office 1977 –October 1, 2012 | |
3rd Chair of the Libertarian National Committee | |
In office 1974–1977 | |
Preceded by | Susan Nolan |
Succeeded by | David Bergland |
2nd Vice Chair of the Libertarian National Committee | |
In office 1972–1974 | |
Preceded by | Susan Nolan |
Influences | Ludwig von Mises,F.A. Hayek,Milton Friedman |
Edward Harrison Crane (born August 15,1944) is an American libertarian and co-founder of the Cato Institute. He served as its president until October 1,2012. [1]
In the 1970s,he was one of the most active leaders within the Libertarian Party. [2] He directed the Party as its National Chair from 1974 to 1977, [3] worked on John Hospers's Presidential bid and managed Ed Clark's 1978 campaign for Governor of California. In 1980,Crane served as communications director to the Libertarian Party presidential ticket of Clark and vice presidential candidate David Koch. [4] Prior to founding the Cato Institute,Crane was chartered financial analyst and vice president of Alliance Capital in California.
Crane has been a member of the board of various political organizations,including Americans for Limited Government,a group that assists grassroots efforts throughout the country,and the Center for Competitive Politics. Crane is also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.
In 1977,with the funding of Charles Koch,Crane established the Cato Institute,a libertarian think-tank.
While at Cato,Crane grew the organization:from a staff of 10 and a budget of $800,000 when it first opened in San Francisco,to a staff of 127 and a $21 million budget in a newly renovated building in Washington,DC. [5]
In 2012,a shareholder dispute arose between Crane and Charles and David Koch. Crane accused the Kochs of trying to take control of the organization. The Kochs contended that the shares of deceased shareholder William Niskanen should have been offered to the Institute first,and not passed to his widow. Crane later said that he spoke to New Yorker journalist Jane Meyer,whose reporting indicated the conflict was also about the ideological direction of the Institute. [6] [7] As part of the dispute settlement,the Cato shareholder agreement was dissolved and Crane agreed to retire. [8]
In 2013 Crane launched Purple PAC,a super-PAC that supports candidates and causes consistent with the libertarian philosophy. [9]
Crane is politically libertarian. He has described the core principles of libertarianism as being personal liberty,free markets and limited government. [10]
He was supportive of then-presidential candidate Ron Paul on issues such as cutting spending,lowering taxes,support for a non-interventionist foreign policy,protecting civil liberties and promoting Austrian economics. "Support for dynamic market capitalism (as opposed to crony capitalism),social tolerance,and a healthy skepticism of foreign military adventurism is a combination of views held by a plurality of Americans," he states in his column. "It is why the 21st century is likely to be a libertarian century. It is why the focus should be on Ron Paul's philosophy and his policy proposals in 2012." [11]
In 2016 he supported presidential candidate Rand Paul. It was reported that Crane had stopped raising money for the Purple PAC that was supporting Rand;but Crane stated that the PAC was still operating and it wasn't shutting down. [12] He stated,"I'm still 'standing with Rand,' as they say,and there's no one else I can think of supporting." [13]
Murray Newton Rothbard was an American economist of the Austrian School,economic historian,political theorist,and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian movement,particularly its right-wing strands,and was a founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism. He wrote over twenty books on political theory,history,economics,and other subjects.
The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington,D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane,Murray Rothbard,and Charles Koch,chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries. Cato was established to focus on public advocacy,media exposure and societal influence.
Ronald Ernest Paul is an American author,activist,physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985,as well as for Texas's 14th congressional district from 1997 to 2013. On three occasions,he sought the presidency of the United States:as the Libertarian Party nominee in 1988 and as a candidate for the Republican Party in 2008 and 2012.
The Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics,or Mises Institute,is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn,Alabama,that is a center for Austrian economics,radical right-wing libertarian thought and the paleolibertarian and anarcho-capitalist movements in the United States. It is named after the economist Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) and promotes his version of heterodox Misesian Austrian economics.
The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) is a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of individual liberty,limited government and free market economics within the Republican Party in the United States. It is part of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. It also operates a political action committee,the RLC-USA PAC.
Edward E. Clark is an American lawyer and politician who ran for governor of California in 1978,and for president of the United States as the nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1980 presidential election.
John Hospers was an American philosopher and political activist. Hospers was interested in Objectivism,and was once a friend of the philosopher Ayn Rand,though she later broke with him. In 1972,Hospers became the first presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party,and was the only minor party candidate to receive an electoral vote in that year's U.S. presidential election.
David Hamilton Koch was an American businessman,political activist,philanthropist,and chemical engineer. In 1970,he joined the family business:Koch Industries,the second largest privately held company in the United States. He became president of the subsidiary Koch Engineering in 1979 and became a co-owner of Koch Industries in 1983. Koch served as an executive vice president of Koch Industries until he retired due to health issues in 2018.
David Boaz is Distinguished Senior Fellow and the former executive vice president of the Cato Institute,an American libertarian think tank.
In American politics,a Libertarian Republican is a politician or Republican Party member who has advocated Libertarian policies while typically voting for and being involved with the Republican Party.
Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism has been,and continues to be,a major influence on the right-libertarian movement,particularly libertarianism in the United States. Many right-libertarians justify their political views using aspects of Objectivism.
In the United States,libertarianism is a political philosophy promoting individual liberty. According to common meanings of conservatism and liberalism in the United States,libertarianism has been described as conservative on economic issues and liberal on personal freedom,often associated with a foreign policy of non-interventionism. Broadly,there are four principal traditions within libertarianism,namely the libertarianism that developed in the mid-20th century out of the revival tradition of classical liberalism in the United States after liberalism associated with the New Deal;the libertarianism developed in the 1950s by anarcho-capitalist author Murray Rothbard,who based it on the anti-New Deal Old Right and 19th-century libertarianism and American individualist anarchists such as Benjamin Tucker and Lysander Spooner while rejecting the labor theory of value in favor of Austrian School economics and the subjective theory of value;the libertarianism developed in the 1970s by Robert Nozick and founded in American and European classical liberal traditions;and the libertarianism associated with the Libertarian Party,which was founded in 1971,including politicians such as David Nolan and Ron Paul.
In American politics,a libertarian Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with political views that are relatively libertarian compared to the views of the national party.
The Libertarian Party of the United States was formed in Colorado Springs in the home of Luke Zell by a group of individuals led by David Nolan on December 11,1971,after several months of debate among members of the Committee to Form a Libertarian Party,founded July 17. The formation was prompted in part by price controls and the end of the Gold Standard implemented by President Richard Nixon. The Libertarian Party viewed the dominant Republican and Democratic parties as having diverged from what they viewed as the libertarian principles of the American Founding Fathers. This group included John Hospers,Edward Crane,Manuel Klausner,Murray Rothbard,Roy Childs,D. Frank Robinson,Theodora (Tonie) Nathan,and Jim Dean.
Charles G. and David H. Koch (1940–2019),sometimes referred to as the Koch brothers,have become famous for their financial and political influence in United States politics with a libertarian,more specifically,right-libertarian or American-style libertarian political stance. From around 2004 to 2019,with "foresight and perseverance",the brothers organized like-minded wealthy libertarian-oriented conservatives,spent hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money to build an "integrated" and "stealth" network of think tanks,foundations,"grassroots" movements,academic programs,advocacy and legal groups to "destroy the prevalent statist paradigm" reshape public opinion to favor minimal government. As of mid 2018,the media has been encouraged to refer to the "Koch network" rather than the "Koch brothers".
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The 2016 presidential campaign of Gary Johnson,the 29th Governor of New Mexico,was announced on January 6,2016,for the nomination of the Libertarian Party for President of the United States. He officially won the nomination on May 29,2016,at the Libertarian National Convention in Orlando,Florida,receiving 56% of the vote on the second ballot. Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld was endorsed by Johnson for the Libertarian vice-presidential nomination,which he also received on May 29,2016.