Ethan Allen Institute

Ethan Allen Institute, founded in 1993, is an independent free-market think tank with activity restricted to Vermont. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization loosely affiliated with the State Policy Network. [ [www.spn.org] ] Free market philosophy has developed from the philosophies of Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman.

MISSION

EAI's mission is to influence public policy by helping Vermonters to better understand and put into practice the fundamentals of a free society: individual liberty, private property, competitive free enterprise, limited and frugal government, strong local communities, personal responsibility, and expanded opportunity for human endeavor. This policy aligns with such national think tanks as Competitive Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and American Enterprise Institute,

Activity

EAI sponsors policy discussions, round tables and debates; hosts an annual Jefferson Day event each April; and issues a number of publications, including the monthly Ethan Allen Letter. Its commentaries are published by most Vermont newspapers and several broadcast outlets. [http://www.wcax.com, http://burlingtonfreepress.com] Current concerns are the state’s demographic and fiscal future; economic and business climate (favoring lower tax rates and less regulation and mandates); education (favoring parental choice and provider competition); health care (favoring consumer-directed health care and opposing single payer plans); energy (pro nuclear, skeptical of anthropogenic climate change); transportation (favoring investment in highways); property rights (opposing eminent domain abuse and oppressive land use controls); and constitutionalism (opposing judicial activism.)EAI does not address criminal justice issues, or “social issues” such as abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia, school prayer, and drug legalization. It also does not engage in lobbying, grassroots political action, or political campaigns.

Governance & finances

EAI is governed by an eleven-member Board of Directors chaired in 2007 by James F. Gatti, professor of finance at the University of Vermont College of Business. The board is augmented by an 18-member Advisory Council. The typical EAI annual budget is $130,000, 75% from 630 members (none of whom contribute more than $5000). 23% comes from foundation grants, business associations, and occasional events. Less than two percent of the Institute’s revenues comes from national corporations. EAI does no contract research or special advocacy, and neither solicits nor accepts taxpayer funds

Founder

EAI’s President and founder is Illinois-raised John McClaughry (b.1937). Educated as physicist and nuclear engineer, he turned to political science in 1961. He was a senior policy advisor in Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign of 1980, and subsequently in the White House Office of Policy Development until March 1982.McClaughry has served in the Vermont House (1969-72) and Senate (1989-92). In 1992 he was the Republican candidate for Governor. but was handily defeated by incumbent Democrat Howard Dean.McClaughry, a self-described “Jeffersonian libertarian distributist decentralist” served for 23 years as a founding board member and (for twelve years) chair of the E.F. Schumacher Society. He is co-author (with UVM Professor Frank Bryan) of "The Vermont Papers: Recreating Democracy on a Human Scale" (Chelsea Green, 1989). He has moderated the Town Meeting of Kirby, Vermont (pop. 500) since 1967.

References

External links

* [http://www.ethanallen.org EAI website]