Fun Facts About Think-Tanks!!!

The largest and most influential think tanks occupy a priveleged position in America.  Their pundits dominate the airwaves with tightly crafted recommendations and justifications for US policy on subjects ranging from taxation to foreign policy.  Most print media looks no further than the largest think tanks, the American Enterprise Institute or Brookings Institution, for a pithy, prefabricated view on any given subject.  Yet relatively little is known about how think tanks select and hire their analysts.  Their most closely guarded secret of all is who pays for their research and why.

Some little known Think Tank facts can be extracted from an unlikely source: mandatory annual tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service.  Unlike returns from individuals and corporations, tax-exempt returns are open to public inspection!

When asked, think tanks are unusually squemish and tight-lipped about who pays for their advocacy.  While we may never find out who pays and why, other internesting data can be gleaned from their  IRS Form 990 filings made available to the public via GroundSpring.org.  Consider a few fun facts gleaned from think tax filings:

Brookings Institution research, courtesy of.....Your Tax Dollars!

Most think tanks rail against government funded welfare programs and the supposed societal dysfunction and harm they create.  Still, an anti-welfare stance has not kept the Brookings Institution from sucking up a million or so per year to pay for "policy research".  In spite of nearly a quarter billion dollars in the bank, that sucking sound you hear could be Brookings siphoning another million to shine a light on the proper public policy path.

Goverment Grants to the Brookings Institution ($US)

*Fiscal year ending in June

Think Tanks Loaded with Cash and Investments:

Relentless fundraising has paid off handsomely for think tanks.   Most could survive in perpetuity, living tax free off dividends, interest, rents and capital gains.  Brookings Institution alone has almost a quarter billion in the bank.

Year End Think Tank Net Assets and Fund Balances

Project for a New American Century spends $2,942 per year on its core function: Publishing!

The New Citizenship Project, otherwise known as the "Project for a New American Century", (PNAC) declares that to "educate in connection with efforts to advance a renewal of American institutions and greater citizen control over national life through publications" is the core mission of PNAC.  How much did PNAC spend on all these publications in the year 2001? $2,942, out of a total budget of $770,000!

Think Tanker Executive Pay Roundup - More than a "penny for their thoughts"

Whatever the results of their work, think tankers occupy a pay scale realm far above government workers, though somewhat below the private corporations who sustain them through donations.  In spite of having the lowest year-end net assets, the American Enterprise Institute is on top of the payscale (are these two numbers related?)  Christopher Demuth makes over half a million in annual compensation.   To be sure, Leslie Gelb makes less, but according to the Council on Foreign Relations filing, he works "less than 35 hours per week".  So let's see, with two weeks of yearly vacation, Gelb clears about $216 per hour.

Not a bad penny for his thoughts.

Think Tank Executive Compensation