Can I just say… I think it’s absolutely hilarious, or simply charmingly poetic that the ultimate free market, capitalist, austrian school of economics site in the fricken world - is also a non-profit organization… [:D] Hahah, so awesome.
Discuss if you wish.. [H]
Are there for profit think tanks?
I think it is awesome that such is precisely the case.
The fact that this site is .org; the fact that you can download thousands of free books at this site and do your homework; the fact that you can become through this site as well educated as if you had a college (or higher) degree in Economics, shows the world that private incentives can serve educational & social needs in an outstanding way.
Perhaps we should dwelve deeper into the profit motive. Some sort of profit-maximization is occurring to the shareholders of this site, which isn’t apparently reflected in a balance sheet. Perhaps having a new worldwide audience every day is for them a greater profit motive than the dollars and cents they are making through other, more commercial venues.
Oh yeah of course!
I guess what I was getting at is, the whole concept flies directly in the face of all the socialists and communists who contend… we’re all greedy, money grabbing, evil selfish s.o.b’s.. etc [:D]
Cato? lol … [:|]
You raise an excellent point. However, I would not call it a “non-profit” organization. Technically you are correct, but “non-profit” is usually associated with non-profit organizations receiving government grants for funding. This Mises Institute does not accept government grants, or I should say tax-payer grants.
It’s a non-profit, but it is not free to run. Consider making a donation, any amount will suffice:
The fact that virtually all libertarian organizations are 501c3 corporations may explain why the statists are winning. The history of the Sierra Club is an interesting case. It was a 501c3 organization when it inaugurated its campaign to save the Grand Canyon from the Bureau of Recreation (wreck-the-nation) and the Army craps of engineers, who along with some politically interested folks wanted to fill it up with a series of dams to water and electrify the desert southwest. Spured, no doubt, by some of its powerful opponents, the Sierra club was threatened with an IRS investigation into its forbidden-for-non-profits political lobbying/activities. In brief, the Sierra club said to hell with its 501c3 status and continued the fight, which it won in part and lost in part. (2 dams were stopped, but not the Glen Canyon dam, which buried the most starkly beautiful place in the entire world under Lake Powell.) As a result, its donations skyrocketed, and it grew from a backwater environmental group into what it is today. I can’t prove it, but that is how the story was told to me.