Think Tank Unirule Cracks Under Chinese Pressure

Here is more from Bloomberg:

One of China’s most prominent independent think tanks will cease operations after years of attempts by government officials to silence it.

The Unirule Institute of Economics, which advocated free-market economic theories and is well known in U.S. academic circles, has decided to shut down after district officials in Beijing declared that it was operating without authorization, the organization said in a statement dated Aug. 26. Although Unirule said it intends to fight the government determinations, it will nonetheless halt its activities and stop updating its website apart from notices relevant to the winding-down process.

The end of Unirule closes down one of the last venues for open debate on economic issues in China. Founded in the early 1990s by a pair of celebrated Chinese economists, Mao Yushi and Sheng Hong, Unirule once enjoyed a broad following in business and political circles, producing widely read analyses of government policies and financial issues. But that changed dramatically under President Xi Jinping, who has implemented a broad crackdown on dissent since taking power in 2012.

Here is how the Wall Street Journal reported on Unirule's closing, and here is what The Economist had to say.

Free-Market Think Tank NCPA Closing After 34 Years

Think Tank Watch has learned that the Dallas, Texas-based free-market think tank National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) is closing after 34 years in business.  Here is more from a statement on the think tank's website:

The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a 501c3 public policy research organization, announced this week that its Board of Directors has voted to dissolve the organization effective immediately. The thirty-four year old free market think tank has made significant contributions to free-market public policy research and implementation, including Health Savings Accounts, Roth IRAs, automatic enrollment in 401ks, and ongoing work in the areas of taxes, healthcare, entitlements, economic development, energy and national security.
The decision to leave the world of think tanks comes after the organization has faced significant financial challenges over the last three years. The incident is not isolated, according to a June 29 Article in Exempt Magazine. The article mentions a recent survey from The Bridgespan Group, which examined the financial health of nearly 300 grantees and cites, “More than half of surveyed nonprofits have frequent or chronic budget deficits; 40 percent have fewer than three months of operating reserves; and, 10 percent showed no reserves.”
The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a 501c3 public policy research organization, announced this week that its Board of Directors has voted to dissolve the organization effective immediately. The thirty-four year old free market think tank has made significant contributions to free-market public policy research and implementation, including Health Savings Accounts, Roth IRAs, automatic enrollment in 401ks, and ongoing work in the areas of taxes, healthcare, entitlements, economic development, energy and national security. The decision to leave the world of think tanks comes after the organization has faced significant financial challenges over the last three years. The incident is not isolated, according to a June 29 Article in Exempt Magazine. The article mentions a recent survey from The Bridgespan Group, which examined the financial health of nearly 300 grantees and cites, “More than half of surveyed nonprofits have frequent or chronic budget deficits; 40 percent have fewer than three months of operating reserves; and, 10 percent showed no reserves.”

NCPA...announced this week that its Board of Directors has voted to dissolve the organization effective immediately.  The thirty-four year old think tank has made significant contributions to free-market public policy research and implementation, including Health Savings Accounts, Roth IRAs, automatic enrollment in 401ks, and ongoing work in the areas of taxes, healthcare, entitlements, economic development, energy, and national security.

The decision to leave the world of think tanks comes after the organization has faced significant financial challenges over the last three years.  The incident is not isolated, according to a June 29 article in Exempt Magazine.  The article mentions a recent survey from Bridgespan Group, which examined the financial health of nearly 300 grantees and cites, "More than half of the surveyed nonprofits have frequent or chronic budget deficits; 40 percent have fewer than three months of operating reserves; and, 10 percent showed no reserves."

The news comes just days after it was announced that the conservative Washington, DC-based think tank Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) is closing after eight years in operation. 

The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a 501c3 public policy research organization, announced this week that its Board of Directors has voted to dissolve the organization effective immediately. The thirty-four year old free market think tank has made significant contributions to free-market public policy research and implementation, including Health Savings Accounts, Roth IRAs, automatic enrollment in 401ks, and ongoing work in the areas of taxes, healthcare, entitlements, economic development, energy and national security.
The decision to leave the world of think tanks comes after the organization has faced significant financial challenges over the last three years. The incident is not isolated, according to a June 29 Article in Exempt Magazine. The article mentions a recent survey from The Bridgespan Group, which examined the financial health of nearly 300 grantees and cites, “More than half of surveyed nonprofits have frequent or chronic budget deficits; 40 percent have fewer than three months of operating reserves; and, 10 percent showed no reserves.”
The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a 501c3 public policy research organization, announced this week that its Board of Directors has voted to dissolve the organization effective immediately. The thirty-four year old free market think tank has made significant contributions to free-market public policy research and implementation, including Health Savings Accounts, Roth IRAs, automatic enrollment in 401ks, and ongoing work in the areas of taxes, healthcare, entitlements, economic development, energy and national security. The decision to leave the world of think tanks comes after the organization has faced significant financial challenges over the last three years. The incident is not isolated, according to a June 29 Article in Exempt Magazine. The article mentions a recent survey from The Bridgespan Group, which examined the financial health of nearly 300 grantees and cites, “More than half of surveyed nonprofits have frequent or chronic budget deficits; 40 percent have fewer than three months of operating reserves; and, 10 percent showed no reserves.”

The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a 501c3 public policy research organization, announced this week that its Board of Directors has voted to dissolve the organization effective immediately. The thirty-four year old free market think tank has made significant contributions to free-market public policy research and implementation, including Health Savings Accounts, Roth IRAs, automatic enrollment in 401ks, and ongoing work in the areas of taxes, healthcare, entitlements, economic development, energy and national security.
The decision to leave the world of think tanks comes after the organization has faced significant financial challenges over the last three years. The incident is not isolated, according to a June 29 Article in Exempt Magazine. The article mentions a recent survey from The Bridgespan Group, which examined the financial health of nearly 300 grantees and cites, “More than half of surveyed nonprofits have frequent or chronic budget deficits; 40 percent have fewer than three months of operating reserves; and, 10 percent showed no reserves.”
The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a 501c3 public policy research organization, announced this week that its Board of Directors has voted to dissolve the organization effective immediately. The thirty-four year old free market think tank has made significant contributions to free-market public policy research and implementation, including Health Savings Accounts, Roth IRAs, automatic enrollment in 401ks, and ongoing work in the areas of taxes, healthcare, entitlements, economic development, energy and national security. The decision to leave the world of think tanks comes after the organization has faced significant financial challenges over the last three years. The incident is not isolated, according to a June 29 Article in Exempt Magazine. The article mentions a recent survey from The Bridgespan Group, which examined the financial health of nearly 300 grantees and cites, “More than half of surveyed nonprofits have frequent or chronic budget deficits; 40 percent have fewer than three months of operating reserves; and, 10 percent showed no reserves.”

Conservative Think Tank Collapses Due to Trump

Here is more from Josh Rogin of The Washington Post:

At the end of August, the Foreign Policy Initiative will cease to exist, ending an eight-year run for the conservative-policy organization. The small but active think tank has been a proponent of a hawkish, pro-defense national security policy agenda but found itself unable to survive in the Trump era.

[William] Kristol founded the non-profit organization with other neoconservative thought leaders Robert Kagan (now at the Brookings Institution), former undersecretary of defense for policy Eric Edelman and former Bush administration official Dan Senor. Although its funding wasn’t publicly disclosed, the bulk came from billionaire Paul Singer, according to staffers.

Those close to the organization said that in the new policy and political environment marked by the ascendency of Donald Trump, many donors, including Singer, are reassessing where to put their funds and FPI, although well established and well liked, simply didn’t warrant the continued investment.

Chris Griffin, the current executive director of FPI, noted that the think tank’s staff have gone on to serve in key positions with several members of Congress. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) was an FPI staffer. The organization’s first executive director, Jamie Fly, served as national security counselor to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Is all the speculation about the death of think tanks starting to come true?  Will more think tanks collapse in 2017?  Earlier in the year The Economist said that the world has reached "peak think tank."

Even with FPI going dark, Washington, DC still has around 400 think tanks, and the US has more than 1,800 of them.