The International Policy Network (IPN) was a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

based in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, founded 1971, and closed in September 2011. It was a non-partisan, non-profit organization, but critics said it was a "corporate-funded campaigning group". IPN ran campaigns on issues such as trade, development, healthcare and the environment. IPN’s campaigns were pro-

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

Vision

According to its

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...

, "IPN aims to empower individuals and promote respect for people and property in order to eliminate poverty, improve human

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

and protect the environment. IPN promotes public awareness of the importance of this vision for all people, both rich and poor. "IPN seeks to achieve its vision by promoting the role of market institutions in certain key international

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

debates: sustainable development, health, and globalisation and

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

. IPN works with

academics An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, think tanks, journalists and policymakers on every continent."

History

IPN was founded as a UK charity by Sir Antony Fisher in 1971. The mission of this body is to "Promote the advancement of learning by research into economic and political science and the publication of such research". The charity’s original name was The International Institute for Economic Research, and now is The Atlas Economic Research Foundation (UK), but operates under the name International Policy Network. IPN’s sister organization, International Policy Network US Inc., is a non-profit started in 2001.

Funding

IPN is funded entirely by voluntary, charitable gifts from foundations, individuals and businesses. IPN does not receive any funding from governments or political parties, and it does no contract work. IPN develops and implements a research and advocacy agenda that encompasses not one or a few, but many public policy issues. IPN has received grants totaling hundreds of thousands of pounds from the multinational energy company ExxonMobil, although it has not received money from the energy sector for some years.

Programs

IPN undertakes ongoing work on public policy in the areas of health, environment, economic development, trade, creativity and innovation. The Freedom to Trade Campaign is run in collaboration with the Atlas Global Initiative. The campaign joins 73 think tanks in 48 countries to support free trade and oppose protectionism. IPN’s Bastiat Prize for Journalism was founded in 2002. The prize recognises and rewards journalists and commentators who support the free society. This year, IPN will award the first Bastiat Prize for Online Journalism.

Links to other organisations

* The Institute of Economic Affairs * Atlas Economic Research Foundation * CriticalOpinion.org * Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development IPN was founded by Antony Fisher in the UK as the International Institute for Economic Research (IIER) in 1971. Fisher went on to found the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in the US in 1981, and from this point the IIER traded as Atlas Foundation UK. The organisation underwent a further rebranding in 2001, when it changed its name to IPN. In the US, the Atlas Foundation also provides training and funding to start libertarian think tanks. Fisher founded the influential

Institute of Economic Affairs The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is a right-wing pressure group and think tank registered as a UK charity Associated with the New Right, the IEA describes itself as an "educational research institute", and says that it seeks to "further ...

(IEA), a classical liberal think tank based in London. The founding director of IPN, Julian Morris, was previously director of the IEA's Environment and Technology Programme.

People

Past notable trustees/directors

* John Blundell

Past notable staff

Julian Morris Julian David Morris (born 13 January 1983) is an English actor. After appearing in the British television series '' The Knock'' (1996) and ''Fish'' (2000) during his teenage years, he had his first starring role in the American slasher film '' C ...

, executive director *

Roger Bate Roger Bate is a British educated economist who has held a variety of positions in free market oriented organizations. His work focuses on solving the problem of counterfeit and substandard medicines, particularly those in the developing world. ...

, director (left in 2003)

Some of IPN's partners

* Institute of Public Policy Analysis, Nigeria * Inter Region Economic Network, Kenya * Free Market Foundation, South Africa * Africa Resource Bank * Action Research Community Health, India *

Institute of Public Affairs The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is a conservative non-profit free market public policy think tankAbout the IPA
...

, Australia * Making Our Economy Right, Bangladesh * Association for Liberal Thinking (Liberal Düşünce Topluluğu), Turkey * Timbro, Sweden * Liberty Institute, India *

Centre for Civil Society Centre for Civil Society (CCS) is a non-profit think tank based in New Delhi. The Centre was founded in 1997 by Dr Parth J Shah, former Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan. It operates as an independent educational organisatio ...

, India *

Montreal Economic Institute The Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) is a non-profit research organization (or think tank) based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It aims at promoting economic liberalism through economic education of the general public and what it regards as effici ...

* Centro de Divulgacion del Conocimiento Economico, Venezuela * Libertad y Desarrollo, Chile * Fundacion Libertad Democracia y Desarrollo, Bolivia * Instituto de Libre Empresa, Peru * The Lion Rock Institute, Hong Kong * Instituto Liberdade, Brazil

References

SourceWatch The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org. History CMD was founded in 1993 by prog ...

web site. *

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and is the author of a number of books. Monbiot grew up in Oxfordsh ...

"Smoke in our eyes"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 27 September 2006 * George Monbiot
"Pundits who contest climate change should tell us who is paying them"
''

'', 26 September 2006 {{Authority control Climate change denial Libertarian organisations based in the United Kingdom Libertarian think tanks Organizations disestablished in 2011 Think tanks established in 1971 Organizations of environmentalism skeptics and critics Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom 1971 establishments in England