Cato Replies to the Kochs

From Cato chairman Robert Levy.

NB: I am no partisan of the Kochs, but as to independence, let’s stop pretending. All DC think tanks are fakes. They are all fronts for powerful pressure groups while pretending to be idea driven. That’s why they cluster in the imperial city. It’s as true of Brookings, AEI, Heritage, et al., as it is of Cato. Such organizations, especially “libertarian” ones, are valuable to the State. (“Why, even Cato is pro-Patriot Act, so how can it be anti-freedom?”) In turn, Cato can provide access to officials like Ben Bernanke for its big donors. But the underlying reality never changes: the State pretends to be influenced, and the think tanks pretend to influence.

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1:07 pm on March 12, 2012