Manhattan Institute for Policy Research

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The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research is an influential New York City-based free market think tank established in 1978. Their self-described mission is to "develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility." The Institute, known for its advocacy of free market-based solutions to policy problems, supports and publicizes research on taxes, welfare, crime, the legal system, urban life, race, education and immigration among others.Their message is communicated through books, articles, interviews, speeches, op-ed’s and through the institute's quarterly publication City Journal, targeted at policymakers, politicians, scholars and journalists.

For example, Benjamin Zycher, Senior Fellow at Manhattan Institute's Center for Medical Progress, opposes allowing the federal government to negotiate prices in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, and argues that patients and their doctors should make their own decisions to choose drugs like Vioxx, rather than having the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decide on the basis of "bureaucratized ... scientific study."[1]

The Manhattan Instititute issued a report by Frank Lichtenberg, a business professor at Columbia University, on the adverse effects of drug price negotiating in the Veterans Administration. Lichtenberg said that the VA National Formulary excludes many new drugs. Only 38% of drugs approved in the 1990s and 19% of the drugs approved since 2000 are on the formulary. He also argues that the life expectancy of veterans "may have declined" as a result.[2] However, Lichtenberg has not published these results in the peer-reviewed medical literature.[au]

Paul Krugman came to the opposite conclusion, by comparing patients in the Medicare Advantage plans, which are administered by private contractors with a subsidy of 11% over traditional Medicare, to the VA system. Mortality rates in Medicare Advantage plans are 40% higher than mortality of elderly veterans treated by the V.A., said Krugman, citing the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission[3]

The Institute was influential with New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani during his tenure, providing many of the ideas and direction for New York City's policies in the 1990s. The Manhattan Institute continues to shape the American political landscape through market oriented policies that as the New York Times said in May of 1997, "turn intellect into influence."

The Manhattan Institute received $19,470,416 in grants from 1985-2005, from foundations such as the Koch Family Foundations, the John M. Olin Foundation, Inc., the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Scaife Foundations, and the Smith Richardson Foundation. [4] The Manhattan Institute does not disclose its corporate funding, but the Capital Research Center listed its contributors as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exxon Mobil, Chase Manhattan, Cigna, Sprint, Reliant Energy, Lincoln Financial Group Foundation, and Merill Lynch. [5]

People affiliated with the Manhattan Institute include:

Notable members of the board of trustees [3] include: William Kristol, The Weekly Standard; Peggy Noonan, of The Wall Street Journal;Robert Rosenkranz, CEO, Delphi Financial Group, Inc.

References

  1. ^ One-Size-Fits-All Rules Will Hurt Drug Quality, Wall Street Journal, April 4, 2007
  2. ^ [1]Older Drugs, Shorter Lives?: An Examination of the Health Effects of the Veterans Health Administration Formulary
  3. ^ [2]Health Policy Malpractice, Paul Krugman, New York Times, September 4, 2006.
  4. ^ [URL:http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientgrants.php?recipientID=198]
  5. ^ [URL:http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Manhattan_Institute]

External links

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