Brownstone Institute

Brownstone Institute

Background

The Brownstone Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (TIN 87-1368060) that, according to its website, was “created by policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020.”1ABOUT BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE,” Brownstone Institute. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5m3yS

The Brownstone Institute was founded May 2021 by Jeffrey Tucker, a columnist for the far-right Epoch Times.2Davey Alba. “Virus Conspiracists Elevate a New Champion,” The New York Times, May 9, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/cyvdH The Epoch Times was initially founded by members of Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual group. It has become “one of the larger media sources of climate denial,” and has promoted anti-vaccine messages as well as the false claims by former President Donald Trump regarding the outcome of the 2020 election.3Scott Waldman. “Climate denial newspaper flourishes on Facebook,” E&E News, July 27, 2021. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/KMf9P

The Brownstone Institute views the “great task of our times” as “rebuilding the foundation of liberalism as classically understood, including core values of human rights and freedom as non-negotiables for an enlightened society.”4ABOUT BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE,” Brownstone Institute. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5m3yS

The Brownstone Institute and the Great Barrington Declaration

From 2017 to 2021, Jeffrey Tucker was the editorial director for the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER). AIER was the group behind the “Great Barrington Declaration,” a 2020 open letter that spread a COVID-19 pandemic disinformation message advocating opposition to lockdowns that prevented spread of COVID, in favor of a herd immunity strategy of allowing the virus to spread.5Dana Drugmand. “A Right-Wing Think Tank Is Behind the Controversial Great Barrington Declaration Calling for COVID-19 Herd Immunity,DeSmog, October 26, 2020. The World Health Organization and other public health experts6WHO chief says herd immunity approach to pandemic ‘unethical‘,” The Guardian. October 12, 2020. Archived October 21, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/VzXle said that a herd immunity strategy, which had support from the Trump administration, would be “unethical,” dangerous, and deadly.7Dozens of public health groups, experts blast ‘herd immunity’ strategy backed by White House,” The Hill, October 15, 2020. Archived October 21, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/OIw8m

On an early version of its “About” page, the Brownstone Institute described itself as “in many ways, the spiritual child of the Great Barrington Declaration.” This statement has since been removed.8About Brownstone Institute,Brownstone Institute. Archived August 4, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/21Rns In a website post, Jeffrey Tucker also declared it was “one of the proudest moments of my life to be part of its appearance,” referring to the open letter.9Jeffrey A. Tucker. “A Short History of the Great Barrington Declaration,” Brownstone Institute, July 17, 2021. Archived October 3, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/XMMQT

The Brownstone Institute continues to criticize early-pandemic lockdowns, claiming they were a “fundamental misunderstanding alive in all countries around the world today, a willingness on the part of the public and officials to relinquish freedom and fundamental human rights in the name of managing a public health crisis.10ABOUT BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE,” Brownstone Institute. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5m3yS

“Lockdowns and mandates have set a precedent in the modern world; without accountability, social and economic institutions will be shattered once again,” the group suggests.11ABOUT BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE,” Brownstone Institute. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5m3yS

In a 2023 website post titled “Covid Emergency, Climate Emergency: Same Thing,” Brownstone Institute has gone on to suggest that a climate emergency “could infringe on civil liberties and human rights,” via “climate lockdowns.”12W. Aaron Vandiver. “Covid Emergency, Climate Emergency: Same Thing,Brownstone Institute, February 8, 2023. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/rYnwP

Stance on Climate Change

August 24, 2023

In a Brownstone Institute website post, Scott Sturman wrote the following:13Scott Sturman. “The Positive Feedback Loop: How Totalitarians Instill Fear and Restrict Human Rights,Brownstone Institute, August 24, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ZUeW4

“The purveyors of climate change hysteria are masters of using computer modeling to introduce mass formation into all aspects of society. The models are incomplete and disregard the mitigating variables of cloud formation, climatic cycles, and the solar influences. Data is cherry-picked, paleoclimatic results ignored, and the fundamentals of heat transfer and its relationship to the electromagnetic spectrum treated as an afterthought.

“Climate change advocacy is the sine qua non of subjective science run amok. By politicizing science and dismissing detractors as heretics, the movement has successfully exploited a doomsday scenario based on exaggeration and conjecture. Its victims unwittingly forfeit their personal freedoms and economic security for themselves and much of the people of the Third World, who without access to plentiful, inexpensive energy are relegated to a life of poverty and destitution.”

August 4, 2023

In a Brownstone Institute website post titled “The Rise and Rhetoric of the Climate Chicken Littles,” Roger Koops wrote:14Roger Koops. “The Rise and Rhetoric of the Climate Chicken Littles,” Brownstone Institute, August 4, 2023. Archived October 4, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/CX9lx

“[T]here is a rather huge leap from the recognition that our planet experiences dynamic climate fluctuations (real climate change) to the concept of a disastrous, human-induced catastrophe that specifies warming and connections to human produced CO2. In other words, the term has been hijacked and redefined in order to support a narrative.

“There is not universal consensus when it comes to the above equation and catastrophic assertions.”

April 4, 2023

Linking to work by John Christy, Ramesh Thakur wrote the following in a Brownstone Institute website post titled “Beware Catastrophizing Climate Models and Activists“:15Ramesh Thakur. “Beware Catastrophizing Climate Models and Activists,” Brownstone Institute, April 4, 2023. Archived October 4, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/zIAjH

“Calls for urgent climate action based on the language of “edging towards ‘tipping points” have been made over many years. Atmospheric scientists and former IPCC members Richard McNider and John Christy note that climate modeling forecasts have ‘always overstated the degree to which the Earth is warming compared with what we see in the real climate.’

[…]

“[A]n important explanation for the spread of Covid and climate catastrophism is the promotion of fear and panic in the population as a means to spur drastic political action.

[…]

“Yet in both agendas, policy interventions have over-promised and under-delivered. The beneficial effects of interventions are exaggerated, optimistic forecasts are made and potential costs and downsides are discounted.”

February 8, 2023

In a Brownstone Institute website post, W. Aaron Vandiver wrote that declaring a climate emergency “could infringe on civil liberties and human rights,” via “climate lockdowns.”16W. Aaron Vandiver. “Covid Emergency, Climate Emergency: Same Thing,Brownstone Institute, February 8, 2023. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/rYnwP

“What these ‘climate lockdowns’ would amount to is various forms of ‘green austerity’ — strict limits on consumption and personal behavior — imposed on the population,” Vandiver stated, adding, “A ‘climate emergency’ is a powerful legal tool that could conceivably be used to impose ‘green’ restrictions on the public in circumvention of the normal democratic lawmaking process, particularly if a presidential administration comes under pressure to stretch its emergency powers beyond their intended purpose.”17W. Aaron Vandiver. “Covid Emergency, Climate Emergency: Same Thing,Brownstone Institute, February 8, 2023. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/rYnwP

December 7, 2022

“Masking became a symbol of being a good person, same as vaccinating, veganism, and flying into fits at the drop of a hat over climate change. None of this has much if anything to do with science or reality. It’s all tribal symbolism in the name of group political solidarity,” Jeffrey Tucker wrote in an essay that ran on the website of the Independent Institute,18Jeffrey Tucker. “The COVID/Crypto Connection: The Grim Saga of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried,” The Independent Institute, November 29, 2022. Archived October 4, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/aacLM in The Epoch Times,19Jeffrey A. Tucker. “The COVID/Crypto Connection: The Grim Saga of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried,” The Epoch Times, November 19, 2022. Archived October 4, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/VN8Ke and on the Brownstone Institute’s Substack.20Jeffrey Tucker. “The Covid/Crypto Connection: The Grim Saga of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried,” Brownstone Insights via Substack, November 18, 2022. Archived October 4, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/RZKH0

Funding

According to its website, “Brownstone Institute accepts no quid pro quo donations and receives no money from governments, pharmaceutical companies, or other large and well-known foundations such as the Gates Foundation.”21ABOUT BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE,” Brownstone Institute. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5m3yS

The Brownstone Institute offers potential contributors the option to donate via cryptocurrency, which it describes as a “non-taxable event,” suggesting that “donors do not owe capital gains tax on the appreciated crypto that is donated and can typically deduct the fair market value of the donation on their taxes.”22DONATE CRYPTO,Brownstone Institute. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/d3dty

The organization states that it “do[es] not and will not share donor names.”23DONATE CRYPTO,Brownstone Institute. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/d3dty

According to its 2021 IRS Form 990 filing, the Brownstone Institute received $1,184,288 in contributions and grants, with an additional $21,850 in program service revenue via book publishers and “educational support services.” The group spent just over $100,000 on program services, including $66,492 towards research “with the goal of defending and promoting liberty,” and $33,283 for “educational programs” including “conferences and lecture dinners which were held with the goal of educating those in attendance regarding personal liberty and free enterprise.”24American Brownstone Institute: Full text of ‘Full Filing’ for fiscal year ending Dec. 2021,” ProPublica. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

IRS Form 990 Filings

Key People

Board of Directors

In its 2021 IRS Form 990 filing, the Brownstone Institute listed three board members:25American Brownstone Institute: Full text of ‘Full Filing’ for fiscal year ending Dec. 2021,” ProPublica. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Jeffrey Tucker — Principal officer

In addition to being founder and president of Brownstone Institute, Jeffrey Tucker is senior economics columnist at The Epoch Times, a far-right media outlet that “stoked conspiracy narratives” about Democrats and Chinese communists, according to 2021 reporting by The Guardian. 26“Jason Wilson. “Falun Gong-aligned media push fake news about Democrats and Chinese communists,” The Guardian, April 30, 2021. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/JgRLt.

The Epoch Times was founded by members of Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual group, and reportedly pivoted to the right during the Trump administration. The publication “has become one of the larger media sources of climate denial” while also promoting disinformation on topics such as COVID-19 and the 2020 U.S. presidential election, according to E&E News.27Scott Waldman. “Climate denial newspaper flourishes on Facebook,” E&E News, July 27, 2021. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/KMf9P

Jeffrey Tucker was editorial director at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) from 2017 to 2021.28Jeffrey A. Tucker,AIER. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/7PLrQ AIER was behind the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter released in 2020 that spread COVID-19 pandemic disinformation by advocating opposition to lockdowns in favor of allowing the virus to spread in a herd immunity strategy. 29Dana Drugmand. “A Right-Wing Think Tank Is Behind the Controversial Great Barrington Declaration Calling for COVID-19 Herd Immunity,DeSmog, October 26, 2020.

According to his personal website, Jeffrey Tucker is also a senior distinguished fellow at the Austrian Economics Center, an honorary fellow of Mises Brazil, and an affiliate fellow of the Acton Institute.30About Jeffrey A. Tucker,” Jeffrey A. Tucker. Archived October 3, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/nGLJs

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy identifies Jeffrey Tucker as an adjunct scholar, and states that he is vice president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama.31Jeffrey Tucker,” Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/fEcIg

George Gilder

George Gilder is a senior resident fellow at AIER, the group behind the Great Barrington Declaration,32Dana Drugmand. “A Right-Wing Think Tank Is Behind the Controversial Great Barrington Declaration Calling for COVID-19 Herd Immunity,DeSmog, October 26, 2020. and senior fellow and co-founder of the Discovery Institute (DI), a group promoting “intelligent design.”33WHAT WE DO,” Discovery Institute. Archived October 3, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/DoSvX. The Discovery Institute is funded primarily by DonorsTrust (a group that has been described as the “dark- money ATM of the conservative movement” in the U.S.) and the National Christian Charitable Foundation.34Andy Kroll. “Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement,” Mother Jones, February 5, 2013. Archived July 24, 2015. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/C200l 35Discovery Institute,” Conservative Transparency. Data retrieved June 10, 2016.

George Gilder is also the chairman of Gilder Publishing LLC, which is based in Great Barrington, Mass. He formerly chaired the Lehrman Institute’s Economic Roundtable, and was a program director at the Koch-funded Manhattan Institute.36GEORGE GILDER,” Discovery Institute. Archived October 3, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/4S3D4 Gilder is a founding and current member of the board of advisors of the Independent Institute, another Koch-funded group.37The Independent Institute,” Conservative Transparency. Accessed October 20, 2015. 38George F. Gilder,Independent Institute. Archived October 3, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/9Suye

Donald Boudreaux

Donald Boudreaux is a professor of economics at George Mason University (GMU).39Donald J Boudreaux,” George Mason University Department of Economics. Archived April 10, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/D2RuI and a faculty member of the GMU-based Center for Study of Public Choice,40Donald Boudreaux,” The Center for Study of Public Choice, Economics Department, George Mason University. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL:https://archive.ph/x8qtX a libertarian think tank founded by professor James Buchanan.41Center for Study of Public Choice,” SourceWatch. Accessed October 2023 On his center profile page, Boudreaux says that his “main work — in addition to teaching and much public speaking — is a weekly column for the American Institute for Economic Research.42Donald Boudreaux,” The Center for Study of Public Choice, Economics Department, George Mason University. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL:https://archive.ph/x8qtX

In 2006, Amanda Terkel of ThinkProgress reported that Donald Boudreaux — identified as a “George Mason University professor and ‘adjunct analyst’ at the Exxon-backed Competitive Enterprise Institute” — suggested that “the best policy regarding global warming is to neglect it — and let capitalism continue to make us healthier and wealthier.”43CEI Expert: ‘The Best Policy Regarding Global Warming Is To Neglect It’,” ThinkProgress, August 15, 2006. Archived June 3, 2012. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/UfoXl 44Donald J. Boudreux. “The case for neglecting global warming,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 13, 2006. Archived April 10, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/XjQ3e

Donald Boudreaux was the chairman of George Mason University’s economics department from 2001 to 2009, and president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) from 1997 to 2001. He has also been the director of the Center for the Study of Public Choice.45Donald J Boudreaux,” George Mason University Economics. Archived April 10, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/D2RuI The Fraser Institute lists Donald Boudreaux as a senior fellow.46Donald Boudreaux,” Fraser Institute. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5AxHA

Contributing Authors

View the attached spreadsheet for a complete list of the Brownstone Institute’s key people, including authors (.xlsx).

Staff, Fellows, & Scholars

CategoryName202120222023Description
StaffDavid Schatz11Editor. According to his LinkedIn profile, Schatz has been an editor at Brownstone Institute from June 2021 until the present, and also worked as an editorial associate at AIER from 2018 to 2022.47David Schatz,” LinkedIn. Accessed October 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. The AIER website continues to list him as an associate editor.48David Schatz,” AIER. Archived October 4, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/av7et
StaffJanet Gorbitz11Operations manager
StaffJeffrey A. Tucker111Founder and president
StaffLucio Saverio-Eastman11Technology and creative director
StaffRoss Dyer1Livestream media host
Senior ScholarsAaron Kheriaty11
Senior ScholarsDavid Bell11former WHO
Senior ScholarsDavid Stockman11ContraCorner
Senior ScholarsDonald Boudreaux111George Mason University
Senior ScholarsGeorge Gilder111Author
Senior ScholarsGigi Foster111University of New South Wales
Senior ScholarsHarvey Risch11Yale University
Senior ScholarsJayanta Bhattacharya11Stanford University
Senior ScholarsJohn Tamny111Author
Senior ScholarsMartin Kulldorff11Harvard University (on leave). The Guardian reported in October 2020 that Kulldorff had appeared on the Richie Allen Show to discuss the Great Barrington Declaration.49Niamh McIntyre and Pamela Duncan. “Anti-lockdown advocate appears on radio show that has featured Holocaust deniers,” The Guardian, October 19, 2020. Archived October 4, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/sI4RZ
Senior ScholarsPaul Frijters11London School of Economics
Senior ScholarsRamesh Thakur1Emeritus Australia National University
Senior ScholarsSteve Templeton11Indiana University School of Medicine
Senior ScholarsThomas Harrington11
Senior ScholarsTodd Zywicki11George Mason University
FellowsAaron Kheriaty1
FellowsBobbie Anne Flower Cox1
FellowsDavid Gortler1
FellowsDebbie Lerman1
FellowsJames Bovard1
FellowsJulie Ponesse1
FellowsMaryanne Demasi1
FellowsSimon Goddek1
FellowsThomas Harrington1
FellowsToby Rogers1

Actions

November 4, 2023 (Upcoming)

The agenda for Brownstone Institute’s annual conference, to be hosted in Dallas, Texas, lists an event with Ramesh Thakur titled “Beware Catastrophizing Climate Models and Activists.”50It’s Happening!Brownstone Insights via Substack, April 6, 2023. Archived October 4, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/nUOEC

The event description:51It’s Happening!Brownstone Insights via Substack, April 6, 2023. Archived October 4, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/nUOEC

“The final common element is the subordination of state-based decision-making to international technocrats. This is best exemplified in the proliferation of the global climate change bureaucracies and the promise—threat?—of a new global pandemic treaty whose custodian will be a mighty World Health Organisation. In both cases, the dedicated international bureaucracy will have a powerful vested interest in ongoing climate crises and serially repeating pandemics.”

The event listing links to an article by Thakur with the same title, published on the Brownstone Institute website on April 4, 2023.52Ramesh Thakur. “Beware Catastrophizing Climate Models and Activists,” Brownstone Institute, April 4, 2023. Archived October 4, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/zIAjH

“All true believers of The Science™ of climate change have taken careful note of the lessons offered by the coronavirus pandemic during 2020–22 for managing the ‘climate emergency.’ The two agendas share nine items in common that should leave us worried, very worried,” Thakur began. He stated that a “common element between Covid and climate change is the mismatch between models that inform policy and data that contradict the models.”

July 25, 2023

The Brownstone Institute republished, in its entirety, the speech of climate change denier and CO2 Coalition director John F. Clauser at the event Quantum Korea 2023. The group claimed that the speech had “prompted the International Monetary Fund to cancel his appearance this week.”53The Crisis of Pseudoscience, by John F. Clauser,Brownstone Institute. Archived July 25, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/zcPBM

“[C]limate change, the dominant process I believe, has been misidentified by factors of 200,” Clauser said during his speech, which concluded: “I can confidently say there is no real climate crisis and that climate change does not cause extreme weather events.”54The Crisis of Pseudoscience, by John F. Clauser,Brownstone Institute. Archived July 25, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/zcPBM

American Institute for Economic Research (AIER)

From 2017 to 2021, Brownstone Institute founder Jeffrey Tucker was the editorial director at AIER, the group behind the “Great Barrington Declaration,” a 2020 open letter. The letter advocated opposition to lockdowns to prevent spread of COVID, in favor of a “herd immunity strategy” of allowing the virus to spread.55Dana Drugmand. “A Right-Wing Think Tank Is Behind the Controversial Great Barrington Declaration Calling for COVID-19 Herd Immunity,DeSmog, October 26, 2020.

The three lead authors of the Great Barrington Declaration—Jayanta Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff, and Sunetra Gupta — are all senior scholars or authors at the Brownstone Institute.56Amanda D’ambrosio. “New Institute Has Ties to the Great Barrington Declaration,” Medpage Today, November 12, 2021. Archived October 3, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/R4BV9

On an prior version of its “About” page, the Brownstone Institute described itself as “in many ways, the spiritual child of the Great Barrington Declaration.” This statement has since been removed.57About Brownstone Institute,Brownstone Institute. Archived August 4, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/21Rns

Contact & Address

Brownstone Institute listed the following address and phone number on its 2021 IRS Form 990 filing:58American Brownstone Institute: Full text of ‘Full Filing’ for fiscal year ending Dec. 2021,” ProPublica. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

2028 E Ben White Blvd #240-3088
Austin, TX 78741
Phone: (334) 703-0884

This address belongs to Scan Mailboxes, a rental mailbox business.59Location,” Scan Mailboxes. Archived October 10, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/vwze4

Social Media

Brownstone Institute lists the following social media accounts on its website:60BROWNSTONE CONNECT,” Brownstone Institute. Archived October 2, 2023. Archived October 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/l2fyy

Other Resources

Resources

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