Institute for Free Enterprise (IFE) — Formerly Berlin Manhattan Institute

Background

The Institute for Free Enterprise (IFE), which briefly went under the name Berlin Manhattan Institute for Free Enterprise from 2010 until 2012, is a registered charity in Berlin.¹

According to the Institute for Free Enterprise, Germany’s “vast potential can be unlocked … with the right set of policies” including “Unhampered market forces, proper application of the rule of law, and sacrosanct civil liberties rather than centrally administered government planning.”²

According to an archived version of their website (Berlinmanhattan.org, no longer appears to be in operation), the Berlin Manhattan Institute described itself as “Germany’s free market think tank and successor to the Institute for Free Enterprise (IUF).” It returned to become the Institute for Free Enterprise in 2012. The BMI “advocates policies that promote entrepreneurial initiative, creativity, innovation and competition.”³

The Institute for Free Enterprise and the Berlin Manhattan Institute have both regularly hosted conferences inviting climate change skeptics from across the world including representatives from the The Heartland Institute, European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE), Science and Public Policy Institute, and others.

Stance on Climate Change

While the Institute for Free Interprise/Berlin Manhattan Institute do not appear to have an official statement on climate change, they have regularly hosted climate change conferences featuring almost exclusively climate change skeptics.

Funding

According to their website, “The Institute for Free Enterprise is only funded by private donations.” The IFE offers different benefits based on yearly sponsorship levels, with some available benefits including:⁴

– “Active participation in our efforts

– Regular updates regarding our activities and progress

– Invitations to Institute conferences and special events

– Access to our publications and briefings

– And the right to market yourself as an Institute partner”

Key People

IUF Board

As of November, 2015, the following board members were listed on the Institute for Free Enterprise’s website:⁵

Oliver Knipping
Wolfgang Müller
Sascha Tamm
Charles B. Blankart
Peter Jungen
Helmut Abrell

IUF Fellows & Research Team

As of November, 2015:⁶

Matthias Bosbach — IUF Berlin Fellow
Oliver Marc Hartwich — IUF Senior Fellow
Steffen Hentrich — IUF Environment Fellow
Jonathan Hessling — IUF Berlin Fellow
Kristian Niemietz — IUF Economics & Finance Fellow
Frederik Röder — IUF Health & Welfare Fellow
Michael von Prollius — IUF Political Economy Fellow
Dagmar Schulze Heuling — IUF Econimics and Education

Council of Academic Advisors

As of November, 2015:⁷

Prof. Dr. Charles Beat Blankart — Institut für öffentliche Wirtschaft an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Prof. Pete Boettke — Economics department, George Mason University; Deputy Director of the James M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy
Dr. Hardy Bouillon — Centre for the New Europe
Dr. Detmar Doering — President, Liberal Institute
Prof. Pierre Garello — Université d’Aix-Marseille
Prof. John Hibbs — Officer of the British Empire OBE, University of Central England, Birmingham
Dr. Jo Kwong — Director of Institute Relations, Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Walter Klitz — Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung
Prof. Dr. Harald Kunz — Department of Economics, Technical University of Cottbus
Robert Nef — Vorsitzender des Stiftungsrats, Liberales Institut, Zürich
Dr. Mark Pennington — Queen Mary College, University of London
Dr. Tom G. Palmer — Director, Cato University, Cato Institute
Dr. Susanne Maria Schmidt — Asset Manager Selection für Oppenheim Vermögenstreuhand GmbH und Policy Fellow des IZA
Prof. Dr. Thomas Straubhaar — Institute for Economic Policy Research, Hamburg
Prof. Dr. Viktor J. Vanberg — Director, Walter Eucken Institute
Prof. Dr. Roland Vaubel — Department of Economics, University of Mannheim
Prof. Dr. Erich Weede — Institute of Sociology, University of Bonn
Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Kirchner, LL.M. — Humboldt University Berlin

Actions

December 11, 2015

The Institute for Free Enterprise (IFE) hosted an “International Conference on Climate and Energy” titled ”The Answer to the 18 Year Pause of Global Warming.”

According to the event description, IFE brought “international experts to Essen, Germany to talk about the threats of ocean acidification, polar bear extinction, extreme weather, temperature rise, the disappearing glaciers and many more.”⁸

Speakers at the conference included the following:

Holger Thuss — President, IFE
James Taylor — Vice President, The Heartland Institute
Friedrich-Karl Ewert — Member Advisory Board, European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE)
Klaus-Eckart Puls
Willie Soon
Henrik Svensmark
Susan Crockford
Tom Segalstad
Charles-Beat Blankart
Gernot Patzelt
Horst Lüdecke — Spokesperson, European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE)
Christopher Monckton — Chief policy advisor to the Science and Public Policy Institute
Isaac Orr — The Heartland Institute, Chicago
Dieter Ameling — Former President Business Association Steel(Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl)
Michael Limburg — Vice-President, European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE)
James Taylor — Vice President, The Heartland Institute
Wolfgang Müller — Executive Director, Institute for Free Enterprise

May 21–23, 2012

The Berlin Manhattan Institute is listed as a co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s Seventh International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC7).⁹

November 25, 2011

Hosted their 4th International Conference on Energy and Climate Change in Munich, Germany.¹⁰

Speakers included notable climate change skeptics. Notable examples included:

December 3, 2010

Co-hosted the 3rd International Energy and Climate Conference (EICC) which was also notably hosted by the European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE) and the Committee for a Constructive tomorrow (CFACT).¹¹

Notable speakers included well known climate change skeptics such as:

May 16–18, 2010

The Institute for Free Enterprise (IFE) was a co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s Fourth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC4) in Chicago, IL.¹²

DeSmog found that 19 of the 65 sponsors (including Heartland itself) had received a total of over $40 million in funding since 1985 from ExxonMobil (who funded 13 of the organizations), and/or Koch Industries family foundations (funded 10 organizations) and/or the Scaife family foundations (funded 10 organizations).¹³

June 2, 2009

The Institute for Free Enterprise (IFE) was a co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s Third International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC3) in Washington, DC.¹⁴

Institute for Free Enterprise Contact & Location

As of June 2016, the Institute for Free Enerprise listed the following contact information on its website:¹⁵

Institut für Unternehmerische Freiheit IUF
Institute for Free Enterprise

Stubenrauchstr 10
12161 Berlin, Germany

phone +49.30.6920.80030
fax +49.30.6920.80039
email [email protected]

Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change (CSCCC) — Member.¹⁶

Other Resources

Resources

1
“Institute for Free Enterprise,” Think Tank Research Network. Accessed November 26, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/s9T5u
2
“Objectives,” Institute for Free Enterprise. Archived November 27, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/FHBGU
3
“About,” Berlin Manhattan Institute. Archived June 3, 2012. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/fLydc
4
“Become our Partner: Together we are Stronger,” Institute for Free Enterprise. Archived November 27, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/XqQSH
5
“Structure and Organisation,” Institute for Free Enterprise. Archived November 27, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/D3uxv
6
“IUF Fellows – Research Team,” Institute for Free Enterprise. Archived November 27, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/xuNoZ
7
“Council of Academic Advisors,” Institute for Free Enterprise. Archived November 27, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/d7q3N
8
“International Conference on Climate and Energy: The Answer to the 18 Year Pause of Global Warming,” Institute for Free Enterprise. Archived November 27, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/K3ox0
9
“Cosponsors,” 7th International Conference on Climate Change. Archived May 10, 2012. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
10
“4th International Conference on Energy and Climate Change,” Berlin Manhattan Institute. Archived June 3, 2012. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/fT10P
11
“3rd International Energy and Climate Conference (IECC),” Berlin Manhattan Institute. Archived November 1, 2011. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Bapqz
12
“4th International Conference on Climate Change: Sponsored by the Heartland Institute” (Conference Program – PDF), The Heartland Institute, May, 2010. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
13
Brendan DeMelle. “Denial-a-palooza Round 4: ‘International Conference on Climate Change’ Groups Funded by Exxon, Koch Industries,” DeSmog, May 13, 2010.
14
“Co-Sponsors,” Third International Conference on Climate Change. Archived July 14, 2010. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
15
“Contact,” Institute for Free Enterprise. Archived June 29, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/WdWBh
16
“Members of the CSCCC,” Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change, Archived April 3, 2014. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/PXYw7

DeSmog

DeSmog