American Antitrust Institute

Brookings, the major policy think tank of the political center, has programs
for economic studies and governmental studies and it sometimes publishes papers and books relating to antitrust issues. For example, in 1993 it published Pietro Nivola's Regulating Unfair Trade, and in 1994, it published F.M. Scherer's Competition Policies for an Integrated World Economy.Robert Litan (a member of the AAI Advisory Board) is head of the relevant area.

Competition Policy Institute
www.cpi.org

The CPI, established in 1996, advocates policies "which bring the benefits of competition to consumers of telecommunications and energy services." Its board and staff is heavy with experience in utilities regulation from a consumer perspective

Consumer Project on Technology
www.cptech.org
202-387-8034B

Affiliated with Ralph Nader and directed by Jamie Love, this organization has been mainly focused on high tech and medical issues (such as access and privacy), and mergers. It has set up a home page for antitrust resources.

Consumers Union
www.consumerreports.org
202-462-6262

Gene Kimmelman, co-director of the Washington office, is the principal
spokesman on antitrust. Staffers have industry expertise in fields like
product safety, health care, finance/insurance, telecommunications, air
transport, electricity deregulation, and pharmaceuticals.

Consumer Federation of America
www.consumerfederation.org
202-387-6121

The Chairman is Senator Howard Metzenbaum (ret.), former chair of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee. (Sen. Metzenbaum is a member of the AAI Advisory Board.) Steve Brobeck is Executive Director.

Economic Policy Institute
www.epinet.org

EPI, a labor-oriented think tank whose founders in 1986 included Robert Reich and Ray Marshall, two former Secretaries of Labor, and Lester Thurow, whose writings have concluded that antitrust laws are a hindrance, appears to be primarily focused on the impact of economic policy on working standards. However, EPI recently issued a paper titled: "WorldCom-MCI Merger Would Create Internet Monopoly".

Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies
http://www.luc.edu/law/academics/special/center/antitrust.shtml
312-915-8598

The Loyola University Chicago Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies is a
non-partisan independent academic center designed to explore the impact of
antitrust law enforcement on the individual consumer and the public. The
Institute promotes a comprehensive inclusive view of the benefits of
competition law and policy that includes, but goes beyond, prevailing narrow
notions of economic efficiency. The Institute fulfills its mission by
sponsoring symposia, academic colloquia, and a unique student fellowship.

Institute for Local Self-Reliance
http://www.ilsr.org
www.newrules.org
202-232-4108

Advocates decentralizing techniques for strengthening communities. Publishes The New Rules, which sometimes writes about antitrust issues.

National Consumers League
www.nclnet.org

"The mission of the National Consumers League is to identify, protect,
represent, and advance the economic and social interests of consumers and
workers. The NCL is a private, nonprofit advocacy group representing
consumers on marketplace and workplace issues, and is the nation's oldest
consumer organization."

Organization for Competitive Markets
www.competitivemarkets.com

"Reclaiming the agricultural market's place for independent farmers, ranchers, and rural communities" is the slogan of this confederation, founded in 1998, of people interested in bringing more competition to the food industries, with a focus on agricultural marketing, food consolidations, Packers & Stockyards Act enforcement, futures trading, and related issues. Michael Stumo is Executive Director.

On the Political Right:

American Enterprise Institute
www.aei.org

The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is "dedicated to preserving and strengthening the foundations of freedom-limited government, private enterprise, " etc. Founded in 1943, it has fifty resident scholars and fellows and a network of more than one hundred adjunct scholars, its fields of interest include economics, trade, regulatory, and legal policies.

The Cato Institute
www.cato.org

Libertarian nonpartisan public policy research foundation founded in 1977. An example of its role in antitrust is a recent detailed paper supporting Microsoft in the monopolization case brought by the U.S., and arguing that the antitrust laws are an obsoleteand unnecessary interference with markets.

Citizens for a Sound Economy
www.cse.org

The CSE "fights for smaller government, lower taxes, and fewer regulations."

Competitive Enterprise Institute
http://www.cei.org/

Founded in 1984 by Fred L. Smith, Jr., CEI is a "pro-market, public policy
group committed to advancing the principles of free enterprise and limited
government", emphasizing "the marketing and implementation of classical
liberal ideals." It is linked to the libertarian movement.

George Mason University
www.gmu.edu

GMU sponsors a variety of conservative think tanks that are involved in
antitrust and regulatory issues: The Center for Law and Economics; The Center for Market Processes; The Center for Public Choice; and the Institute for Human Studies.

The Heritage Foundation
www.heritage.org

Founded in 1973, Heritage is a research and educational institute "whose
mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, etc." Among their projects is a website, http://www.regulation.org, which provides conservatively oriented information about regulatory topics. This website includes links to a variety of generally conservative think tanks and research organizations that sometimes participate in antitrust issues.

Hudson Institute
www.hudson.org

Hudson Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization and think
tank. Calling itself "America's premier source of applied research on enduring policy challenges," the Institute offers articles, op/eds, studies, etc. on many social issues, including antitrust, competition and regulation.

National Center for Policy Analysis
www.ncpa.org

The NCPA, closely associated with its chairman Pete du Pont, advocates
private solutions to public policy problems.

Progress & Freedom Foundation
www.pff.org

Founded in 1993 to study the digital revolution and its implications for
public policy, the PFF focuses primarily on communications, computing, and
telecommunications. It supports replacing the FCC and substantially
deregulating the telecommunications marketplace. Some of its monographs were written by Alvin and Heidi Toffler and by George Gilder. It claims to be ideologically diverse and non-partisan, but its board is loaded with former
Reagan Administration officials such as James C. Miller III, Bryce Harlow, and Robert Tollison.

The Reason Foundation
www.reason.org

The Reason Foundation, founded in 1978, "explores and promotes the twin values of rationality and freedom as the basic underpinnings of a good society." It advocates a free-market approach and is particularly interested in privatization.

Small Business Survival Committee
www.sbsc.org

Calling itself, "America's premier, small business advocacy grassroots
organization," this group is consistently anti-regulation and anti-antitrust.

Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy
http://wc.wustl.edu/

Formerly called the Center for the Study of American Business, the re-named Murray Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy, which is affiliated with Washington Univeristy in St. Louis, has a new executive director (Steven S. Smith, formerly of the Univ. of Minnesota), and will focus more on the political process. Many publications of the CSAB continue to be available at this site.