Think Tank: The Story of the Adam Smith Institute

by Madsen Pirie

In 1977 a new type of think tank opened its doors in Britain. It was to have an extraordinary influence on the political and economic life of the nation, and indeed on popular opinion. Spearheading a rejection of state planning and controls, the Adam Smith Institute helped put incentives and enterprise firmly back into the political mainstream. The nation turned its back on state ownership, trade union domination and on the idea that only government could direct an economy. The new passwords became opportunity, aspiration and the free market, as Britain reacquired a belief in itself and its future. Think Tank is the astonishing yet engaging story of how a handful of motivated individuals, without any backing or resources except their own conviction, managed to create a national institution that played a role in the transformation of a country.

Genres: Politics

244 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

Born in Hull, Pirie is the son of Douglas Pirie and Eva Madsen. As a child, he attended the Humberstone Foundation School in Old Clee, Lincolnshire.

He graduated with an MA (undergraduate) in History from the University of Edinburgh (1970), with a PhD in Philosophy from the University of St Andrews (1974), and with an MPhil in Land Economy from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1997)

Before co-founding the Adam Smith Institute, Pirie worked for the United States House of Representatives. He was a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Logic and Philosophy at the private Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan, USA. Pirie was one of three Britons living in the United States who founded the Adam Smith Institute.

The Adam Smith Institute is a UK-based think tank that champions the ideas of free market policy. In January 2010 Foreign Policy and the University of Pennsylvania named the Adam Smith Institute among the top 10 think tanks in the world outside of the US. The Institute is "a pioneer of privatisation" in the UK and elsewhere. It has undertaken policy initiatives aimed at replacing state controls and monopolies with opportunities for competition choice in a broad area. The ASI proposed reforms in taxation, public services, transport and local government. It published Douglas Mason's original paper advocating a poll tax or community charge as it was later called.

His work in helping to develop the Citizen's Charter led to his appointment to the British Prime Minister John Major's Advisory Panel from 1991 to 1995.

Apart from his work with the Adam Smith Institute, Pirie is an author in several fields, including philosophy, economics, and science fiction.

Reviews

[Otto Lehto]

Pirie's account of the origins and history of one of the U.K. leading policy institutes provides insight into the painful process of turning ideas into reality. It is written in a dry, matter-of-fact fashion, but it contains some juicy details and anecdotes about "how the Thatcherite sausage gets made." Should be worthwhile reading for anyone concerned about the practicalities of transforming the world. (N.b. Since I have worked for ASI in the past, I will recuse myself from giving this book a star rating.)

[Jens Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

To read the autobiography, and this is really an autobiography of Madsen Pirie, of someone you have known very well over a long period of time - albeit now at a distance of decades - can be a difficult experience.
But this is a remarkably frank and self-critical account of the influence on British politics excerted by a those few who fought for dry ideas and against the politics of consensus in the most important years of recent history. One of the keepers of the sacred flame of Thatcherism is passing on the torch and does so in his usual easy and persuasive style.

[Ibrahim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very personal documentation by Dr. Pirie to the ASI evolution and impact on U.K. domestic policies, but still informative.

It's a good read!