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Product Description
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.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Institutional histories are usually worthy but dull. This is neither: it replaces impersonal worthiness with personal engagement; and there is never a dull paragraph. "Think Tank" is written as crisply as Madsen Pirie speaks when introducing a guest at the ASI (Adam Smith Institute). Indeed, these 282 pages are as good an illustration as I have recently seen of Somerset Maugham's clinical definition: "The best style is the style you don't notice."
What you do notice is that the mistakes are given as much attention as the successes, especially the false starts in finding a secure financial basis for the ASI. What helped the infant survive was that it knew how to bawl. However, while noisy, the ASI realised that the media did not want sermons: clear two-sentence messages were the ideal. Succinctness has underpinned much of the ASI's effectiveness: a combination of politeness to audiences and of clean organizational lines, echoed in the strong, simple design of the book. Similarly, the strict rules of the ASI's "Power lunches" give the main guest just ten minutes to introduce the topic before opening up discussion around the table.
The other striking feature of the ASI is that it has attracted so many young people, often from non-European backgrounds. Kirkcaldy-born Adam Smith would be delighted that his ideas are flowing so freely across the generations and international boundaries.
What you do notice is that the mistakes are given as much attention as the successes, especially the false starts in finding a secure financial basis for the ASI. What helped the infant survive was that it knew how to bawl. However, while noisy, the ASI realised that the media did not want sermons: clear two-sentence messages were the ideal. Succinctness has underpinned much of the ASI's effectiveness: a combination of politeness to audiences and of clean organizational lines, echoed in the strong, simple design of the book. Similarly, the strict rules of the ASI's "Power lunches" give the main guest just ten minutes to introduce the topic before opening up discussion around the table.
The other striking feature of the ASI is that it has attracted so many young people, often from non-European backgrounds. Kirkcaldy-born Adam Smith would be delighted that his ideas are flowing so freely across the generations and international boundaries.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Think Tank is a huge surprise. It reads like an adventure story, certainly not the dry history of some smug, self-satisfied think tank. It is an Operations Manual. It should be read by everyone who aspires to reform our economic and political process. Read it and learn what Madsen Pirie and Eamonn Butler did, and how they did it. Apply those lessons to how you can conduct political campaigning with a small team and a plan. Because what will surprise you is how much of what they had to fight against is still out there today, fighting back, and resisting reform. The battle is far from over, if it ever could be over. It is a constant struggle against a tide of vested interests that will oppose, delay, dilute and negate every step you want to take. Don't let it.
This book will inspire and empower every advocate of free-market, libertarian policies.
This book will inspire and empower every advocate of free-market, libertarian policies.
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