AIER's Historic Cotswold Cottage |
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| Abbreviation | AIER |
| Formation | 1933 |
| Location | Great Barrington, Massachusetts |
| Website | www.aier.org |
American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, is one of the oldest economic research organizations in the United States. Founded in 1933, AIER is an independent 501(c)(3) organization that, according to its website, represents no fund, concentration of wealth, or other special interests. AIER conducts research and publishes books and periodical on a wide array of economic issues, including personal finances, business cycles, monetary policy and property rights.
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The mission of AIER is to conduct independent, scientific, economic research to educate individuals, thereby advancing their personal interests and those of the nation.
“For over 70 years, the American Institute for Economic Research has done a highly credible job tracking U.S. Business cycles.” –Archie Richards, "Money Matters” columnist
The provisions of the charter and bylaws ensure that neither the Institute itself nor members of its staff may derive profit from organizations or businesses that happen to benefit from the results of Institute research. Institute financial accounts are available for public inspection during normal working hours of the Institute.
By 1934, the magnitude of the Great Depression suggested the need for a research organization to inquire into the wide range of economic, social, and monetary developments that had contributed to the catastrophic economic contraction. The hope was that by further developing and applying modern scientific procedures of inquiry, results could be obtained that would be useful to the Nation in avoiding a repetition of the disaster. On the advice of Dr. Vannevar Bush, then vice-president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Col. E. C. Harwood founded American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) to conduct the necessary research.
“Straight-shooting …” –Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star, CA Initially AIER was housed in the office of a staff member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but soon expansion required more space. For several years the Institute occupied buildings in Cambridge, Massachusetts that it also soon outgrew.
At the end of the Second World War, Col. E. C. Harwood and Helen Harwood investigated the potential of several "white elephants" in Berkshire County, Massachusetts as a new home for AIER. After successful negotiations, they moved operations to Great Barrington. After several months of preparing the new location, AIER resumed full operation at its new location with plenty of room for future expansion.
"The American Institute for Economic Research is a leading economic forecasting firm." –Donald Lambro, Washington Times columnist
On the advice of Dr. Vannevar Bush, then vice-president and dean of engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Col. Edward C. Harwood founded AIER to conduct research into the wide range of economic, social, and monetary developments that had contributed to the catastrophic economic contraction of the Great Depression.
Harwood, a graduate of the United States Military Academy, was serving in the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1920s when he undertook an intensive study of economics, with particular emphasis on money-credit problems. Bush's support for Harwood was based on articles that Harwood has published in financial journals in 1928 and 1929 that accurately predicted the impending depression.
AIER was housed initially in an office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. At the end of World War II, Harwood relocated to a "white elephant" manor house in Great Barrington. In 1956-57, a printshop annex and warehouse were added, and in 1962 a research library was added to the hillside below the annex. Now known as the E. C. Harwood Library, the 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) building contains AIER's principal offices.
AIER has two regular periodical publications, the twice-monthly Research Reports and the monthly Economic Education Bulletin. The Institute also publishes a number of books, including the best-selling How To Avoid Financial Tangles, which was first published in 1938.
Research Reports offers twenty-two newsletters, in either digital or print format, that provide a concise discussion of a wide range of current issues including taxes, Social Security, rising inflation, the cost of living, insurance, financial fraud, and much more. One article each month is devoted to showing changes in economic activity.
Economic Education Bulletin consists of twelve monthly publications, which vary in length from four pages to book-length studies, providing a more in-depth treatment of issues pertaining to economics and personal finance.
Recent book length studies include: The Constitutional Protection of Property Rights (2008), The Global Warming Debate: Science, Economics, and Policy (2008), How to Plan for Your Retirement Years (2007 update), How to Invest Wisely (2007 update), How to Avoid Financial Fraud (2004), If Something Should Happen (2008) and How to Avoid Financial Tangles (2007 update).
AIER offers a Summer Fellowship Program where Graduate Student Fellows and Research Fellows live and study together on AIER's campus to gain a unique, objective perspective into economic, monetary, and social issues. Prominent economists such as Anna J. Schwartz regularly participate in AIER's programs. Participants apply a historical, institutional, and methodological focus to economics, distinct from traditional undergraduate and graduate instruction.
Student Fellows receive a weekly stipend, room and board. Qualified students may apply for graduate school in absentia financial support; average fellowship awards may exceed $5,000. During four weeks in residence, Student Fellows participate in intensive seminars on property rights, scientific procedures of inquiry, sound money, and other topics. Assigned readings in these areas provide the basis for written assignments and seminar discussions. Seminar sessions are not conducted as formal lectures, but rather are structured to encourage a disciplined exchange of views.
Visiting Research Fellows receive a stipend, housing, office space and access to AIER's extensive research library. Fields of research typically include money, banking and credit; public and personal finance; economic and monetary history; the role of government in society; the methodology of economics; and the role of individual freedom, private property, and free enterprise in economic progress.
Academic conferences are held periodically on AIER's campus. Past conferences have focused on topics such as Property Rights, Gold, The Role of the Dollar, and Global Climate Change (about environmental economics). The next AIER conference is expected in Spring of 2009.
Financial support for AIER comes primarily from the small annual fees of thousands of sustaining members, from sales of its publications, and from tax-deductible contributions. AIER does not accept financial support from government, corporate, or private foundation sources.