Atlas Group
Encyclopedia
The Atlas Group is a diversified dealing in engineering
, financial services
and trading
. The Atlas Group was laid in 1962, with the establishment of Shirazi Investments (Private) Limited. It consists of seven public limited companies out of which six are quoted on the stock exchange
s in Pakistan
, and five private limited companies.
These organizations were founded in 1981 during the Cold War era at a time when zealous anti-Communism was rife. Tthe economic views of the wealth promoters of these organizations came from the far right and believed strongly in the Reaganomics 'trickle-down theory' -- that lower tax for the wealthy eventually trickled down and benefited the poor. The name 'Atlas' was taken from Atlas Shrugged, and reveals the (Ayn) Rand-ian economic and social philosophy of their founder, [Sir Antony Fisher] (one of Margaret Thatcher's backers and gurus).
Fisher had made his millions from large-scale intensive chicken farming, and he was the primary driver in setting up all of the above (and many more - perhaps 150 in total) 'libertarian' think tanks around the world. He remarried, and migrated to America where he initially set up the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco. In establishing the Atlas Foundation and the Network itself, Fisher also partnered with Loctite billionaire, [Robert Krieble] who also ran his own think-tanks (various Krieble Institutes: mainly with an Eastern European focus). http://thinktank-watch.blogspot.com/2007/12/sir-anthony-fisher.html
Fisher's daughter, Linda Whetstone, is still actively involved in all of the above think-tanks and in running the network. And the Atlas Foundation holds annual conferences of member think-tanks from around the globe. It also circulates information, helps establish new libertarian/Randian think-tanks, and passes corporate commissions down to regional members.
These partisan political organisations received generous pump-priming and early backing from the billionaire family trust-funds controlled by [Richard Mellon Scaife], [Joseph Coors], the heirs of [John M Olin], Lynde and Harry Bradley, Charles and [David Koch] and the like. The Heritage Foundation, Heartlands Foundation, Cato Institute, and Citizens for a Sound Economy (now FredomWorks) were early members of the network which worked diligently to promote corporate interests. The ideological and free-market-support activities of the think-tank movement then attracted even more generous on-going funds from global corporations and umbrella groups like those of the global tobacco industry. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/jmi97g00/pdf
The Atlas Foundation has its own training center at George Mason University for teaching professional lobbyists how to organize and run a think-tank. It provides 'scholarships' and 'seed money' potential libertarian lobbyists/think-tank founders around the world, and operates under the name: Institute for Humane Studies. This organization was run for many years by economist [James Bennett] and is housed alongside [S Fred Singer]'s [Science and Environmental Policy Project] (SEPP), the [Mercatus Center], [Center for the Study of Public Choice], and the[ John Locke Institute] -- all well-known corporate lobby-tanks. Through the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the Institute for Humane Studies also administers the 'Hayek Fund for Scholars' and a number of sister programs to fund academics and staffers for like-minded groups across the country.
See IHS http://www.thenation.com/article/161973/alec-exposed-koch-connection and http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/czi11d00/pdf
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
and trading
Trader (finance)
A trader is someone in finance who buys and sells financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, commodities and derivatives. A broker who simply fills buy or sell orders is not a trader, as they are merely executing instructions given to them. According to the Wall Street Journal in 2004, a managing...
. The Atlas Group was laid in 1962, with the establishment of Shirazi Investments (Private) Limited. It consists of seven public limited companies out of which six are quoted on the stock exchange
Stock exchange
A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...
s in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, and five private limited companies.
Atlas Network/Group
The terms Atlas Group and Atlas Network are also applied to a global organisation of about 300 think tanks which are connected to the London-based Institute of Economic Affairs and the Adam Smith Institute, and also to the US-based Atlas Economic Research Foundation/Institute at George Mason University in Washington DC. They promote the unfettered free-market economic philosophy originally promoted by [Frederick Hayek], [Milton Friedman], and the [Mont Pelerin Society].These organizations were founded in 1981 during the Cold War era at a time when zealous anti-Communism was rife. Tthe economic views of the wealth promoters of these organizations came from the far right and believed strongly in the Reaganomics 'trickle-down theory' -- that lower tax for the wealthy eventually trickled down and benefited the poor. The name 'Atlas' was taken from Atlas Shrugged, and reveals the (Ayn) Rand-ian economic and social philosophy of their founder, [Sir Antony Fisher] (one of Margaret Thatcher's backers and gurus).
Fisher had made his millions from large-scale intensive chicken farming, and he was the primary driver in setting up all of the above (and many more - perhaps 150 in total) 'libertarian' think tanks around the world. He remarried, and migrated to America where he initially set up the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco. In establishing the Atlas Foundation and the Network itself, Fisher also partnered with Loctite billionaire, [Robert Krieble] who also ran his own think-tanks (various Krieble Institutes: mainly with an Eastern European focus). http://thinktank-watch.blogspot.com/2007/12/sir-anthony-fisher.html
Fisher's daughter, Linda Whetstone, is still actively involved in all of the above think-tanks and in running the network. And the Atlas Foundation holds annual conferences of member think-tanks from around the globe. It also circulates information, helps establish new libertarian/Randian think-tanks, and passes corporate commissions down to regional members.
These partisan political organisations received generous pump-priming and early backing from the billionaire family trust-funds controlled by [Richard Mellon Scaife], [Joseph Coors], the heirs of [John M Olin], Lynde and Harry Bradley, Charles and [David Koch] and the like. The Heritage Foundation, Heartlands Foundation, Cato Institute, and Citizens for a Sound Economy (now FredomWorks) were early members of the network which worked diligently to promote corporate interests. The ideological and free-market-support activities of the think-tank movement then attracted even more generous on-going funds from global corporations and umbrella groups like those of the global tobacco industry. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/jmi97g00/pdf
The Atlas Foundation has its own training center at George Mason University for teaching professional lobbyists how to organize and run a think-tank. It provides 'scholarships' and 'seed money' potential libertarian lobbyists/think-tank founders around the world, and operates under the name: Institute for Humane Studies. This organization was run for many years by economist [James Bennett] and is housed alongside [S Fred Singer]'s [Science and Environmental Policy Project] (SEPP), the [Mercatus Center], [Center for the Study of Public Choice], and the[ John Locke Institute] -- all well-known corporate lobby-tanks. Through the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the Institute for Humane Studies also administers the 'Hayek Fund for Scholars' and a number of sister programs to fund academics and staffers for like-minded groups across the country.
See IHS http://www.thenation.com/article/161973/alec-exposed-koch-connection and http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/czi11d00/pdf
List of companies in the commercial Atlas Group
- Atlas HondaAtlas HondaThe Atlas Honda Limited is a joint venture between the Atlas Group and Honda Motor Company, Japan. The Atlas Honda was created by the merger of Panjdarya Limited and Atlas Autos Limited. In 1988, Both these motorcycle manufacturing concerns were established by the Atlas Group. Atlas Honda...
- Atlas Battery
- Atlas Power
- Atlas Engineering LimitedAtlas Engineering LimitedAtlas Engineering Limited is a private limited liability company incorporated in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in March 1992. The Organization initially offered services of Land & Engineering Surveying; subsequent to which the organizations services expanded to include: General Building and...
- Honda Atlas Cars PakistanHonda Atlas Cars PakistanHonda Atlas Cars Limited is a joint venture between Honda Motor Company Limited, Japan and the Atlas Group, Pakistan. The company was incorporated on November 4, 1992 and a joint venture agreement was signed on August 5, 1993. The company is listed on Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges...
- Atlas Insurance
- Atlas BankAtlas BankThe Atlas Group established Atlas Investment Bank in 1990 as a joint venture between Atlas Group and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Japan. With an associated company, Atlas Lease Limited formed in 1989 as a joint venture between the Atlas Group, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Japan and the National...
- Atlas Asset Management
- Shirazi Investment (Private) Limited
- Shirazi Trading Company (Private) Limited
- Honda Atlas Power Product (Private) Limited
- Total Atlas Lubricants Pakistan (Private) Limited
- Atlas Capital Markets(Private) Limited