Tom G. Palmer
Encyclopedia
Tom Gordon Palmer is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute
, director of the Institute's educational division, Cato University, Vice President for International Programs at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation
, and General Director of the Atlas Global Initiative for Free Trade, Peace, and Prosperity.
, his M.A. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America
, and his doctorate in political science
from Oxford University, where he was an H. B. Earhart Fellow at Hertford College.
Palmer has been active in the promotion of libertarian
and classical liberal ideas and policies since the early 1970s. He has been editor of several publications, including Dollars & Sense (the newspaper of the National Taxpayers Union
), Update
, and the Humane Studies Review, and has published articles in such newspapers and magazines as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times
, the Spectator
of London, National Review
, Slate
, Ethics
, and the Cato Journal
.
He teaches political economy and legal and constitutional history for the Institute for Humane Studies
the Institute of Economic Studies
Europe. He also works with such organizations as Liberty Fund
, and the Council on Public Policy, He blogs at his own website
and at Cato@Liberty and is a contributor to the Independent Gay Forum. Palmer is the director of Cato University, a summer seminar sponsored by the Cato Institute.
Palmer is a Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute, where he was previously also Vice President for International Programs and director of its Center for the Promotion of Human Rights. He remains director of Cato University. On January 1, 2009, the Center's programs were shifted to the Atlas Economic Research Foundation
and as the Atlas Global Initiative for Free Trade, Peace, and Prosperity. Palmer is Vice President of Atlas and General Director of its Global Initiative, which has since expanded its programs. The Atlas Economic Research Foundation was founded by Anthony Fisher, the moving force behind Britain's classical liberal Institute for Economic Affairs.
at George Mason University
. During the late 1980s and the very early 1990s he worked with the Institute for Humane Studies and other organizations to spread classical-liberal/libertarian ideas in Eastern Europe. He traveled throughout the region to hold seminars and smuggled books, cash, photocopiers, and fax machines from an office in Vienna, Austria. He arranged for translation and publication into a variety of central and eastern European languages of textbooks in economics and law, as well as seminal works by Ludwig von Mises
, F. A. Hayek, Milton Friedman
, and other thinkers in the libertarian and liberal traditions. He remains active in the region as organizer of a major Russian website (www.cato.ru) and a conference on "Freedom, Commerce, and Peace: A Regional Agenda" in Tbilisi
, capital of Georgia
.
, F. A. Hayek, James Madison
, and other libertarian influences, and has published essays in Middle Eastern languages on such topics as "Challenges of Democratization" and "Religion and the Law." In April 2005 Palmer addressed members of the Iraqi parliament in the parliamentary assembly hall on constitutionalism and has written on Iraq. He has also promoted the creation of a libertarian web site, lampofliberty.org, where it is available in Arabic, Azerbaijani, Kurdish, and Persian; and started an Arabic publishing venture. He continues to lecture in the Middle East and works closely with Arabic and Persian bloggers. He has been actively involved in campaigning for free speech rights in the Middle East, notably with the campaign to free Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman, through articles in the Washington Post, the Daily Star of Lebanon, and other activities.
Palmer opposed the invasion of Iraq before it happened and criticized its conduct afterwards. In a commentary on the website Antiwar.com
, Justin Raimondo
criticized Palmer's positions on the Iraq War, claiming that Palmer had joined forces with "neoconservatives" who supported "military victory" in Iraq "no matter what the cost, to the Iraqis or to the U.S". Palmer accuses Raimondo of misrepresenting his position on the Iraq war.
Press, 2001), a substantive response to G. A. Cohen's attack on property rights, several responses to the theories of Cass Sunstein
and Stephen Holmes, and essays on multicultural politics, on globalization, on globalization and personal and cultural identity, and on libertarian political philosophy. Palmer also published an extensive bibliographical essay on libertarianism in The Libertarian Reader, edited by David Boaz
. He has published law review articles on intellectual property that have garnered substantial attention within the legal and technological community for his general critique of patents and copyrights and his suggestions of contractual and technological solutions to the problems for which intellectual property rights are usually proposed as solutions. Palmer also currently publishes a popular blog
. In 2009 many of his essays and op-eds were published as Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice.
to the U.S. Constitution. The case had particular personal significance for him, in that he once survived an attempted assault because he was armed with a handgun. Palmer believes that his attackers were motivated by anti-gay animus; he is openly
gay
.
from The Libertarian Forum, August 1982.
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
, director of the Institute's educational division, Cato University, Vice President for International Programs at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Atlas Economic Research Foundation
The Atlas Economic Research Foundation, also known as the Atlas Network, is a non-profit organization based in the United States which organizes and convenes workshops, offers training, runs prize programs, and provides advisory services in order to continue growing and strengthening an informal...
, and General Director of the Atlas Global Initiative for Free Trade, Peace, and Prosperity.
Professional life
Palmer earned his B.A. in liberal arts from St. John's CollegeSt. John's College, U.S.
St. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
, his M.A. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
, and his doctorate in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Oxford University, where he was an H. B. Earhart Fellow at Hertford College.
Palmer has been active in the promotion of libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
and classical liberal ideas and policies since the early 1970s. He has been editor of several publications, including Dollars & Sense (the newspaper of the National Taxpayers Union
National Taxpayers Union
National Taxpayers Union is a taxpayers advocacy organization and taxpayers union in the United States, founded in 1969 by James Dale Davidson. NTU advertises that it is the largest and oldest grassroots taxpayer organization in the nation, with 362,000 members nationwide. It is closely...
), Update
Update
Update may refer to:* Patch , also known as a software update* Update ,a SQL statement for changing database records* Update , 2007* Update , 1987* Updated , M...
, and the Humane Studies Review, and has published articles in such newspapers and magazines as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, the Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
of London, National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
, Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, Ethics
Ethics (journal)
Ethics is an academic journal founded in 1890 and published by the University of Chicago Press. The journal publishes scholarly work in moral, political, and legal philosophy from a variety of intellectual perspectives, including social and political theory, law, and economics...
, and the Cato Journal
Cato Journal
The Cato Journal is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Washington, D.C.-based, libertarian think-tank, the Cato Institute, and features articles discussing politics and economy.According to the Cato Institute website, the journal is a...
.
He teaches political economy and legal and constitutional history for the Institute for Humane Studies
Institute for Humane Studies
The Institute for Humane Studies is a classical liberal non-profit organization whose stated mission is “to support the achievement of a freer society by discovering and facilitating the development of talented students, scholars, and other intellectuals who share an interest in liberty and in...
the Institute of Economic Studies
Institute of Economic Studies
The Institute of Economic Studies is a Paris based non-profit organization created in 1989. IES faculty include Tibor Machan, Douglass Rasmussen, Tom G. Palmer, Joseph Pini, Carlo Lottieri, Stephen Davies, Colin Ganley, Boudewijn Bouckaert, Randy Barnett, and Pierre Garello.*...
Europe. He also works with such organizations as Liberty Fund
Liberty Fund
Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. It is dedicated to the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals...
, and the Council on Public Policy, He blogs at his own website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
and at Cato@Liberty and is a contributor to the Independent Gay Forum. Palmer is the director of Cato University, a summer seminar sponsored by the Cato Institute.
Palmer is a Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute, where he was previously also Vice President for International Programs and director of its Center for the Promotion of Human Rights. He remains director of Cato University. On January 1, 2009, the Center's programs were shifted to the Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Atlas Economic Research Foundation
The Atlas Economic Research Foundation, also known as the Atlas Network, is a non-profit organization based in the United States which organizes and convenes workshops, offers training, runs prize programs, and provides advisory services in order to continue growing and strengthening an informal...
and as the Atlas Global Initiative for Free Trade, Peace, and Prosperity. Palmer is Vice President of Atlas and General Director of its Global Initiative, which has since expanded its programs. The Atlas Economic Research Foundation was founded by Anthony Fisher, the moving force behind Britain's classical liberal Institute for Economic Affairs.
Involvement in Eastern Europe
Before joining the Cato Institute, he was a vice president of the Institute for Humane StudiesInstitute for Humane Studies
The Institute for Humane Studies is a classical liberal non-profit organization whose stated mission is “to support the achievement of a freer society by discovering and facilitating the development of talented students, scholars, and other intellectuals who share an interest in liberty and in...
at George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
. During the late 1980s and the very early 1990s he worked with the Institute for Humane Studies and other organizations to spread classical-liberal/libertarian ideas in Eastern Europe. He traveled throughout the region to hold seminars and smuggled books, cash, photocopiers, and fax machines from an office in Vienna, Austria. He arranged for translation and publication into a variety of central and eastern European languages of textbooks in economics and law, as well as seminal works by Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises was an Austrian economist, philosopher, and classical liberal who had a significant influence on the modern Libertarian movement and the "Austrian School" of economic thought.-Biography:-Early life:...
, F. A. Hayek, Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was an American economist, statistician, academic, and author who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades...
, and other thinkers in the libertarian and liberal traditions. He remains active in the region as organizer of a major Russian website (www.cato.ru) and a conference on "Freedom, Commerce, and Peace: A Regional Agenda" in Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, capital of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
.
Involvement in Middle East
Palmer is currently attempting to duplicate in the Middle East some of the work he did in Eastern Europe. He has commissioned translation into Middle Eastern languages (Arabic, Kurdish, Persian, and Azeri) and publication of works by Frederic BastiatFrédéric Bastiat
Claude Frédéric Bastiat was a French classical liberal theorist, political economist, and member of the French assembly. He was notable for developing the important economic concept of opportunity cost.-Biography:...
, F. A. Hayek, James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
, and other libertarian influences, and has published essays in Middle Eastern languages on such topics as "Challenges of Democratization" and "Religion and the Law." In April 2005 Palmer addressed members of the Iraqi parliament in the parliamentary assembly hall on constitutionalism and has written on Iraq. He has also promoted the creation of a libertarian web site, lampofliberty.org, where it is available in Arabic, Azerbaijani, Kurdish, and Persian; and started an Arabic publishing venture. He continues to lecture in the Middle East and works closely with Arabic and Persian bloggers. He has been actively involved in campaigning for free speech rights in the Middle East, notably with the campaign to free Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman, through articles in the Washington Post, the Daily Star of Lebanon, and other activities.
Palmer opposed the invasion of Iraq before it happened and criticized its conduct afterwards. In a commentary on the website Antiwar.com
Antiwar.com
Antiwar.com is a website devoted to opposing aggressive war, imperialism, and assaults on freedom associated with both. The editors describe their politics as libertarian. Their stated motiviation is, "to show how the imperialistic tendencies of the American government lead to a loss of civil...
, Justin Raimondo
Justin Raimondo
Justin Raimondo is an American author and the editorial director of the website Antiwar.com. He describes himself as a "conservative-paleo-libertarian."-Background:...
criticized Palmer's positions on the Iraq War, claiming that Palmer had joined forces with "neoconservatives" who supported "military victory" in Iraq "no matter what the cost, to the Iraqis or to the U.S". Palmer accuses Raimondo of misrepresenting his position on the Iraq war.
Works
Palmer has published essays on the philosophy of individual rights (e.g., in an essay from Individual Rights Reconsidered, edited by Tibor Machan (Stanford: Hoover InstitutionHoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
Press, 2001), a substantive response to G. A. Cohen's attack on property rights, several responses to the theories of Cass Sunstein
Cass Sunstein
Cass R. Sunstein is an American legal scholar, particularly in the fields of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and law and behavioral economics, who currently is the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration...
and Stephen Holmes, and essays on multicultural politics, on globalization, on globalization and personal and cultural identity, and on libertarian political philosophy. Palmer also published an extensive bibliographical essay on libertarianism in The Libertarian Reader, edited by David Boaz
David Boaz
David Boaz is the executive vice president of the Cato Institute, an American libertarian think tank. He played a key role in the Institute's development and the American libertarian movement....
. He has published law review articles on intellectual property that have garnered substantial attention within the legal and technological community for his general critique of patents and copyrights and his suggestions of contractual and technological solutions to the problems for which intellectual property rights are usually proposed as solutions. Palmer also currently publishes a popular blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
. In 2009 many of his essays and op-eds were published as Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice.
Political activities
Palmer's political activities include being founding member and national secretary of the Committee Against Registration and the Draft (1979–81), president of the Oxford Civil Liberties Society (1993–94), and manager or communications director for several political campaigns. He was a plaintiff in Parker v. District of Columbia, a successful lawsuit in Washington, D.C. to secure the right to own a handgun in one's home, based on the text of the Second AmendmentSecond Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights.In 2008 and 2010, the Supreme Court issued two Second...
to the U.S. Constitution. The case had particular personal significance for him, in that he once survived an attempted assault because he was armed with a handgun. Palmer believes that his attackers were motivated by anti-gay animus; he is openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
.
About Palmer
- Biography of Tom Palmer, Cato Institute
- Curriculum Vitae
- Institute for Humane Studies biography and publications
- TomGPalmer.com, Tom Palmer's personal weblog
- "In Arabic, 'Internet' Means 'Freedom'"—Jonathan Rauch on Palmer's work in Arab world
Criticisms and critical exchanges with others
- "Six Facts about Iraq", Reason, June 2006
- Palmer's response to critique by Antiwar.com
- "What's Not Wrong With Libertarianism", a response to Jeffrey Friedman's critique of libertarianism
- "The Libertarian Straddle: Rejoinder to Palmer and Sciabarra", in part a critique of Tom Palmer's philosophy of rights, by Jeffrey Friedman
- Palmer, "Lew Rockwell's Vienna Waltz"
- Ralph Raico, "Who Is Tom Palmer, Anyway?"
- Palmer, "For Mises' Sake"
from The Libertarian Forum, August 1982.