No Antony Fisher, no IEA: ‘The Case for Freedom’ after 50 years

Abstract

This article celebrates the life and work of Antony Fisher, an entrepreneur who was inspired by F. A. Hayek’s ideas to establish the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in 1957. The IEA is a free-market-oriented think tank that has had a major impact on thinking in the UK and around the world. Fisher also played a key role in promoting Hayek’s Road to Serfdom and in establishing other free-market think tanks around the world. He and his second wife Dorian traveled the world supporting think tanks and distributing start-up funds to found new ones. The author notes that four passages from Fisher’s first book, The Case for Freedom, published in 1948, resonate with the IEA’s current research agenda – AI-generated abstract.