Cato Institute: mission, leadership and finances

What it does

The Cato Institute is a libertarian public policy research organization in Washington, D.C. It publishes studies, books and the Cato Journal, and files amicus briefs in constitutional cases. It says its mission is to originate, advance and disseminate solutions based on the principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace.

Cato Institute is listed here in the category "Think tanks". A listing on 4conservative.com describes an organization; it is not an endorsement of it or of its positions.

History

Cato began in Wichita, Kansas, in the mid-1970s as the Charles Koch Foundation, was renamed the Cato Institute in 1976 after Cato's Letters, the eighteenth-century essays that influenced American revolutionary thinking, and moved to Washington in 1981. Edward Crane led it for its first decades.

Cato Institute is a think tank. It is headquartered in Washington, DC. Its IRS tax status is 501(c)(3). Like other organizations in this collection, it is described here from its own published material and from public records, and the facts on this page are limited to what those sources state.

Leadership and funding

Cato says it accepts no government funding and relies on individual, foundation and corporate contributions. Its libertarian outlook leads it to differ with both major parties on some issues, such as foreign intervention, drug policy and civil liberties.

The IRS figures on this page come from the latest Form 990 filing that ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer lists for the organization, for tax year 2024: total revenue of $71.9 million, total expenses of $41.8 million and total assets of $172.2 million at year end. ProPublica lists the filer as Cato Institute. The figures describe a single tax year and can differ sharply from year to year; check the filing itself and the organization's own site for the current picture.

Where it stands

Cato favors lower taxes, deregulation, free trade, a restrained foreign policy, more open immigration and school choice, and it opposes many government surveillance programs. Conservatives will find it agrees with them on many economic questions and diverges on others.

These summaries reflect the organization's own stated mission and publicly known activities as of the date below; they are neutral descriptions, not evaluations. Related organizations on this site include The Heritage Foundation, Reason Foundation, Independent Institute.