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Thursday, Jul. 23, 2020

Did the Foundation for Economic Education help develop the ideas that led to the founding of the Libertarian Party?

Christopher Hutton, Gigafact
yes

The Foundation for Economic Education, founded in 1946, helped libertarian ideas gain currency in postwar America, and continues to advocate for them.

The Libertarian Party's origins date to 1971, spurred by the recent imposition of wage and price controls by President Richard Nixon. The party drew from a variety of influences, including Ayn Rand's objectivism, Barry Goldwater's political positions and F. A. Hayek's economic teachings. At the Libertarian Party's first convention in 1972, policy priorities centered on guarantees of due process, protecting individual rights, opposition to the draft, and repealing compulsory education and minimum-wage laws.

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