Top Asian Free Market Think Tanks

I congratulate my friends, Parth Shah of Center for Civil Society (CCS, India), Feng Xingyuan, Liu Junning, Mao Shoulong of Cathay Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA, China), and Barun Mitra, Mohit Satyanand of Liberty Institute, India, for their institutes being among the top 25 think tanks in Asia. CCS is #8, a great achievement!

Most of those in the top 25 are government think tanks (ie, getting funding from tax money) and work mainly for government, like advising where to get or "streamline" nex taxes. In the Phils for instance, the Phil Institute for Devt Studies (PIDS) is the top government think tank for economic and social issues, and it is under the Socio-Economic Planning Department, I think.

Below is the list of the top 25 Asian institutes:

Top 25 Think Tanks in Asia
THE GLOBAL "GO-TO THINK TANKS"
The Leading Public Policy Research Organizations In The World

1. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) – China
2. Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) – Japan
3. Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses – India
4. Center for Strategic and International Studies – Indonesia
5. Institute for International Policy Studies – Japan
6. Shanghai Institute for International Studies - China
7. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies -- Singapore
8. Center for Civil Society – India
9. China Institute for Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) –
China
10. Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies – Singapore
11. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) – India
12. Asian Forum Japan (AFJ) – Japan
13. China Institute for International Studies (CIIS) – China
14. Lowy Institute for International Policy - Australia
15. Cathay Institute for Public Affairs – China
16. Korea Development Institute – South Korea
17. National Institute for Defense Studies – Japan
18. National Institute for Research Advancement - Japan
19. Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research (HKCER) - Hong Kong
20. Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) - Japan
21. Taiwan Foundation for Democracy – Taiwan
22. Unirule Institute of Economics – China
23. Institute of Energy Economics Japan (IEEJ) – Japan
24. Liberty Institute – India
T25. Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) – Malaysia
T25. Philippine Institute for Development Studies – Philippines
T25. Third World Network – Malaysia

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/irp/documents/2008_Global_Go_To_Think_Tanks.pdf

Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania
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Meanwhile, there is an upcoming online newspaper, Philippine-based, that will help champion the free market cause. It will be The New Commonwealth Herald (www.newcommonwealth.org) and it is headed by Francis B., a new friend. 

The Philippines need more free market-oriented think tanks, research institutes and publications. I estimate that statist intellectuals and writers outnumber the free market-oriented ones by 200:1, if not more. The cause of free market, more personal responsibility, less government interventions and taxation, will be better advanced if there is more variety among championing think tanks and publications.

Let's wait for the arrival of a new friend in the liberty network.