Manhattan Institute for Policy Research

The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research has supported and publicized research on this era’s most challenging public policy issues: taxes, welfare, crime, the legal system, urban life, race, education, and many other topics. It has cultivated a staff of senior fellows and writers who blend intellectual rigor, sound principles, and strong writing ability. Their provocative books, reviews, interviews, speeches, articles, and op-ed pieces have been the main vehicle for communicating the Institute's message. The Institute's program of luncheon forums, conferences, and publications reach a broad, diverse audience. As a result, its ideas are taken seriously and its prescriptions are often put into practice. Some of the country’s most innovative mayors, governors, and policymakers have acknowledged a debt to the Manhattan Institute, as have many influential writers, journalists, and authors.

One of the most important areas of research for the Institute has been the need for school vouchers. Parents and opinion leaders are increasingly recognizing that the dismal performance of inner-city public schools cannot be reversed under the current system of structuring and governing those schools. Vouchers, which would give poor parents the financial means to send their children to non-public schools that work, would both improve educational performance and give the existing public school bureaucracy an incentive to make dramatic changes in their schools in order to keep parents satisfied.