Lord Ralph Harris and Arthur Seldon

In 1956 in London, England, Ralph Harris became the Director of the newly formed Institute of Economic Affairs, or IEA. The IEA, originally created by Antony Fisher, is dedicated to improving public understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society, especially the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. In 1957, Arthur Seldon joined Harris as the IEA’s Editorial Director. Together, Harris and Seldon began publishing what were at the time rarely heard views of economic reform based on free-market principles. Through their efforts, the IEA has had enormous influence on governments, public policy, and economic thought and has been the model for organizations like it around the world. In December 1993, the Economist summed up the IEA’s influence as follows: “Governments in search of advice looked to think tanks such as the Institute of Economic Affairs in Britain. . . rather than to Oxford or Harvard.”