How popular are the free market think tanks and institutes in Asia, at least online?
I checked alexa.com four years ago to answer that question. Today, out of curiosity, I checked again alexa.com and here is what I discovered. Shown are their global ranking -- out of several hundred million sites and blogs in the planet.
1. Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), Seoul, headed by Dr. Tae-shin Kwon, represented by Dr. Choi Byung Il in various EFN Asia conferences.
2. Unirule Institute of Economics, Beijing, headed by Dr. Mao Yushi; often represented by Dr. Feng Xingyuan in various EFN Asia conferences.
3. Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME) Institute, Islamabad, headed by Ali Salman
4. Freedom Institute , Jakarta, headed by Dr. Luthfi Assyaukanie, among others.
5. Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), headed by Wan Saiful Wan Jan.
6. Suara Kebebasan, Jakarta. Not exactly a think tank but a website for freedom, headed by Adinda Tenriangke Muchtar.
7. Samriddhi The Prosperity Foundation, Kathmandu, headed by Robin Sitoula.
8. Minimal Government Thinkers, Inc./Funwithgovernment blog, Manila, headed by yours truly.
9. Liberty Institute, Delhi, headed by Barun Mitra.
The numbers in green are the increase in global rank over the past three months. In red are decrease in global rank over the same period. Notice the huge jump of these think tanks below in a short period of time.
![]()
10. Doimoi.org, Hanoi, is a think tank that translates some important classical liberal books and literatures into Vietnamese, headed by Cong Minh Nguyen.
11. In defence of liberty is another project of Liberty Institute, Delhi, headed by Barun Mitra.
12. Japanese for Tax Reforms (JTR), Tokyo, headed by Masaru Uchiyama or Mr. You.
13. Center for Civil Society (CCS) Delhi, headed by Dr. Parth Shah.
14. Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF), Manila, headed by Calixto "Toti" Chikiamco.
15. Alternate Solutions (AS) Institute, Lahore, headed by Dr. Khalil Ahmad.
16. Lion Rock Institute (LRI), Hong Kong, headed by Bill Stacey.
17. Akademi Merdeka, Jakarta, is another project I think, of Freedom Institute.
Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) is not a think tank, it is a German political foundation, that supports many Asian free market think tanks, mainly through the Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia, based in Bangkok. I just added here the website of FNF Philippine Office, headed by Jules Maaten.
![]()
Compared to US free market think tanks, institutes and foundations -- like Cato, ATR, Atlas, Heritage, AEI, Reason, etc. -- we from Asia have a lot more to learn and expand.
Nonetheless, I am happy that this blog has landed in the top 4.3 million sites around the world. It is not easy to reach this level, given that MGT remains a small and underfunded think tank.
--------------
See also:
Asian free market websites, part 2, April 25, 2011
Asian free market websites, part 3, May 10, 2011
EFN Asia 31. Friends in the Asian Free Market Movement, November 07, 2013
I checked alexa.com four years ago to answer that question. Today, out of curiosity, I checked again alexa.com and here is what I discovered. Shown are their global ranking -- out of several hundred million sites and blogs in the planet.
1. Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), Seoul, headed by Dr. Tae-shin Kwon, represented by Dr. Choi Byung Il in various EFN Asia conferences.
2. Unirule Institute of Economics, Beijing, headed by Dr. Mao Yushi; often represented by Dr. Feng Xingyuan in various EFN Asia conferences.
3. Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME) Institute, Islamabad, headed by Ali Salman
4. Freedom Institute , Jakarta, headed by Dr. Luthfi Assyaukanie, among others.
5. Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), headed by Wan Saiful Wan Jan.
6. Suara Kebebasan, Jakarta. Not exactly a think tank but a website for freedom, headed by Adinda Tenriangke Muchtar.
7. Samriddhi The Prosperity Foundation, Kathmandu, headed by Robin Sitoula.
8. Minimal Government Thinkers, Inc./Funwithgovernment blog, Manila, headed by yours truly.
9. Liberty Institute, Delhi, headed by Barun Mitra.
The numbers in green are the increase in global rank over the past three months. In red are decrease in global rank over the same period. Notice the huge jump of these think tanks below in a short period of time.
10. Doimoi.org, Hanoi, is a think tank that translates some important classical liberal books and literatures into Vietnamese, headed by Cong Minh Nguyen.
11. In defence of liberty is another project of Liberty Institute, Delhi, headed by Barun Mitra.
12. Japanese for Tax Reforms (JTR), Tokyo, headed by Masaru Uchiyama or Mr. You.
13. Center for Civil Society (CCS) Delhi, headed by Dr. Parth Shah.
14. Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF), Manila, headed by Calixto "Toti" Chikiamco.
15. Alternate Solutions (AS) Institute, Lahore, headed by Dr. Khalil Ahmad.
16. Lion Rock Institute (LRI), Hong Kong, headed by Bill Stacey.
17. Akademi Merdeka, Jakarta, is another project I think, of Freedom Institute.
Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) is not a think tank, it is a German political foundation, that supports many Asian free market think tanks, mainly through the Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia, based in Bangkok. I just added here the website of FNF Philippine Office, headed by Jules Maaten.
Compared to US free market think tanks, institutes and foundations -- like Cato, ATR, Atlas, Heritage, AEI, Reason, etc. -- we from Asia have a lot more to learn and expand.
Nonetheless, I am happy that this blog has landed in the top 4.3 million sites around the world. It is not easy to reach this level, given that MGT remains a small and underfunded think tank.
--------------
See also:
Asian free market websites, part 2, April 25, 2011
Asian free market websites, part 3, May 10, 2011
EFN Asia 31. Friends in the Asian Free Market Movement, November 07, 2013