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As 2025 draws to a close, I look back on the previous year as a period of unexpected twists and turns in the local, national, and international arenas. By maintaining an intellectual commitment to the principles of a free society, the Independent Institute met these challenges with cutting edge-analysis and scholarly rigor.

Last January, a sudden wildfire outbreak not only ravaged the Los Angeles area—it also displaced our Research Fellow, Kristian Fors, from his home. Undeterred, he went on national media to explain how decades of government mismanagement and bad policies left Californians vulnerable to natural disasters.

In April, the Trump administration imposed a sweeping new tariff regime by invoking a constitutionally dubious “emergency” statute. Independent rallied a group of leading economists, including three Nobel laureates, to explain the errors of this misguided tax hike through our Anti-Tariff Declaration ([link removed]) . In the months that followed, our research guided the national conversation on this issue and informed an ongoing legal challenge that currently sits before the Supreme Court.

Last fall, the unthinkable happened. Previously confined to the garbage heap of history, the doctrines of Marxian socialism gained currency in American politics, with almost 50% of voters under the age of 35 holding this dangerous ideology in high esteem. Led by my colleague Williamson Evers, Independent launched a new initiative to provide K-12 curricular materials on the horrific history and abysmal economic track record of socialism worldwide. We plan to release these materials to schools free of charge this coming spring, as part of a larger educational initiative to defend the principles of a free society and free-market economy against this illiberal intellectual tide.
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As we enter 2026, I am nonetheless optimistic about what lies ahead. This coming July 4th marks the 250th anniversary of our country. While the American founding has fallen into disfavor among some, following the sustained attacks of the New York Times’ 1619 Project and similar “woke” revisionism, we see this anniversary as an opportunity to rekindle the philosophical ideals of 1776. Independent is accordingly launching a Liberty at 250 initiative ([link removed]) , bringing top scholars together in two special issues of The Independent Review ([link removed]) , along with a suite of public events and seminars.

We’re also taking the fight to the other side with new projects on the horizon. Later this spring we will host the first of multiple seminars on charting a course to post-socialist recovery for countries in Latin America that are currently under the thumb of authoritarian regimes. We’re also launching a new initiative on Liberty in the American West to explore the historical and modern challenges facing this unique region of our country. And we’re expanding ongoing projects to find private, civil society solutions to homelessness ([link removed]) , to counter the erosion of civil liberties and the rise of government surveillance, and to rekindle responsible economic policies built around fiscal restraint and sound money.

While I cannot predict everything that the coming year has in store, I can state with confidence that we will approach the path ahead with a bedrock commitment to principle and scholarly rigor.
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Sincerely,

Dr. Phillip W. Magness
Senior Fellow

David J. Theroux Chair in Political Economy
Independent Institute
100 Swan Way
Oakland, CA 94621
(510) 632-1366

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