Thursday, March 10, 2011

The earlier (voluntary) departure

The earlier (voluntary) departure of
Ivan Eland, who is now with the Independent Institute – and a regular NIKE SHOX columnist – was a

portent of things to come, and Pena’s departure is but the latest sign that Cato is going over to the

MBT Party. As one observer put it: “Fortunately, Ted Carpenter and Chris Preble are still there but

who knows what their future is. I think the jury is still out, but it’s hard not to read between the

lines.”

According to a source at Cato, Pena was told that the institute needed to cut staff to close a 7-figure

budget deficit. Yet only one other person (not a policy director and not someone in the defense and

foreign policy department) was let go (at the end of August). Curiously enough, the day after he was

RIF’ed (yes, that’s the term they used: “reduction in force”) Cato President Ed Crane announced the

promotion of no less than 4 people at Cato (with each presumably receiving a raise) and the hiring of a

new director of UGGS affairs. Also, there’s been plenty of talk about adding 3 floors to the building

— to accommodate a larger staff.

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