Manhattan Institute Founded by CIA Director William Casey - Intelligence-Policy Crossover

In 1978, William J. Casey and Antony Fisher established the International Center for Economic Policy Studies (ICEPS) in Manhattan, which would be renamed the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research in 1981. Casey, a neoconservative who would become Reagan’s CIA Director from 1981 to 1987, created a domestic policy think tank that would have profound influence on urban policy, welfare reform, and policing strategies.

The Manhattan Institute became strongly associated with controversial policy frameworks that served corporate interests while appearing to address social problems. In 1982, the institute commissioned Charles Murray to write “Losing Ground,” published in 1984, which became highly influential in conservative welfare reform efforts and provided intellectual justification for cutting social programs.

The institute also promoted the “broken windows” theory of policing developed by George Kelling and James Q. Wilson. This theory, which emphasized aggressive policing of minor offenses in poor communities, was championed by Rudy Giuliani as mayor of New York and led to mass incarceration policies that disproportionately affected Black and Latino communities while leaving corporate crime largely unpoliced.

Casey’s establishment of a domestic policy think tank while serving in intelligence roles represents a significant blurring of boundaries between national security apparatus and domestic policy formation. The Manhattan Institute’s work on welfare “reform,” deregulation, and aggressive urban policing created intellectual cover for policies that protected corporate interests while intensifying surveillance and control of poor and minority communities.

The institute received substantial corporate funding and became part of the coordinated conservative think tank network alongside Heritage Foundation, AEI, and others - demonstrating how the Powell Memo vision of intellectual infrastructure was being implemented across multiple institutions with specialized policy focus areas.