Editing Cato Institute (section)

==History==
===20th century===
The institute was founded in January 1977 in [[San Francisco]], California;<ref name="40 Years Anniversary Timeline"/> named at the suggestion of cofounder Rothbard after ''[[Cato's Letters]]'', a series of British essays penned in the early 18th century by [[John Trenchard (writer)|John Trenchard]] and [[Thomas Gordon (writer)|Thomas Gordon]].<ref>The essays, named after [[Cato the Younger]], the defender of republican institutions in [[Roman Republic|Rome]], expounded on the political views of philosopher [[John Locke]], that had a strong influence on the [[American Revolution]]'s intellectual environment. See: {{cite journal |last=Mitchell|first=Annie|title=A Liberal Republican "Cato"|journal=American Journal of Political Science|date=July 2004|volume=48|doi=10.1111/j.0092-5853.2004.00089.x|issue=3|pages=588–603}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Rossiter|first=Clinton |author-link=Clinton Rossiter |title=Seedtime of the Republic: the origin of the American tradition of political liberty|url=https://archive.org/details/seedtimeofrepubl0000ross|url-access=registration|year=1953|publisher=Harcourt, Brace|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/seedtimeofrepubl0000ross/page/141 141]| quote= No one can spend any time the newspapers, library inventories, and pamphlets of colonial America without realizing that Cato's Letters rather than John Locke's Civil Government was the most popular, quotable, esteemed source for political ideas in the colonial period.}}</ref>

In 1981, [[Murray Rothbard]] was removed from the Cato Institute by the board.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Kochtopus vs. Murray N. Rothbard by David Gordon |url=https://www.lewrockwell.com/gordon/gordon37.html |website= |date=5 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305214553/https://www.lewrockwell.com/gordon/gordon37.html |archive-date=5 March 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> That same year, Cato relocated to [[Washington, D.C.]], settling initially in a historic house on [[Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.|Capitol Hill]]. The institute moved to its current location on [[Massachusetts Avenue (Washington, D.C.)|Massachusetts Avenue]] in 1993.<ref>{{Cite news |title=About The Cato Institute |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/events/venues/120789 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

===21st century===
In 2009, Cato Institute was ranked the fifth-ranked think tank in the world in a study of think tanks by James G. McGann, at the [[University of Pennsylvania]], based on a criterion of excellence in "producing rigorous and relevant research, publications and programs in one or more substantive areas of research".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sas.upenn.edu/irp/documents/2009GlobalGoToReportThinkTankIndex_1.31.2010.02.01.pdf |title=The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program 2009 |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]] |access-date=November 20, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607150006/http://www.sas.upenn.edu/irp/documents/2009GlobalGoToReportThinkTankIndex_1.31.2010.02.01.pdf |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref>

The Cato Institute had a budget of $23 million in 2012.{{cn|date=March 2025}} In 2015, Cato's revenue exceeded $37 million, and the organization had 124 employees on staff.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rise of the Cato Institute |url=https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/rise-of-the-cato-institute/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=Philanthropy Roundtable |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2024, its revenue was reported at more than $71 million.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, Brandon |date=2013-05-09 |title=Cato Institute - Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237432162 |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Results |url=https://www.cato.org/cato-institute-2023-annual-report/financial-results |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=www.cato.org}}</ref>