American Institute for Economic Research

The American Institute for Economic Research, known as AIER, is a free market, libertarian think tank headquartered in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, founded in 1933 by economist and investment adviser Edward C. Harwood with 200 dollars from magazine article earnings. It operates as a nonprofit organization with a network of local chapters called Harwood Salons and owns the investment advisory firm American Investment Services. AIER drew wide attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for promoting the 2020 Great Barrington Declaration, which argued for a herd immunity strategy and was widely criticized by public health experts, and the article describes the institute as a source of climate and health misinformation. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/