Fred Smith, founder of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has passed away.  I first met Fred and his wife Fran in the early ’80s.  He was a brilliant warrior for economic freedom and his CEI is by far the most “hard core” free market institution in D.C. (which yes, I know, is not saying much).  CEI scholars have battled the Watermelons (“environmentalist” commies) for decades.  Fred hired the great R.J. Smith, a student of Ludwig von Mises at NYU, as their senior scholar in that area.  This memorial says it all about the kind of person Fred was.  Rest in Peace, Fred.

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