Projects & Partnerships

The Shadow Open Market Committee (SOMC) was founded in 1973 by Prof. Karl Brunner of the University of Rochester and Prof. Allan Meltzer of Carnegie-Mellon University. The SOMC is an independent organization whose members are drawn from academic institutions and private organizations. The original objective of the SOMC was to evaluate the policy choices and actions of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC).

Over the years the Committee has broadened its scope to cover a wide range of macroeconomic policy issues ranging from monetary and fiscal policy to issues pertaining to international trade and tax policy. The Committee’s deliberations are intended to improve policy discussions among policy makers, journalists and the general public with the hope that wiser policy decisions will result.

Since 1973, the SOMC has met on a regular basis to discuss economic policy. At each meeting a number of papers are prepared by Committee members on a variety of macroeconomic and public policy topics. Based on these papers and the Committee’s deliberations, a Policy Statement is prepared that summarizes the most important policy recommendations of the Committee. Each of these publications can be viewed in the interactive SOMC Archives. The views and opinions expressed by the Committee are its own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations with which the members are affiliated or the sponsoring organizations.

The Shadow Open Market Committee has partnered with e21 in order to advance these goals and ideals.

The mission of ObamaCareWatch.org (OCW) is to help promote sensible health care policy that is patient-centered and market-driven. It is a website focused on monitoring implementation of President Obama’s newly passed health care law – including in-depth research and analysis with key news stories and commentary.

OCW provides one-stop shopping for anyone who wants a regularly updated, searchable database on the current and anticipated effects of the new health care law, the facts and arguments about it, and new developments concerning it. Visitors to the site will have easy access to source documents about the law (primers, legislative language, CBO scores, etc.) and regulatory implementation information. Our aim is to pull and organize the best of the best, without regard to which institution or think tank originally published it. In short, we want to provide concerned citizens with all the facts so they can hold those who sponsored and passed the new health law accountable.

e21 and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research have forged a partnership to advance their mutual goals of providing high-quality, timely analysis of federal economic issues of the day.

For over 30 years, the Manhattan Institute has been an important force in shaping American political culture and developing ideas that foster economic choice and individual responsibility. It has supported and publicized research on our era's most challenging public policy issues: taxes, health care, energy, the legal system, policing, crime, homeland security, urban life, education, race, culture, and many others. Its work has won new respect for market-oriented policies and helped make reform a reality.

Located in New York City, the Manhattan Institute produces ideas that are both literally and figuratively outside the Beltway. It has cultivated a staff of senior fellows and writers whose provocative books, essays, reviews, interviews, speeches, and op-ed pieces communicate our message and influence the debate.