Madsen Pirie


Duncan Madsen Pirie is a British researcher and author. He is a co-founder and current president of the Adam Smith Institute, a UK neoliberal think tank which has been in operation since 1977.

Early life and education

Duncan Madsen Pirie was born on 24 August 1940 in Hull, the son of Douglas Pirie and Eva Madsen. As a child he attended the Humberstone Foundation School in Old Clee, Lincolnshire.
He graduated with an MA in History from the University of Edinburgh. He attended the University of St Andrews, joining the Conservative Association, and graduating with a PhD in Philosophy in 1974. He earned an MPhil in Land Economy from Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Pirie was secretary of Mensa International from 1979 to 1992.

Career

Before co-founding the Adam Smith Institute, Pirie worked for the United States House of Representatives. He was a visiting professor of logic and philosophy at the private Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan, US. Alongside Douglas Mason, he helped devise the poll tax.
Pirie was one of three Britons living in the United States who founded the Adam Smith Institute, a UK-based think tank that champions the ideas of free market policy, and the elimination of government economic controls. In January 2010 Foreign Policy and the University of Pennsylvania named the Adam Smith Institute among the top 10 think tanks in the world outside of the US. Pirie served as the organization's president. The Adam Smith Institute was ranked 56th in the 2019 University of Pennsylvania index report.
Pirie was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to public policy.

Non-fiction

  • Economy and Local Government
  • Strategy Two
  • The Logic of Economics
  • Free Ports
  • Test Your I.Q.
  • The Future of Pensions
  • Aid by Enterprise: Market Solutions to the Problem of Development
  • The Book of Fallacy: A Training Manual for Intellectual Subversives
  • Dismantling the State: The Theory
  • Privatization: Theory, Practice and Choice
  • Micropolitics
  • The Health of Nations
  • The Health Alternatives
  • Enlightenment: Changing the System
  • Health Management Units
  • Managing Better Health
  • Extending Care
  • Curbing Crime: Its Origins, Pattern, and Prevention
  • Wider Still and Wider: Europe and the East
  • Boost Your IQ
  • Citizens Charter
  • Blueprint for a Revolution
  • The End of the Welfare State
  • 20-20 Vision: Targets for Britain
  • Sherlock Holmes IQ Book: Test Your I.Q. Against the Great Detective
  • IQ Puzzlers
  • Fortune Account
  • The Millennial Generation
  • The Next Leaders
  • How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic
  • Freedom 101
  • Zero Base Policy
  • 101 Great Thinkers – Makers of Modern Thought
  • Economics Made Simple: How Money, Trade and Markets Really Work
  • Think Tank: The Story of the Adam Smith Institute
  • ''Trial & Error and the Idea of Progress''

    Fiction

  • The Waters of Andros
  • Children of the Night
  • Dark Visitor
  • The Emerald Warriors
  • Tree Boy
  • Silver Dawn
  • Team Games
  • ''Spelthorpe''