ABSTRACT
The concept that a non-profit foundation would promote ideas was developed in the twentieth century, along with the development of the modern American foundation. The concept of human capital was strongly entrenched in the programs that Carnegie and Rockefeller wanted to support. The Carnegie Corporation was established in 1911 and Andrew Carnegie served as its president from its founding until his death in 1919. Carnegie believed that by making public libraries available, every individual in the community from the millionaire to the pauper could avail themselves of the great ideas contained in books. Philanthropies from the Carnegie Corporation to the Rockefeller Foundation, and those before and after, have always supported the creation and dissemination of ideas through their support of institutions of higher learning. The push to establish an economics institute finally came to fruition with the creation of the National Bureau of Economic Research in 1920.
