Academics and politics (1977–1984)

From 1977 to 1984, Reed taught economics at Midland, Michigan's Northwood University, serving as chairman of the Department of Economics from 1982 to 1984. While at Northwood, Reed designed the university's dual major in economics and business management and founded its annual "Freedom Seminar".

In 1982, he was the Republican candidate for U. S. Congress in Michigan's 10th district.^[8]

Reed's interests in political and economic affairs have taken him as a freelance journalist to 81 countries on six continents since 1985.^[9] Over the past twenty-five years, he has reported on hyperinflation in South America, black markets from behind the Iron Curtain, reforms and repression in China and Cambodia, and civil war inside Nicaragua and Mozambique. Additionally, he spent time with the Contra rebels during the Nicaraguan civil war; and lived for two weeks with Mozambique rebel forces at their bush headquarters in 1991, while the country was engaged at the height of their guerrilla conflict. Among many foreign experiences, Reed visited Cambodia in 1989 with his late friend, Academy Award winner Haing S. Ngor.^[10]

In 1986, while traveling with the Polish anti-communist underground,^[11] Reed was arrested and detained by border police.^[12] Reed's articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Baltimore Sun, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press and USA Today, and others.^[13]

Mackinac Center for Public Policy (1987–2008)

From 1987 to 2008, Reed served as the president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. According to The New York Times, under his leadership, the Mackinac Center emerged as one of the largest and most influential state-level policy institutes in the United States.^[14] The concept of the Overton window was developed during the time that Reed was president of the Mackinac Center. The "Overton window" refers to the range of ideas which are considered culturally and politically fringe to mainstream, and when a subject matter moves along this spectrum it is considered to have changed its status along the "Overton window". According to the Mackinac Center, "The Overton Window was developed in the mid-1990s by the late Joseph P. Overton, who was senior vice president at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy at the time of his death in 2003."^[15][16]

Long active in Michigan policy, Reed was appointed in 1993 by the state's then-Governor John Engler (R) to the Headlee Amendment Blue Ribbon Commission. The commission was established as part of the state's 1978 "Headlee amendment" for the purpose of limiting local and state government spending.^[17] It was officially abolished in 2004 by former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm.^[18]

In 1994, Reed was named to the Secchia Commission on Total Quality Government, a task force charged by Governor Engler to streamline Michigan state government. Engler and many of his administration's officials frequently cited the work of the Mackinac Center as influential in shaping administration policies.^[19]

During a 2003 address on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul paid tribute to Reed, acknowledging him as "one of America's leading advocates for liberty", and remarked that Reed's writings "reflect his unswerving commitment to limited government and the free market as the best way to promote human happiness."^[20][21]

In December 2007, the Heritage Foundation named Reed as a visiting senior fellow.^[12]

Foundation for Economic Education (since 2008)

On September 1, 2008, Reed became president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). FEE, founded in 1946 by Leonard Read, has been recognized as the first not-for-profit organization of its kind, familiarizing people with free-market economics.^{[independent source needed]} As president, Reed hoped to reassert FEE's position as a "mothership" for the freedom movement at large.^[6] According to Reed, "FEE believes a free society is not only possible, it is imperative because there is no acceptable alternative for a civilized people. Our vision for the future is that through education, men and women will understand the moral, philosophic and economic principles that undergird a free society. They will appreciate the direct connection between those principles and their material and spiritual welfare. They will strive to pass those principles on from one generation to the next."^[22][7]