CFR Receives Major Grant From Falls-Rogers Foundation to Support RealEcon Initiative

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has received $2.5 million from the Amy Falls and Hartley Rogers Foundation to support RealEcon: Reimagining American Economic Leadership, CFR’s cross-cutting initiative to explore the U.S. role in the international economy. 

Launched in April 2024, the RealEcon Initiative works to assess the role of the United States in the international economy, analyze what is at stake for the American people, and identify the trade-offs in different policy approaches.  

“There has never been a more important time to consider the U.S. role in the international economy, why it matters to U.S. interests, to Americans, and to the world, and the trade-offs involved in different policy approaches,” said CFR President Michael Froman. “We are grateful to Amy Falls and Hartley Rogers for their generous support, which will enable the RealEcon Initiative to broaden and deepen its work and help shape a new consensus on U.S. international economic policy.” 

The initiative’s initial focus is on three areas of international economic policy: trade and investment, development, and economic security. Through research projects, convenings, publications, and outreach to policymakers, experts, and the public, RealEcon aims to promote a durable new consensus on American economic leadership.  

“Amy and I are proud to be supporting this important work at the intersection of economics and foreign policy during such a time of dynamic changes,” said Hartley Rogers.  

In the period ahead, RealEcon will explore what the United States expects from its trading partners and what it needs to offer to win their support, assess the objectives and impact of U.S. development assistance and international investment, and develop a practical guide for policymakers to export controls, investment screening, and other tools of economic security. 

The RealEcon team, led by Director of the Greenberg Center Matthew P. Goodman, will continue its nationwide and global listening tour to learn how Americans and people in other countries feel about U.S. involvement in the international economy.  

Through short and longer-form writings, CFR fellows in the Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies and the David Rockefeller Studies Program, as well as outside experts, offer insights on American economic leadership and the trade-offs involved.  

For more about the initiative, please visit https://www.cfr.org/initiative/realecon. 

For more information, please contact [email protected].