When the Koch vs Cato controversy erupted blogger Skip Oliva was all over it. Now he’s just over it:
When you cut through all the bullshit—90% of which is coming from the Cato side—what you’re left with is two old men who simply refuse to compromise. Charles Koch signed an agreement that he believes Ed Crane refuses to honor. Ed Crane feels he has earned the right to dictate Cato’s future after 35 years at the helm. Complicating matters was a series of poorly drafted legal documents, from the two shareholder agreements to Niskanen’s will. There’s no great ideological battle going on here. And I’m not going to spend another moment pretending otherwise.
Steven Hayward, who’s dealt with both the Kochs and with Ed Crane, writes: "A clash between the Kochs and Crane over personalities and business principles is not hard to imagine."