1. Brief History
2. Early Successes
3. Establishment of the Center for Tax Policy
4. Establishment of the Education Program
5. Establishment of the Center for Health Policy Studies
6. Establishment of the Social Security / Medicare Program
7. Establishment of the Criminal Justice Center
8. Establishment of the Center for the Environment and Energy
9. Establishment of Women in the Economy
10. Establishment of the Welfare Program
11. International Focus
12. Institutional Growth
    • Revenue Growth
    • Washington Office
    • New Personnel
    • A new Publications Strategy
    • Marketing Innovations
13. Secrets of Success
    • Allowing the Customer to Come First
    • Adopting the Right Board of Directors
    • Developing Innovative Ideas
    • Incorporating Business Marketing Techniques
    • Adopting a Long-Term Strategy

The NCPA published only two environmental studies in the 1980s. Both received so much national attention that the organization was once again propelled into a leadership role.

• A 1986 study by John Baden, Chairman of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE), documented the many ways in which the federal government mismanaged the nation's natural resources, including Yellowstone National Park.
• A study by NCPA President John Goodman and Political Economy Research Center (PERC) scholar Richard Stroup showed that Americans are surrounded by trivial cancer risks – one of every two chemicals produced cancer in rodents when administered at high dosages. The scholars recommended focusing on the fewer serious risks rather than the thousands of trivial risks. The study received more than 15,000 column inches of newspaper coverage.
• In 1991, the NCPA assembled a 76-member task force representing think tanks and policy organizations on four continents. Their goal was to develop a pro-human, pro-science, pro-free enterprise approach to the environment. The published result, Progressive Environmentalism, was translated into Spanish for use throughout Latin America and into Portuguese for use at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992.
• Many credit the NCPA's A Consumer's Guide to Environmental Myths and Realities with reversing the 1991 debate on solid waste issues in the United States.
• In 1997, the NCPA produced New Environmentalism, a blueprint for a pro-free enterprise approach to environmental policies. The publication laid out the philosophy that was followed by the Bush Administration.
• The NCPA produced a path-breaking study on the effects of global warming, showing that the costs of the Kyoto agreement to halt global warming would far exceed any benefits. The NCPA’s work helped the Bush administration realize the defects in the treaty, and the administration withdrew U.S. support.
• A national effort begun in 2003, NCPA’s E-Team reaches out to millions of Americans about media misinformation on topics concerning the environment and energy. Adjunct scholars throughout the country who specialize in specific issues work with E-Team to inform the American public about the effects of environmental policy issues.