The RAND Corporation is a
think tank. There are arguments over what RAND stands for; the official answer seems to be
Research ANd Development; internally, it is occasionally called Research And No Development. RAND was created in 1947 as
Project Air Force, a study group for
airfield and
air force operations. It has grown into a multi-location multi-thousand person
juggernaut, capable of performing high-quality
analysis on subjects ranging from its original Air Force roots to
health care policy, Army operations,
criminal justice systems, education policy, etc. RAND refers to itself as a
policy analysis institute. Essentially, the goal of RAND is to provide information that leads to better policymaking.
Just to make sure they retain staff, their original location and now world headquarters is in Santa Monica, CA. They are a hundred feet or so from the Santa Monica Pier and, naturally, the beach. This allows for fun lunchtime diversions.