The corrupted tobacco economists network - Part 41 : Benefit-cost analysis of EPA's workplace smoking policies

Overview of previous posts here

Benefit-cost analysis of EPA's workplace smoking policies

In 1991 the booklet “A benefit-cost analysis of the environmental protection agency's draft guide to workplace smoking policies” was written 

It was well paid work, even though Savarese did not mention all the names of the authors, which is strange as the document 1) does mention other names 2) this is written AFTER the 1987-audit in which the industry complained Savarese hiding some names from them.

Of course, again the authors did not work independently

It is amusing to read that the Tobacco Institute hired Miller and Tollison because they could not find anyone else

Either the output was subpar or did not meet the tobacco industry’s needs, as the work was not used.

The corrupted tobacco economists network - Part 40. More corrections by the Tobacco Institute

Overview of previous posts here

Dedicated taxes: new ways of shearing old sheep

The attack on taxes is illustrated in a 23 p. literature study “Dedicated Taxes: New ways of shearing old sheep" written in 1991 by Robert D. Tollison and Richard E. Wagner

The paper's front page once again highlighted both authors were members of the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason.

Nowhere did the paper mention the Tobacco Institute carefully read the text and even changed it where they deemed appropriate. This was not a text written by an independent academic.

The tobacco economists network - Part 39 - Indoor Air Quality

Overview of previous posts here

Phase I - II - III

In the early 1990s, the Tobacco Institute wanted to test the following hypothesis on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

Searching the LTDL did not yield much about Phases I and III, but the economists were involved in Phase II, and were briefed about the purpose

In 1990, Savarese wrote an overview of the "scientific" output of the economists. Some of these were published to be sure, but were they *really* genuine scientific results? The industry had to approve the papers...

and

And yes, the economists accepted those changes by the Tobacco Institute. Savarese wrote

The paper changed by the TI would also appear as chapter 11 in the 1991 book “The Economics of Smoking”. It is not clear if the industry paid twice for it.

And more proof of interference :

The economists earned a little cash for their "research". Well actually more than a little

The fees for the economists were high, and the industry went over budget

Of course the economists acceptance of changes from the tobacco industry makes it impossible to claim they were independent scientists.

This did not stop Gary M. Anderson from promoting his paper at a convention of the Western Economic Association

The corrupted tobacco economists network: Part 38 - the "scientific" output.

Overview of previous posts here

Scientific output

As stated in a previous post the Tobacco Institute wanted scientific output, because it needed an academic ground to attack social cost. Even when the network was formed, the Tobacco Institute handed out grants.

In 1986 nine economists proposed for the money, though the evaluation of the proposals show James Savarese was not too pleased and Savarese, not the Tobacco Institute, proposed to reject a couple. Savarese's memorandum makes clear the research had to benefit the industry

Henry Butler's proposal was rejected because the industry was not sure his research would be beneficial for the industry

More proof the Tobacco Institute did not tolerate output they disliked can be seen in a 1992 letter to James Savarese setting forth why The Economics of Smoking Bans by William Boyes and Michael Marlow was not funded 

In 1988 the industry must have ordered some social cost papers. The papers had to be reviewed by the Institute's lawyers before clearance. 

.

Again, this is not normal scientific behavior.

Corrupted tobacco economists network, Part 37: the last pro-tobacco book

Overview of previous posts here

The economics of smoking (1991)

The industry paid Tollison and Wagner 87,500 US$ for a revision of "Smoking and the State".

The book was published by Kluwer Publishers in 1991 as "Economics of Smoking: Getting It Right". Notice the prominent place on the front page for the logo of the Center of Public Choice at George Mason University. This is indeed buying academic credibility ?

Again, the plan to promote the book was ready before the book was even published




The pattern is similar to the earlier books so giving more details would not provide new information.

The arguments used in the book often are pretty one sided and weak, e.g. when dealing with the time wasted by cigarette breaks

Who knew that these kind of activities were only done by non-smokers . . .