CREATED 3/6/2010
WARNING:
This site deals only with the corporate corruption of science, and makes no inference about the motives or activities of individuals involved.
There are many reasons why individuals become embroiled in corporate corruption activities - from political zealotry to over-enthusiastic activism; from gullibility to greed.
Please read the OVERVIEW carefully, and make up your own mind.
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OPINION ONLY
Dominick T Armentano
[Prof ]
A Professor of Economics at the University of Hartford in Connectricut, who was a supporter of the tobacco industry, and made himself available to give evidence on their behalf.
Armentano was one of the first of a new group of recruits of economic/academic whitecoats employed by the Tobacco Institute in the mid 1980s to provide "independent witness" at legislative hearings, in court cases, etc. They were also available to put their names to reports, studies, letters-to-the-editor and newspaper op-eds pieces, when required.
At this time they appear to have been paid an annual retainer of $1000, with additional payment for services rendered. It also appears that the initial contacts were made through third-parties (recruiting organizations or lawyers) in order to preserve confidentiallity and to provide the future witness with deniability.
Armentano's recruitment was obviously viewed by the Tobacco Institute as highly successful, and the approach to him was seen as the bell-wether technique used for a number of other economics professors being recruited among universities in the northeast USA at this time.
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D.T. Armentano is Professor of Economics at the University of Hartford, where he has taught since 1967. He has also taught at the University of Connecticut, where he received his Ph.D. in Economics in 1966 with a dissertation on the political economy of William Graham Sumner.
His teaching areas include antitrust economics and law, government regulation of business, energy economics, money and banking, and business and society in the MBA program.
Armentano has lectured widely to business and academic audiences, both in the United States and abroad. His lectures include talks at Harvard, Cornell, Dartmouth, Tufts, Stanford, and UCLA Law School among others. His talks before business audiences include the Wisconsin Forum and the 73rd Annual Convention of the Mid-West Gas Association. In December of 1980 he was the featured speaker at the 22nd Annual Management Seminar Series sponsored by the Rochester Institute of Technology. His organizational affiliations include the advisory boards of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise and the Council for a Competitive Economy ; he is also on the editorial board of The Journal of Libertarian Studies and REASON papers. His public affairs radio program, BYLINE , is heard on 150 stations across the country twice each month. Professor D.T. Armentano was a recipient of the 1980 Leavey Foundation Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education presented by Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge.  
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1986 Jan: Public Relations Resources Commitee of TI lists him as "available to provide economic testimony on the public smoking issue" He is an op-ed writer and/or witness who is available at two weeks notice. Page 9
1987 Jun 3: Memo on "Economic Witness Evaluation" from Dennis Dyer of the Tobacco Institute to an associate George Minshew.
They initially identified six economists in New England who appear willing to work with them on tobacco-related issues [lending their names to op-eds, studies, etc. and giving witness for the industry at inquiries].
In April another economist was identified and subsequently contacted — Professor Simon Rottenberg, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
On February 24, I contacted each of the identified economists in the region by letter (Attachment B). In each instance I provided the economist with three examples of Tl-generated economic impact studies and asked for their initial impressions and recommendations. This is the tobacco industry's standard technique of recruiting scientists and academics. Before they are formally contracted, they must prove they are aligned to industry reguirement by turning in some written commentary which shows that they support the industry's pro-tobacco position.
Dyer has a plan for more effectively use of these economists, nationwide. He also includes the full multi-page resume of Professor Dominick T Armento (see table above) who has proved to be a successful recruit.
On Page 44 there is a copy of Dyer's letter to Armentano. The Professor had been previously contacted by Jim Savarese (a specialist lobbyist and recruiter of economists) and this was the follow-up letter arranging a formal review of some literature (to ascertain his opinions re smoking) and to arrange a meeting for recruitment discussion. This letter has been prominently labeled:
"**SAMPLE LETTER TO ECONOMIC WITNESSES**" - Attachment 1. Page 15 is a pro-industry article Armentano has written in the Hartford Courant, "Cigarette taxes flunk on fairness"
- Attachment 2. Page 16 is the resume of Robert C McMahon, who is an Associate Professor of Economics at the USM.
- Attachment 3. Page 19 is the resume of Lee J Alston, Assisant professor of Economics at Williams College and a private consultant to an unnamed law firm. [He is in Australia on leave - see reply page 45]
- Attachment 4. Page 24 is the resume of Dennis E Logue of the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. [He is at Georgetown University at this time, and he replies (Page 46) favourably reviewing the literature he has been sent, and suggesting lines of defense for the industry]
- Attachment 5 . Page 32 is the resume of Arthur C Mead, Assistant Professor at the University of Rhode Island. [He didn't reply to the TI request that he review their literature and comment on the economic case]
- Attachment 6 . Page 37 is the resume of K Celeste Gaspari, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Vermont. [He replies (Page 48) saying he is still waiting for the annual $1000 retainer he was promised, and is disappointed with the Tobacco Institute. He won't work with them if this is the way they do business.]
- Attachment 7 . Page 40 is the resume of William F Shughart II, ex Special Assistant to the Director, Bureau of Economics at the FTC, and now an Associate Professor at Clemson University. [He apparently didn't reply]
1990 Jan: This is a list of the work that scientists and academic consultants working for the Tobacco Institute have achieved over the past year.
Brennan Dawson, PR head of the Tobacco Institute, report on their activities to the TI's Communications Committee She gives details of their work in planting ghosted academic-op-ed pieces for the tobacco industry. Some of the economists managed to plant these TI-written articles on a number of newspapers.
On Dawson's Tobacco Institute list these names are marked "Consulting Economists, not on Philip Morris' List" which suggests that another subsantial list of tobacco-serving economists also existed elsewhere
- Robert Tollison, Duncan Black Professor of Economics, George Mason University [He is probable the author of the main op-ed featured below]
1/90 Letters to administration officials debunking excise tax/"user fee" connection
- Richard Wagner, Chair and Harris Professor, Department of Economics, George Mason University [associate of Tollison]
1/90 Letters to administration officials debunking excise tax/"user fee" connection
- Dwight Lee, Ramsey Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
1/90 Op-ed on excise taxes and user fees published in Macon TelegraBh News
On the Tobacco Institute list these names are marked "Consulting Economists, not on Philip Morris' List"
- David Gay, Professor of Economics, University of Arkansas
4/90 Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in Arkansas Democrat
- Barry Poulson, Professor of Economics, University of Colorado
5/90 Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in Aiamosa Valley Courier
- Dominick Armentano, Professor of Economics, University of Hartford
1/90 Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in New Haven Register
- Michael Babcock, Professor of Economics, Kansas State University
3/90 Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in The Topeka Capital-Journal
- Thomas Wyrick, Professor of Economics, Southwest Missouri State University
5/90 Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in News-Leader
- Clifford Dobita, Professor of Economics, North Dakota State IIniversity
3/90 Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in Grand Forks Herald
- Richard Vedder, Professor of Economics, Ohio vniversity
1/90 Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in Plain Dealer
- Joseph Jadlow, Professor of Economics, Oklahoma State University
4/90 Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in The Tulsa Tribune
- Ryan Amacher, Dean of the College of Commerce and Industry, Clemson University
2/90: Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in The Anderson Independent-Mail
- J R Clark, Hendrix Professor of Economics, University of Tennessee
5/90 Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in The Paris Post-Intelligencer, The Weakly County Press, Kinusoort Times-News, The Commercial Appeal, the Jackson Sun.
- John David, Professor, West Virginia Tech
2/90: Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in The Charleston Gagette
- William Hunter, Associate Professor of Economics, Marquette University
2/90: Excise Tax/"user fee" op-ed published in The Milwaukee Journal
- Todd Sandler, Professor of Economics, Iowa State University
6/90 Anti-excise tax/"no taxes" op-ed published in Fort Dodge Messenger
- William Mitchell, Professor of Political Science, University of Oregon
6/90 Anti-excise tax/"no taxes" op-ed published in The Register Guard
Clearly dozens of recruited academic economists have planted the same story as an op-ed under their own names in their local newspapers. Robert Tollison of George Mason university was both an organiser of economists, and a dilligent consultant to the tobacco industry — and with his associate, Richard Wagner, probably the author of the op-ed.
This is only a small section of the list, and many of the economists are listed as having provided other similar services also. See document.
2008 Jan 30: Herald Tribute reports "Cato caves on UFOs."
Dominick Armentano has been removed from his position as Adjunct Scholar at the Cato Institute after writing an op-ed piece about UFOs of which they didn't approve in the Vero Beach Press-Journal.
Free-market economist and commentator Dom Armentano never considered his occasional reflections on America's UFO conundrum to be particularly gutsy. After all, this stuff's on "Larry King" now. But his Jan. 8 op-ed piece in the Vero Beach Press-Journal advocating government declassification was evidently too much for his bosses at the libertarian Cato Institute.
A few days after his column appeared, the Vero Beach resident got a letter informing him Cato was in the "process of overhauling" its adjunct scholars program. More to the point, it was canning Armentano as an adjunct scholar. When Armentano queried why he was being dropped, Cato's Executive Vice President, David Boaz, replied that "I won't deny that this latest op-ed played a role in our decision. Some day we may look back and wish we'd listened to you. But for now this strikes us as not an issue that we want to have as part of Cato's research agenda."
Free-market economist and commentator Dom Armentano never considered his occasional reflections on America's UFO conundrum to be particularly gutsy. After all, this stuff's on "Larry King" now. But his Jan. 8 op-ed piece in the Vero Beach Press-Journal advocating government declassification was evidently too much for his bosses at the libertarian Cato Institute.
Armentano complained [in an email]. "Indeed, when I did the PBS radio show ÔByline' many, many years ago, I recall doing a commentary on UFOs. No one said anything.
Boaz's squeamishness exposes the Washington think tank for what it is — just another garden-variety Beltway box turtle beholden to cash infusions of institutional thinking. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_institute
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