Abolition of Resale Price Maintenance

The London-based Institute for Economic Affairs (AEI) from its beginning undertook an extensive publishing program to push forward its free-market ideology. Among its publications was one particular paper, which had a direct and immediate political impact. Published in 1960 "Resale Price Maintenance and Shoppers' Choice" by Basil Yamey argued for the abolition of Resale Price Maintenance, which by fixing prices in shops prevented large stores from necessarily under-cutting smaller shops. Yamey argued that a free market in shop prices would save the shoppers £180,000,000 a year, and prices would fall by five percent.

The publication of Yamey's paper was timed to coincide with a period of public debate on the subject to ensure maximum impact, and Yamey's suggestions were taken up by the incumbent Conservative Government. Although the Abolition of Resale Price Maintenance by Edward Heath in 1964, can not only be attributed to Yamey's paper, it for sure had a substantial impact.

TEXTBLOCK 1/4 // URL: http://world-information.org/wio/infostructure/100437611704/100438658247
 
War on Anti-Poverty Programs

One of the most violent attacks undertaken by conservative U.S. think tanks has been on the federal anti-poverty programs. Beginning in the 1980s the Manhattan Institute sponsored and promoted two publications that urged the elimination of the federal anti-poverty program. "Wealth and Poverty", concluded that poverty was the result of personal irresponsibility, while "Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950 - 1980", observed that anti-poverty programs reduced marriage incentives, discouraged workers form accepting low-wage jobs, and encouraged unintended births among low income teenage and adult women.

These books were followed by Lawrence Mead's "Beyond Entitlement: The Social Obligations of Citizenship", which blamed governments for perpetuating poverty by not requiring welfare recipients to work. Other conservative grantees have used their funds for more than a decade to spread this kind of conservative political rhetoric and policy opinion through major media and conservative-controlled print and broadcast outlets. The redefinition of the problem and the demonization of the poor finally culminated in the passage of the welfare reform in 1996. The conservative anti-poor crusade not only led to cuts in federal anti-poverty spending, but also eliminated the only federal program guaranteeing cash assistance to poor women and their children.

TEXTBLOCK 2/4 // URL: http://world-information.org/wio/infostructure/100437611704/100438658208
 
Examples of Mainly Corporate Funded Think Tanks: Manhattan Institute

The Manhattan Institute, founded by William Casey, who later became President Reagan's CIA director, besides subsidies from a number of large conservative foundations has gained funding from such corporate sources as: The Chase Manhattan Bank, Citicorp, Time Warner, Procter & Gamble and State Farm Insurance, as well as the Lilly Endowment and philantropic arms of American Express, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CIGNA and Merrill Lynch. Boosted by major firms, the Manhattan Institute budget reached US$ 5 million a year by the early 1990s.

TEXTBLOCK 3/4 // URL: http://world-information.org/wio/infostructure/100437611704/100438658245
 
Examples of Mainly Corporate Funded Think Tanks: Brookings Institution

With a budget of US$ 23 million and assets worth US$ 192 million the Brookings Institution, based in Washington D.C., in 1998 was funded by: Corporate and private donations (38 %), endowment (30 %), revenue from conferences and seminars (18 %), sales of publications (9 %), government support (2 %).

Among the 138 corporate donors are: Bell Atlantic, Citibank, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, NationsBank, Exxon, Chevron, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Toyota, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Dupont, Mobil and Lockheed Martin, and the foundations of companies like American Express, Travelers, AT&T and McDonnell Douglas. A few media conglomerates, like Time Warner and the Washington Post Co.. Contributions of individual donors include executives from Visa, Procter and Gamble, BankAmerica and U.S. Airways.

TEXTBLOCK 4/4 // URL: http://world-information.org/wio/infostructure/100437611704/100438658213
 
Exxon

Formerly (until 1972) Standard Oil Company, Exxon is one of the world's largest corporations in terms of sales, with investments and operations in petroleum and natural gas, coal, nuclear fuels, chemicals, and such ores as copper, lead, and zinc. It also operates pipelines and one of the world's largest fleets of tankers and other ships. Exxon engages in every phase of the petroleum industry from oil fields to service stations. It is headquartered in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.

INDEXCARD, 1/6
 
Casey, William J.

b. March 13, 1913, Elmhurst, Queens, N.Y., U.S.
d. May 6, 1987, Glen Cove, N.Y.

Powerful and controversial director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1981 to 1987 during the Ronald Reagan administration. While affiliated with the law firm Rogers & Wells (1976-81), Casey became Reagan's presidential campaign manager and was subsequently awarded the directorship of the CIA in 1981. Under his leadership, covert action increased in such places as Afghanistan, Central America, and Angola, and the agency stepped up its support for various anticommunist insurgent organizations. He was viewed as a pivotal figure in the CIA's secret involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair, in which U.S. weapons were sold to Iran and in which money from the sale was funneled to Nicaraguan rebels, in possible violation of U.S. law. Just before he was to testify in Congress on the matter in December 1986, he suffered seizures and then underwent brain surgery; he died from nervous-system lymphoma without ever testifying.

INDEXCARD, 2/6
 
Microsoft Corporation

Founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen and headquartered in Redmond, USA, Microsoft Corporation is today's world-leading developer of personal-computer software systems and applications. As MS-DOS, the first operating system released by Microsoft, before, Windows, its successor, has become the de-facto standard operating system for personal computer. According to critics and following a recent court ruling this is due to unfair competition.

http://www.microsoft.com

For more detailed information see the Encyclopaedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/4/0,5716,1524+1+1522,00.html

http://www.microsoft.com/
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/4/0...
INDEXCARD, 3/6
 
Edward Heath

Conservative prime minister of Great Britain from 1970 to 1974. Of modest origins, Heath was educated at Oxford, where he was elected president of the University Conservative Association in 1937. In 1938, as chairman of the Federation of University Conservative Associations and president of the Oxford Union, he actively opposed the policy of appeasement toward Nazi Germany pursued by the Conservative prime minister Neville Chamberlain. He served in the army during World War II, worked in the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 1946-47, was editor of the Church Times from January 1948 to October 1949, and then became a member of a merchant banking firm.

INDEXCARD, 4/6
 
Pfizer

Pfizer Inc is a research-based, global pharmaceutical company. The company has three business segments: health care, animal health and consumer health care. Its products are available in more than 150 countries. Headquarters are in New York.

INDEXCARD, 5/6
 
AT&T

AT&T Corporation provides voice, data and video communications services to large and small businesses, consumers and government entities. AT&T and its subsidiaries furnish domestic and international long distance, regional, local and wireless communications services, cable television and Internet communications services. AT&T also provides billing, directory and calling card services to support its communications business. AT&T's primary lines of business are business services, consumer services, broadband services and wireless services. In addition, AT&T's other lines of business include network management and professional services through AT&T Solutions and international operations and ventures. In June 2000, AT&T completed the acquisition of MediaOne Group. With the addition of MediaOne's 5 million cable subscribers, AT&T becomes the country's largest cable operator, with about 16 million customers on the systems it owns and operates, which pass nearly 28 million American homes. (source: Yahoo)

Slogan: "It's all within your reach"

Business indicators:

Sales 1999: $ 62.391 bn (+ 17,2 % from 1998)

Market capitalization: $ 104 bn

Employees: 107,800

Corporate website: http://www.att.com http://www.att.com/
INDEXCARD, 6/6