Jeff Ray Clark

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DISAMBIGUATION: (confusion common)
* Network Economist: Professor Jeff Ray Clark was hired from government services as the Chairman of Economics and Finance, Fairleigh Dickson Uni, New Jersey. He appears then to have been briefly seconded to Tennessee Uni at Chatanooga in 1987. Then returned to FDU. In late 1989 he was Prof. of the Hendrix Free Enterprise chair at Tennessee Uni, Martin. In 1995 he held the Probasco Chair of Free Enterprise at Chattanooga.

His friends called him "Jeff Ray" Clark, and he sometimes was listed on Advisory Boards, etc. as "Jeffrey" Clark. However he published under his initials only, as J.R. Clark     He was always a diligent tobacco lobbyist.

* German Medical journal editor J.R. Clark George Theime Verlag, Stuttgart (circa 1992)
* Philip Morris had a J.R. Clark staff member in the mid 1980s. He was Jack R. Clark.
* MIT Student: (Wolf Lab) circa 1972 had a biologist Jeff Clark. He is also the 1977 Jeff Clark at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) biologist, and he could be the RJ Reynolds staff member later.
* MotoCross champion circa 1984 Jeff Clark used in publicity.
* RJ Reynolds (c 2000) A medicinal chemist/addiction staff member was also a Jeff Clark
* In September 1997 RJ Reynolds lists also a J.R. Clark Jr. in their sales department.
Tobaccospin.jpg

This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.


Professor Jeffrey Raymond Clark is best known to his associates as Jeff Ray Clark and to readers of the documents in the tobacco archives as J.R. Clark. He worked out of the University of Tennessee (both at Martin and Chatanooga), holding "Free Enterprise" chairs for most of his life, but he also took a spell with the College of Business Administration at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.

In Tennessee he was so concerned with the plight of the lower classes that he wrote numerous op-eds for local and state newspapers complaining bitterly about the imposition of excise taxes on cigarettes, which he believed made the poor suffer more than the rich because of its 'regressive' nature. He was equally concerned about the hip-pocket effect on New Jersey smoking workers when he was in New Jersey. The tobacco industry paid him generously for these articles and for his diligence in writing letters to local Assembleymen, Congressmen and Senators making the same points.

He wasn't a lone voice in promoting the cause of smoking. He worked through the Cash for Comments Economists Network set up by Robert Tollison and James Savarese for the Tobacco Institute, and they acted as a go-between to preserve his integrity as an 'independent commentator'. He also had his own consulting company JR Clark & Associates which was probably used to launder the tobacco company payments. [1]

Wikipedia has a good cleaned-buffed-and-polished biography of him under the Jeff Ray Clark] title. He was in fact a diligent lobbyist for the tobacco industry for decades.

 

HOW THE NETWORK WORKED

The Cash-for-Comments Economists' Network was run by Savarese through a partnership with Professor Robert D Tollison who used the staff and facilities of the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason University to prove cut-out and organisation services. They developed and maintained a network of Economics Professors with at least one on tap in virtually every US state. As one Professor transferred or dropped out (there was a regular turn-over) a new one would be recruited in that State. In all, about 130 university professors were involved in the period 1985-1995, and costs ran to $3 million/year at a time when professor's salaries were in the $30-40,000 pa range. An active network member at a State university could almost double his normal salary.

  The main focus of the group was to write commissioned op-ed articles on a subject determined by the Tobacco Institute. The draft article would then pass back through the network to TI staff, who were essentially public relations experts. Here they were 'improved' and refined; then sent to the Institute's outside lawyers for vetting. Modified articles then returned to the professor, who would then send them to a designated State newspaper as if they were his 'independent expert opinion'. The professors received a base amount for writing and bonuses for successfully planting the article on the newspaper. Some, but not all, received a small (eg.$1000) annual retainer.[2]]

  Published papers would also be copied by the professor and sent to his local Federal Representative and Senator (for a further bonus). Sometimes there were special commissions, but generally the work was writing op-eds and LTE's where they were paid just on results (varied from about $700 to $3000 over the years). Network members could also be called upon to provide witness services and promote the cigarette companies' political/economic line at local ordinance or State legislative hearings. An active professor of economics at a State University could almost double his salary with these activities and with some further appearances, for instance, speaking on the importance of cigarettes in economic terms at major economic conferences, etc.
      Cash for Comments Economists Network   &   Robert Tollison   &   James Savarese   &   Network Document Index

 

Documents & Timeline

• Born Waynesboro Virginia. Attended University of Richmond.

1968-70 /E: University of Richmond

1970: B.S. Virginia Commonwealth University

1972: M.A. Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He studied under James Buchanan and Robert Tollison.

1974: Ph.D. Virginia Polytechnic Institute

1975-80 He had a salaried position with the Joint Council on Economic Education in New York.

1980 He was the professor and chairman of the Department of Economics and Finance (Samuel J. Silberman College of Business Administration) at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU), New Jersey.

If this CV is correct then J.R. Clark now jumped into a full professorship at the Fairleigh Dicksinson University in New Jersey, and he was also the Chairman of the Economics and Finance Department of the Business Administration college.

Note some of these dates don't stack up when compared with published details.

1986J.R. Clark first appears in the tobacco documents as an economic lobbyist in 1986 or early 1987. He never uses his first names -- he is always known by initials in the tobacco archives

1987 Feb 6: James Savarese has finalised his list of compliant economists, and sends them to Susan Stuntz at the Tobacco Institute. It lists all the familiar cash-for-comment economists.

Established network economists:
Lee Anderson, Terry Anderson, Dom Armentano, Cecil Bohanon, Thomas Borcherding, Henry Butler, JR Clark, John David, Allan Dalton, Arthur Denzau, Clifford Dobitz, Robert Ekelund, David Gay, Anne Harper-Fender, Dennis Hein, John Howe, William Hunter, Joe Jadlow, Michael Kurth, Suuner LaCroix, Dwight Lee, C Matt Lindsay, Dennis Logue, Chuck Mason [Masen], Charles Maurice, Fred McChesney, Robert McMahon, Arthur Mead, Wm Mitchell, Allen Parkman, William Peterson, Thomas Pogue, Barry Poulson, Raymond Raab, Simon Rottenberg, Mark Schmitz, Richard Vedder, Richard Wagner

plus four new ones.

  • Greg Neihaus, [aka Neuhaus] University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • Mario Rizzo, New York University NY
  • Roger Riefler, Uni of Nebraska, Lincoln
  • Boon Yoon, State Uni of New York, Binghamton, NY [3]

1987 Feb /E A Tobacco Institute list of "Schedule of Payments - Excise Tax Op-Ed project." (for the period April-May 1986) This lists the academic economists on their cash-for-comments network who have already planted an article on a local newspaper, and the amount they are to be paid.

They appear to have been paid $900 for each article, and $1025 if they had also made contact with their local Congressman. However a number of the cash-for-comments network members still have not completed their commission.

The George Mason (Uni) production staff of Bob Tollison, Bill Shughart, and Gary Anderson were paid for "rewrites, editing and research, 18 articles", and Carol Robert (CSPC staff) for the "production of final product. " This is a total of $18,000 + $1067 expenses. [4]

[This appears to be an addition $1000 per article to check the op-eds and make them into publishable propaganda for each of the local newspapers]
  • Jeff Clarke (name mispelled) in New Jersey has been given the target of planting his op-ed article on the Paterson News and was due for payment of $1,800.00. [5]
    [This was the highest amount paid to any of the academic economists.]
  • The GMU production staff were also being paid another $9,500 for rewrites, editing and research on 9 additional articles.
  • Savarese himself seems to be charging $5,800 + $235 in expenses for recruiting replacement economists in California, Montana, New York, Ohio and Tennessee.
Tobacco Institute Accounts
Note: There are no Tobacco Institute accountancy payment details (checks or ledger records) for Clark or his company JR Clark & Associates. This is unusual with Tobacco Institute consultants -- so it is evident that his payments were laundered through Ogilvy & Mather, James Savarese & Associates, or (most likely) Tollison's Center for the Study of Public Choice.

1987 Apr /E His article "Excise Taxes: Good Politics, Bad Economics" is in the Tobacco Institute files along with many others being submitted by the network economists at this time. [6]


If there are any lingering doubts that these economist knew exactly what they were doing, it should be dispelled by a Tobacco Institute memo of June 3 1987. [7]. This shows that they knew that this work was unethical - that it needed to be done surreptitiously - and that they were working for the Tobacco Institute ... but in a way that was deniable since no formal contracts existed.

Apparently Prof. McMahon has " … reviewed and agreed to "author" an economic impact study on the effects of a smoking bill …"
The writer puts "author" in quotes ... leaving no doubt that the professor was being paid to put his name to a tobacco industry paper.

The same file has an letter from Professor K. Celeste Gaspari, an economist from the University of Vermont. She tells us that:
    • She had been contacted in Sep 1985 by the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason Uni (Tollison's think-tank)
    • She was offered an annual retainer of $1000 + paid work for the Tobacco Institute.
    • In 1986 she had been paid the retainer and had written a paper for them.
    • It was now March '87 and her retainer hadn't arrived. She'd complained but still hadn't received the retainer.
    • She has now been asked to do more work, but is on strike until her $1000 annual retainer is paid.

I am very disappointed with the Tobacco Institute's policies on making good on verbal agreements.
It is true I never had a written agreement with the Institute -- we only spoke over the phone. I did, however naively, trust that a verbal agreement with a prestigious institute was as good as a formal contract. I was evidently mistaken.
I am not interested in working with your group at this time if this is the way you do business.

Sincerely K. Celeste Gaspari

 

1987 Mar 30 News piece in the Chattanooga News-Free Press saying "A successful political campaign against smoking, while base on improving the nation's health, could made Tennessee's economy sick. They are quoting J.R. Clark at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. (No title of Professor). He called himself an "avid non-smoker", but said that warning labels on cigarettes, and data on the negative health effects of smoking would cause a gradual voluntary drop in tobacco use. He was also against the regressivity of excise tax increases.

A Tobacco Institute letter may explain the apparent discrepancy. At this time Clark was actually a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson Uni in New Jersey but he gave the Chatanooga news journalist an interview. (He may have been briefly seconded to the Tennessee Uni.) [8]

His news item is grouped with a number of op-eds from the Cash for Comments Economists Network around the same date.

1987 Apr 5 A later page in the same folder, dated April 5 1987 (only a month later) is a fairly balanced article by journalist Lawrence Hackett in the Sunday Star-Ledger It has a picture of "J.R.Clark" and quotes him an economist from New Jersey's Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU). He is the Chairman of the economics and finance department at the FDU's Samuel J. Silberman College of Business Administration. [9]

This Professor J.R. Clark PhD is arguing against higher taxes and smoking bans in office buildings because it would accelerate the downfall of the tobacco industry, causing unemployment and adding thousands to the welfare rolls. He is concerned because Chase Econometrics (employed by the Tobacco Institute) says that 7,863 New Jersey workers were directly employed in the tobacco industry. Clark says their employment adds $1.35 billion to the state. He argues that "a successful political campaign against smoking, predicated upon improving the nation's health, could well turn out to make the New Jersey economy very sick."

  • The following page is an op-ed by the Fairleigh Dickinson University professor in the Morristown Daily Record (Apr 12 1987) It attacks the anti-smoking crusade , and takes the same line about the damage to New Jersey's economy. "Economy may get bombed by anti-smoking crusade." He is now predicting that the anti-smoking crusaders will win and that smoking will be banned.

He uses the same doomsaying argument as before: all those thousands of tobacco industry workers in New Jersey will suddenly lose their jobs overnight... and then the multiplier effect will come into play, putting 60,500 workers in dependent industries out on the streets. This will devastate the State economy. [10]

[It is hard to credit that Clark could go on to become a tenured Professor in two universities in Tennesee and also become the President of the Mont Pelerin Society -- but he did. They must celebrate inate stupidity.]
  • The FDU professor also has a 'Point-of-view' article in the Daily Record, Northbridge (NJ) Aug 29 "Excise taxes could negate tax reform" where he rails against the regressivity of excise taxes. [11]

1987 June 9: The Tobacco Institute's Phase II - Excise Tax Op-Ed project involved an article-writing campaign to oppose health care reform on the basis that the governments would be tempted to boost health-care budgets by taxing products like cigarettes -- which caused so much of the ill-health.

At this time cash-for-comment economists project was controlled at the TI by Jeff Rose [under the supervision of Peter Sparber] and it focussed on defeating cigarette excise tax increases -- and especially the threat of such taxes being 'earmarked' to bolster health care budgets.

The partnership of Saverese and Tollison which ran the network was now supported by Tollison's wife Anna Tollison, who was employed by James Savarese & Associates to keep the records of articles generated by their large contingent of academic economists, and to organise the payments. She reported that...

"In sum, 41 economists were solicited to write editorials. We have publications in 20 states, 14 articles have been written and submitted, and 7 articles are still outstanding." [Others were in the offing]

She listed the economists who wrote the articles, the newspapers in which they were published, together with circulation figures [eg. the potential number of readers they may have influenced], and the publication date. Jeff Clark is featured on her list.

NEW JERSEY, Clark, Newark Star Ledger , [circ.] 600,000 , [pub date] 4/5/87
[also published in the Daily Record, circulation 70,000 on the 4/12/87] [12]

1987 June 22: The Tobacco Institute has been sent a "Schedule of Payments -- Excise Tax Op-Ed Project" by Savarese. This appears to be supplementary to the previous details of placements. It details the name of the cash-for-comment economist, the State, the targetted newspaper, and both past and current payments -- with a separate column labled "Total Earned to Date".

In NEW JERSEY
Clark for Patterson News --Owed $1800 -- Total to date $1800 [13]

1987 June 23 Savarese writes to Jeff Ross at the Tobacco Institute sending along a list of Democrat members of the House Ways and Means Committee...

... along with the economists we use in those areas. Nine of these are good, solid hits which we should be able to count on to do the job and get a publication. I have *ed these on the attached list. The remaining 6 are all people we have used in the past, but who have not been consistently successful.

Since I'm under a new financial arrangement with the Tobacco Institute and I need to get these costs cleared in advance, I'll make my best effort here to budget this proposed project.

If all 15 would get published, which is highly unlikely, the cost of Phase II Excise Tax Op-ed Project would run $45,000.

More than likely we'll get 8-10 placements and 3 to 4 others who won't get placed, but will still send letters to their members on the Ways and Means Committee. In that case, the cost will be $37,000.

[This proves, beyond doubt, that under this arrangement, the network economists they were only paid if their op-eds were published in local newspapers, and if they actually sent letters to their Congressmen.]

The attached list showed who was considered reliable or unreliable:

DEMOCRAT WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE PROJECT [14]
STATEDemocrat CongressmenEconomist Reliability
IllinoisDan Rosenkowski
Marty Russo		Fred McChesney Unreliable
FloridaSam Gibbons Richard Wagner Unreliable
Texas J. J. Pickle
Michael A. Andrews 		Charles Maurice RELIABLE
California Fortney H. (Pete) Stark
Robert T. Matsui 		Gary Anderson RELIABLE
IndianaAndrew Jacobs Cecil Bohanon RELIABLE
Tennessee Harold E. Ford Brian Goff
(in Kentucky) 		RELIABLE
Georgia Ed Jenkins Dwight Lee RELIABLE
Missouri Richard A. Gephardt Tom Wyrick Unreliable
New Jersey Frank J. Guarini JR Clark RELIABLE
Arkansas Beryl Anthony, Jr David ER Gay Unreliable
Alabama Ronnie Flippo Robert Ekelund RELIABLE
North Dakota Byron Dorgan Cliff Dobitz RELIABLE
Connecticut Barbara Kennelly Dominick Amento Unreliable
Pennsylvania William J. Coyne Ann Harper-Fender Unreliable
Wisconsin Jim Moody William Hunter RELIABLE

 

1987 Aug 21: Jeff Ross at the Tobacco Institute has prepared a consolidated summary of "Field Staff Evaluation of Economists" for his superiors, William Kloepfer and Peter Sparber. The State and Regional Directors of the TI have been asked to look at 34 of these academics and provide an outline of their recent achievements.

NEW JERSEY J.R. Clark, Farleigh Dickinson University Clifton, NJ

  •  Excise Tax Op Eds: Newark Star Ledger -- 04/05/87 & Daily Record -- 04/12/87
  •  Economic Witness/Testimony: (nil)
  • Field Staff Contact: None.
  • Field Staff Evaluation: None
    [Clark was clearly treated as an exception in New Jersey][15]

    •  

    1988 Jan 15: New year planning: Jim Savarese and his personal company were still subcontracted to the tobacco industry via the PR and advertising company, Ogilvy & Mather. He is writing a 1988 proposal for the Tobacco Institute.

    Nineteen eighty-seven was a banner year for the Tobacco Institute in its fight against excise tax increases at the federal level.

    Through careful coalition building and effective message dissemination, the Institute was able to fight the battle on its own terms and secure a substantial victory.

    In reviewing your 1988 plans, we found many areas where Ogilvy & Mather and Savarese and Associates can continue to provide services. There are also new areas where we have expertise which have not been fully explored.

    He then outlines a couple of problem areas before dealing with the "Economists Program."

    Our work with the network of forty-two economists should continue into 1988. In 1987, the network was effective in producing op-eds and submitting and presenting testimony. These activities should continue in 1988.

    [However no full list for these 42 network economists appears to exist]

    In addition, the economists network can be used for editorial board briefings, presentations at conferences and the placement of articles on this issue with major media outlets.

    In order to make the most of the new opportunities for the economist network, several factors must be taken into consideration:

    • only 7 or 8 of the economists within the network have the potential to make presentations to editorial boards and conferences.
    • those economists selected to make presentations to editorial boards and conferences need a training program. This program may include media training through Michael Sheehan and briefings by Jim Savarese and Bob Tollison.
    • the editorial board program is a limited strategy with applicability mainly at the federal level with some use at the state level.
    • when implementing the editorial board program, Ogilvy & Mather can assist with pitch materials, press kits, and a placement program.

    The opportunity exists to place economists on key economic programs, panels, and at national and regional tax policy conferences. As an addendum to this effort, it is possible to have their comments reprinted and distributed.

    They also want to commission studies. They suggest:
    • Effects of an excise tax increase on the federal budget (and its fairness)
    • on bootlegging "and come up with some strong conclusions" [predetermined!]
    • In addition, Savarese and Associates can locate a conservative economist to make the argument that there is an acceleration of government spending when taxes are increased. The program will include placement in an economic journal.
    They also propose to work with a number of right-wing tax groups, some left-wing labor groups, minority groups, senior citizens, agricultural groups, and advertising companies. They propose to sponsor conferences, and make a video on excise taxes. A national Excise Tax Op-ed Program will target various important members of the Congress and big businessmen (e.g. Lee Iaococca) on the National Economic Commission (NEC). The network economists will be required to target specific newspapers, and a few key political figures. The target for this member of the network is:

    New Jersey
    Targeted paper: Newark Star Ledger
    Economist: JR Clark, Farleigh Dickinson University
      [Why selected:] Commission members Sen. Patrick Moynihan and Felix Rohatyn are from New York. Because we have great difficulty in getting published in New York, we have decided to target the entire Northeast area. [16]

      1988 Clark says he was a visiting research fellow at Princeton University However he continued to work for tobacco

    1988 May Savarese has sent the Tobacco Institute a bundle of clippings of the articles planted by this and other economists in their newpapers. This is proof of service, required for payment.

    JR Clark has managed to plant "Excise tax: Bitter medicine for economy" on the Daily Record (May 22). [17]

    1988 June 23: Debbie Schoonmaker at the Tobacco Institute receives a memo from contract organiser James Savarese with "an update status on the NEC Op-Ed Project: [NEC = National Economic Commission, the group they were trying to influence.]

    As it now stands, 9 articles have been published, 4 articles (New Mexico, Missouri, Oregon, and Idaho) are forthcoming, 4 articles have been submitted for publication, and 2 articles are in the revision stage.

    It lists the network economists by the state in which they operate together with the academics's successes in planting articles on their principle state newspapers. JR Clark is on the list. [18]
    A follow-up note shows that he was still listed as being with , the Fairleigh Dickinson Uni, and he had planted an article "Excise tax: Bitter medicine for economy," on the newspaper(Daily Record NJ [19]

    1988 Sept Clark was now given the Tom E. Hendrix Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise at the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM) [20]

    1988 Nov /E This is the Tollison/Saverese network list for late 1988. It has 64 names, but it still doesn't cover all 50 States. Some States have two or three network members, so newspapers [and sometimes Congressmen] need to be specified for each member to ensure there is no accidental duplication.

    Telephone numbers (office and home) are often included in case an urgent op-ed or ordinance hearing is needed. These are grouped by State:

    NEW JERSEY
    J. R. Clark and Assoc.
    1308 Broad Street, Clifton, New Jersey, 07013, 201-593-8837 201-777-2991
    (Affiliation: Farleigh Dickinson University)
    {Clark is listed as servicing two States New Jersey via his company, and Tennessee personally:]
    TENNESSEE
    Professor Brian Goff Department of Economics, Western Kentucky University, Bolling Green, KY 42101, 502-745-2249

    Professor F. Steb Hipple Department of Economics, East Tennessee State, Johnson City, TN 37604

    Prof. J.R. Clark Hendrix Professor of Economics and Free Enterprise School of Business, The University of Tennessee at Martin, Martin, Tennessee 38238-5015, 901-587-7228 [21]

    TI budget papers show that: 1. each op-ed now earned the economists $3,000. 2. Presentations to conferences earned them $5,000.3. Savarese was paid between $70,000 and $100,000 pa for this project alone, 4. Ogilvy & Mather received $250,000. See page 5

    1989 Dec 14: Jim Savarese is listing the economists taking part in their new Excise Tax Op-Ed project.

    I have also listed the newspapers we plan to target and a package of the materials we are sending to the economists. We should start getting drafts of the op-eds around the first of the year.

    Jeffrey Clark is on the list for TENNESSEE, Commercial Appeal (Memphis) [22]


    1990 Jan The Communications activity report of the Tobacco Institute lists achievements:

    Editorials, written by economists Richard K. Vedder of Ohio University, Dominick Armentano of the University of Hartford, and J.R. Clark of the University of Tennessee, appeared. These editorials, opposing excise taxes and discussing "user fees," appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the New Haven Register, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the Jackson Sun, the Kingsport Times, the Paris Post-Intelligencer, and the Weakley County Press. Copies are enclosed.[23]

    1990 Jan 22: Clipping of an op-ed by Clark (at the University of Tennessee) for the Tobacco Institute which appeared in a number of tame papers:

    • Paris Post-Intelligence "User-fee label an example of budget's deceptiveness."
    • Weakley County Press "The truth about Bush's Budget"
    • Kingsport Times-News "Respect voter's intellect: Bush should call a tax a tax.
    • The Commercial Appeal "A tax is still a Tax"
    • The Jackson Sun "President disguises tax boost

    All attacking President George Bush I and excise tax increases. [24]


    1990 Feb: In the Tobacco Institute's "Public Affairs Management Progress Report" of February 1990 they wrote on page 3:

    Several new excise tax projects progressed in February, ... These undertakings supplement the 1990 tax program and are an effort to aggressively bolster anti-excise tax arguments and maintain a "fair taxation" environment.

    The 1990 op-ed program involving consulting economists' articles on the excise tax and "user fee" question moved forward last month. We reviewed additional draft articles and returned them to the authors to seek placement.

    Meanwhile, the previously cleared op-eds continue to appear in print. Recently published articles include those by J.R. Clark (with placements in five different Tennessee newspapers); ..." [25] (emphasis added)

    In that same document they mentioned that the year-to-date expenses for the 'prof. fees' were $90,768 but with the remark that "Billing from some consultants will appear in upcoming months".

    1990 May-June: Clarke wrote an op-ed and became a witness for the Tobacco Institute. He was listed as being available for consultation. His past service-payments details are listed as:

    • 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
    • 6/90 Anti-excise tax/"no taxes" op-ed published in The Commercial Appeal, The Jackson Sun [26]

    1990 June 7 An article by J.R. Clark "Rhetoric and Emotion cover tax increases" has been published in Memphis "The Commercial Appeal". He is now listed as holding the "Tom E Hendrix Chair of Free Enterprise" at the University of Tennessee, Martin. He gives a long breakdown on how the economy of Tennessee would be adversly effected by a reduction in smoking.

    He also writes another forum article "A tax by any other name is still a tax, just masked." for the Jackson Sun The photo accompanying the article leaves no doubt that this is the same person as the ex-Fairleigh Dickinson Professor.

    1990 July The Tobacco Institute's Communications activity report includes a note that "Economists are weighing in on the federal budget debate with a new series of anti-excise tax op-eds in key congressional districts. Economists appearing in print (copies enclosed) include:

    - J.R. Clarke, Jackson (TN) Sun and Memphis Commercial Appeal; (Note misspelling)
    - Ryan Amacher, Anderson (GA1 Independent-Mail;
    - Todd Sandler, Fort Dodge (IA) Messenger;
    - Domenick Armentano, Hartford (CT) Courant;
    - William Mitchell, Register Guard (OR); and
    - Barry Poulson, Alamaso (CO) Valley Courier.[27]

    1990 July In July 1990 Jeffrey Clark was mentioned in another internal document of the Tobacco Institute as one of the consulting economists who are "weighing in on the federal budget debate with a new series of anti-excise tax op-eds to be placed in newspapers in key congressional districts." [28]

    TI budget papers show that each op-ed still earned the economists $3,000. Presentations to conferences earned them $5,000. Savarese was paid $70,000 to $100,000 pa for this project, and Ogilvy & Mather $250,000.] See page 5

    1993 mid-year He is writing "Clinton's Health Car Tax Done with Smoke and Mirrors" which exists in first draft form, with the Tobacco Institute's additions and corrections. [29]

    1993 July Transfers from the Hendrix Chair at Martin, to the Probasco Chair of Free Enterprise and Director of the Center for Economic Education at University of Tennessee, Chatanooga. (UTC)

    At this time the Tobacco Institute was considering giving him media training to improve his value in the broadcast media, and he was still churning out op-eds for the local papers.[30]

    1993 Aug 3: This is a series of lists dated from March to August 1993. Savarese's staff have sent these to the Tobacco Institute to progressively report successes and failures with the economists writing op-ed pieces, and the progress in having them published.

    Collectively they give us a good idea as to how the network worked and how little they managed to plant on the major newspapers. Smaller local papers were obviously very easy. It's also interesting to observe the mechanical processes and the tight control the tobacco industry and its lawyers exerted over these academic lackies.

    • The articles were either rejected, revised or passed by Jim Savarese and his staff
    • They were then sent for checking and alteration by Calvin George [Cal] at the Tobacco Institute.
    • The lawyer David Reemes who worked for the industry's main Washington law firm Covington & Burling then cleared them for publication.
    • The economist then received the revised copies back for onward transmission to the selected newspapers.
    • They would then send a copy to their local Congressmen without mentioning the tobacco industry's contractual arrangement.

    Clearly, by 1993, many of the original network members were dropping out. The Tobacco Institute also appears to have been having problems getting even those academics who stayed loyal to write articles that justified their $2000 to $3000 payments.

    [Perhaps some of them developed a conscience! Despite the protestations, these are not 'independent' opinion articles. They are industry-shaped, manipulated propaganda pieces designed as advocacy vehicles to promote tobacco interests in political, media and public circles -- even when they don't directly mention or promote cigarettes or smoking.

    This collection of lists are all headed 'MONSTER' Tax Op-Ed Project: And they include entries like...

      TENNESSEE
      Professor J.R. Clark, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 206 Founders Hall, 615 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga, TN
      • Mar 23 -- [TI designated newspaper/s] Commercial Appeal
      • Apr 9 -- Recieved 4/16/93 -- Sent to Cal 4/19/93 -- Received from Cal 4/22/93 -- Waiting - legal 4/28/93 -- Returned 4/29/93 -- Rev. Draft 4/30
      • May 12 -- Submitted to the Memphis Commercial Appeal
      • May 18 -- (as above)
      • June 2 -- Forthcoming: Memphis Commercial Appeal
      • June 14-- Forthcoming: Memphis Commercial Appeal
      • Aug 3 -- (as above) [31]

    1994 Aug See the full outline of the his involvement in creating the fake Alexis de Tocqueville ETS/EPA report written by S Fred Singer and Kent Jeffreys, secretly for the Tobacco Institute.

    The Alexis de Tocqueville (AdTI) Scam.
    William Orzechowski at the Tobacco Institute proposed to the AdTI that they run a major project to attack junk-science, and use this to label the EPA's report on passive smoking (ETS) as rubbish.

    Cesar Conda, who ran the AdTI under Co-Chairmen Jack Kemp and Joseph Lieberman (a pathetic attempt to give it a non-partisan political status) proposed to the Tobacco Institute that they organise a 'research paper' to critically assess the methodology used by the EPA.

    • He was vague on content, but suggested three possible authors: S. Fred Singer, Kent Jeffreys, or Bob Tollison.
    • They would also assemble an Advisory Board of economists and scientists to endorse the report and give it publicity.
    • The AdTI would release and distribute the report to press outlets nationwide and circulate it widely on Capitol Hill.
    • Alternatives: It could be either a well researched report taking several months, or a quick-and-dirty churn-out taking 2-3 weeks.
    • The cost of the project either way would be $20,000.

    My sense is that we could produce an effective backgrounder report which reviews all of the known facts about the science used in the ETS case. Moreover, the Commission on Environmental Science - or whatever we choose to call it - would give the issue added attention and prominence. [32]

    1994 Aug A Alexis de Tocqueville report "The EPA and the Science of ETS" has been funded by the Tobacco Institute. The author was Adjunct Scholar Kent Jeffreys, and the senior reviewer was S. Fred Singer, a Professor of Environmental Science (on leave from the University of Virginia) and a Senior Fellow at the Institute. The final report was scheduled to be complete mid-June and it would be entitled "Science and Environmentalism".

    A confidential memo by the president of the Tobacco Institute, Samuel D. Chilcote, Jr., described how this secret tobacco-funded report was being used in legislative lobbying:

    This morning Reps. Peter Geren (D-TX) and John Mica (R-FL) held a press conference announcing the release of a study by the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution that evaluates the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) scientific principles used to justify policy decisions. Geren and Mica were joined by Cesar Conda, executive director of the de Tocqueville Institution and coauthors Dr. S. Fred Singer and Kent Jeffreys." [33]

    "Press coverage included States News Service, Stephens Publishing and Cable Congress. Several congressional staffers also attended, copies of the Geren/Mica "Dear Colleague" letter, press release and the study are enclosed."

    [34]

    This report is part of a larger coordinated effort to blindside the EPA. A "panel of experts" was assembled to "peer-review" the report. Naturally the majority were people with identified links to tobacco-funded institutes and think tanks, and some who share the same small set of funders.

    Academic Advisory Board:

    Senior Staff and Contributing Associates
    Rachael Applegate,   Bruce Bartlett,   Merrick Carey,   Cesar Conda,   Gregory Fossedal,   Dave Juday,   Felix Rouse,   Aaron Stevens

    Ten of the 19 names of the Academic Advisory Board are members of the Cash for Comments Economists Network. At this time S. Fred Singer was a Senior Fellow at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institute, but they chose not to credit him with such close links.

    These attempt to link the tobacco industry's problems to arguments about climate change were part funded by the Olin Foundation, Koch Family Foundations and Scaife Foundations.

    • 20 page Draft document sent to the Tobacco Institute [35]
    • The release about the final report (August 11 1994) It is now an attack on "environmental regulation" -- ETS, radon, pesticides and agricultural regulation, and the Superfund toxic waste cleanup program ... and based, supposedly, on the quality of the science used by the EPA. [36]
    • The final report was called Science, Economics, and Environmental Policy: A Critical Examination.' It had the approval of the Cash for Comments Economists Network. [37]

      1994 Aug 11 Jeff Clark was a professor of Economics at UTC when he was also a member of the Academic Advisory Board at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institute. This was generating a pro-tobacco junk science report "Science, economics, and environmental policy: a critical examination" [38] which was published on August 11, 1994, by the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution (AdTI).

    Other Cash for Comments economists were also on the Academic Advisory Board -- in fact everyone on the 30 person board was a paid mercenary working part time for the tobacco industry in some capacity, including a couple of the senior staff. Constructed for a purpose, this report is part of a larger coordinated effort to blindside the EPA and obtain goals of the Tobacco Institute. A "panel of experts" was assembled to "peer-review" this report, which was majority loaded with persons with identified links to tobacco-funded institutes and think tanks, or share the same small set of funders known to finance the "usual suspects".

    These are the persons listed in the forward matter to the report as Academic Advisory Board:

    Senior Staff and Contributing Associates

    1994-88 Clark was now writing joint articles with Dwight R. Lee, another member of that AdeTI Academic Advisory Board and a fervent Cash for Comments Economist Network core member. There are several articles:

    • Dwight R. Lee, Jeffrey R. Clark, "Public Choice and Cognitive Dissonance," The Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice, October 1994
    • Dwight R. Lee, Jeffrey R. Clark, 1996. "Sentencing Laffer curves, political myopia, and prison space" SocialScience Quarterly 77 (2): 245-55.
    • Dwight R. Lee, Jeffrey R. Clark, 1997. "Too safe to be safe," Eastern Economic Journal 23 (Spring): 127-37
    • Dwight R. Lee, Jeffrey R. Clark, "Distrust and Verify", The Freeman, February 1999
    • Dwight R. Lee, Jeffrey R. Clark, "The Optimal Trust in Government," Eastern Economic Journal Vol. 27, no. 1, Winter 2001, pp. 19-34,

    The UTC received in 1998 $4,000 from the Earhart Foundation with the comment:

    Jeff Ray Clark
    Department of Economics
    During the summer of 1998 to prepare one or more journal articles on the topic "Optimal Trust in Government."     [39]

    The importance of the Alexis de Tocqueville Report
    This report market a turning-point in the tobacco industry's fight-back operations. Philip Morris had just successfully established The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC) and Steve Milloy at TASSC was given the job of labelling any anti-tobacco research results as 'junk-science'.

    APCO & Associates, who created and secretly ran TASSC by way of CGI Grey Marketing, had extended the reach of this new 'junk-science' operation to embrace mutual-help relationships with the major poisoning and polluting industries which were becoming embroiled in the problems of climate change. They also started up a European version of TASSC called the European Science and Environmental Forum (ESEF), run by Roger Bate through the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) in London.

    This was one of the tobacco industry's contributions to the 'anti-science' movement which was intended to counter both anti-smoking and climate change research -- and in the process, coopt the energy, oil and mining companies to support the tobacco industry under seige. It resulted in the global Atlas Group Network (of libertarian think-tanks) emerging around the world as a powerful group of corporate-funded lobbyists.

    1995 Oct /E Philip Morris has been sent a list of the Tobacco Instutute's network economists who had been commissioned, and had...

    ... prepared and submitted op-eds [attacking the FDA] for publication to major newspapers in select states -- targetting key Congressional districts: Economists prepared and submitted op-eds for publication to major newspapers in select states:

    They had been told to "attack the FDA proposal from an anti-big government, anti-regulatory perspective" with a number of pre-determined themes

    • While FDA claims their focus is on preventing youth smoking, the action is the first step to impose harsher regulations on tobacco;
    • The FDA regs will have repercussions on not only the tobacco industry, but vending, confectionery and candy industries, distributors, advertisers and sponsors for sporting events; and
    • The regulations will have a devastating impact on jobs. [40]
    [This memo demonstrates just how compliant these academic tobacco lackeys had become -- and how much they were willing to follow tobacco industry instructions in writing their op-ed pieces.]

    1995 Nov 5 JR Clark's op-ed "More Regulation Would Be Wasteful, Intrusive" appeared in the Chattanooga Free Press newspaper. He forgets to mention in the article that the writing was funded, edited and legal-checked by the Tobacco Institute. See page 70 in this 204 page file

    J.R.Clark still holds the Probasco Chair of Free Enterprise at the University of Tennessee at Chatanooga.

    1996 Jan 26: This Status report for the FDA Op-Ed Program shows that they were still planting articles and contacting Congressmen for the Tobacco Institute. [41]

    1996 Apr 16: Kelleigh Varnum has advised the Tobacco Institute on the progress of the FDA Op-ed Program.

    To date, 14 of 20 articles have published.

    • David Kurth (LA) informed us that his op-ed was published on February 21, in Lagniappe. Apparently, there was a breakdown in communication with the editor and he did not realize that the article had published. Enclosed is a copy of the article. Unfortunately, it is of very poor quality. We will forward the original to you when we receive it.

    • Although the Atlanta Constitution has promised for quite some time to publish Dwight Lee's op-editorial, there still have not been any developments. As a result, we have directed Dwight to pursue other outlets for submission.
      [Lee was Clark's co-author on many papers.]

    • Cecil Bohanon (IN) is contacting the editor of the Journal Gazette. He will pursue other outlets for submission if they decide not to publish his article.

    • Publication of Barry Poulson's (CO) and Cliff Dobitz's (ND) op-editorials is forthcoming.

    • Both Mike Davis (TX) and Terry Ridgway (NV) are checking with their editors on the status of their articles.

    The general list also records J.R. Clarks other attempts.

    • The Commercial Appeal -- declined
    • Chattanooga Free Press -- Published November 5, 1995
    • Contacted Congressman Wamp 1/22/96
    [He has now won the TI's favor again. Not only has he planted their propaganda in a newspaper (albeit a second-rate give-away) but he has also contacted a Congressman and lobbied directly on the tobacco industry's behalf.] [42]

    1998 Aug 15: The Florida "Press Journal" carried an article "Government assaults success" by cash-for-comments economist Dom T Armentano which attacks the McCain tobacco bill and the FDA.

    The list of activities of the other economists shows that the network continued to be operated by the Tobacco Institute itself (now under Walter Woodson and Lance Morgan -- both from the Public Affairs division). James Savarese is still in the picture, however. The op-eds are now being rejected by many newspapers who are no longer willing to publish tobacco industry propaganda.

    When cigarettes could no longer be advertised in newspapers, the press quickly began to loose sympathy for the industry. The opportunity for op-eds was gradually disappearing. But since legally discovered tobacco documents had already begun to appear on-line, the Tobacco Institute has carefully deleted the names of the Professor of Economics who wrote each op-ed piece in this document.

    Jeffrey Clarke is listed here only under the heading

    TENNESSEE, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
    DECLINED: The Tennessean [43]

    [This was the end of Clark's run with the tobacco industry. He now needed to look to other poisoning or polluting companies and industries who needed his support.]


    2001 Jeffrey Clark was the President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE).

    His biographical information says about Clark

    "His consulting experience includes Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, universities, and publishing firms as well as performing litigation support for law firms in personal injury, wrongful death, business evaluations and matrimonial cases. [44] (emphasis added)

    His former colleague Judy Ann Sandefer wrote about him

    A self-made millionaire, he was and is very different from anyone I have ever known, .. [45] (emphasis added)

    Of course the question is; "How did he make his millions!

    Current Positions:

    • board of the Palmer R. Chitester Fund
    • board of the William B. Cockroft Foundation
    • Scott L. Probasco, Jr. Chair of Private Enterprise at UTC
    • member of the Mont Pelerin Society

    Books

    • James Gwartney, J.R. Clark, Richard Stroup, "Essentials of Economics", 1st edition 1982, Harcourt College Pub, 2nd edition, March 1, 1985 ISBN 0123110351
    • J. Holton Wilson, J.R. Clark, "Economics: The Science of Cost, Benefit, and Choice," 1st edition, 1983, 2nd edition, 1987, 3rd edition, 1992, 4th edition, 1997, 5th edition, 2000. South-Western Publishing Co., ISBN 0538614005
    • J.R. Clark, Clifford F. Thies, Holton Wilson, Saul Barr, "Macroeconomics for Managers", Pearson Higher Education, December, 1990, ISBN 0205128718
    • Jeff Ray Clark, J. Holten Wilson, "Survey of Economics ", South-Western College Pub, September 13, 1996, ISBN 0538846771

    Related Links

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