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Revision as of 20:27, 14 May 2008 by 67.133.224.234 (talk) (The NDRC article was written by Kim Larsen, not Aaron Swartz.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Roger Bate, is an economist who has held a variety of positions in free market and conservative think tanks and lobby groups. His current work focuses on U.S. and international aid policy, performance of aid organizations, and health policy in developing countries, particularly with regard to malaria control and the use of DDT. He has also worked for the tobacco industry, criticising claims about the health risks of smoking.
Background
Bate holds a Ph.D., economics from the University of Cambridge and was previously educated at University College, London and Thames Valley University. He was research analyst for Warburg Securities and Charles Stanley & Co. between 1986 and 1989 and later worked for a range of think tanks and lobby groups, and was also a presenter on the BBC2 program Organic Food: The Modern Myth
DDT
Bate is co-director of Africa Fighting Malaria, a lobby group promoting the use of DDT to control malaria. His motivation for promoting DDT has been called into question by many observers. For example, an article in the NRDC's magazine quotes Bate as saying, "DDT may be today's target, but it's not going to be long before chemicals that the industry cares about are added to the POPs Convention and other chemicals regulations,".
Passive smoking
There has been some controversy surrounding a book he attemped to fund in the 1990s. In 1996, Roger Bate approached R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for a grant of £50,000 to fund a book on risk, containing a chapter on passive smoking, also known as "second hand smoke" but the grant request was denied and the money was never received. (The Tobacco Institute, was however, "involved in" the publication of the book.) That same year he wrote the article "Is Nothing Worse Than Tobacco?," for Wall Street Journal and in 1997, the ESEF published What Risk? Science, Politics and Public Health, edited by Roger Bate which included a chapter on passive smoking.
Genetic Engineering
Bate is joint author, with Julian Morris of Fearing Food: Risk, Health and Environment. The IEA website describes the book in the following way : "In the latest ESEF book, Fearing Food, new agricultural and food technologies, including genetic engineering, are shown to be generally beneficial both to health and to the environment." (Fearing Food was published by Butterworth-Heinemann in September 1999).
Positions held
- American Enterprise Institute, Resident Fellow
- Africa Fighting Malaria, Co-director
- Institute of Economic Affairs, Director of Environmental Unit, 1993-2000; fellow, 2000-
- European Science and Environment Forum (ESEF), Founder and Executive Director, 1995-2001
- International Policy Network, Director, 2001-2003, Fellow 2003
- Sustainable Development Network, "Member"
- Competitive Enterprise Institute, Adjunct Fellow
- Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, Advisory Board
- (stockbrokers), Research Analyst, 1986-1989
- Presenter of the
- Political Economy Research Center, Visiting Scholar
Articles
- Roger Bate, "USAID’s Health Challenge: Improving US Foreign Assistance," Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, January 1, 2007
- Roger Bate, "The World Bank: false financial and statistical accounts and medical malpractice in malaria treatment," The Lancet, July 15, 2006
- Roger Bate, "Is Nothing Worse Than Tobacco?," Wall Street Journal Europe, July 24, 1996
- Roger Bate, "Eco-imperialism: Green Power; Black Death", Tech Central Station, January 21, 2004.
- Roger Bate, "Moore Wisdom Needed", Tech Central Station, February 10, 2004 .
- Roger Bate, "WHO’s on Last?: A politicized and irrelevant global agency", National Review, April 19, 2004.
References
- Rachel Carson, Mass Murderer?: The creation of an anti-environmental myth. Aaron Swartz, Extra!, September/October, 2007.
- Bad Blood, Kim Larsen, OnEarth, Winter 2008.