AEI Conferences Involving Jon
Corporate Image Advertising and the Future of Free Enterprise
June 4, 2007Crisis management has become the latest fashion in building a corporate reputation. Companies that come under siege from interest groups, trial lawyers, and the press wage image campaigns to make themselves "better liked" — and often do so by playing down their capitalist purpose. Do these campaigns mislead the public? Do they validate the belief that for-profit entities are inherently corrupt and, therefore, injuring them is a virtuous act — not to mention a victimless crime? Does corporate social responsibility represent a good business strategy in the long run, or has reputation management become, in effect, an apology for making money? If so, does this trend ultimately pose a threat to free enterprise?
Is Nuclear Power a Solution to Global Warming and Rising Energy Prices?
October 6, 2006Has the threat of global warming and soaring fossil fuel costs changed the prospects for nuclear energy? Advocates stress its potential cost-effectiveness and the coming generation of safe, efficient plants. Critics maintain that efficiency is a mirage and that environmental uncertainties remain. While technological advances have made nuclear power plants safer than ever, the United States has not ordered a new one since the 1970s. Yet new nuclear facilities are coming on line in India, China, and eastern Europe, while the United Kingdom and other G-8 countries have cautiously endorsed a move toward nuclear energy as an alternative to expensive and greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuel plants. Whether the legacies of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl and a determined political opposition will derail new construction remains to be seen.
Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity
May 23, 2006Daily horror stories in the media about unfit doctors, unhealthy foods, dangerous chemicals, soaring gas prices, and incompetent child care have created a culture of fear. But is that fear well-founded? A panel of AEI experts, moderated by Jon Entine, and ABC's John Stossel, author of Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity (Hyperion, May 2006), tackled the misconceptions, misrepresentations, and plain inanity that plague our society, including the role of law, genetics, and environmental activism in today's world.
Is Corporate Social Responsibility Serious Business?
March 3, 2006Is Corporate Social Responsibility really a win-win situation as its promoters claim for both corporations and the public? Corporate leaders struggle with determining to whom their social responsibilities extend: to shareholders, employees, local communities, the environment, humanity as a whole, future generations? This conference examined the complex global CSR phenomenon and took an in-depth look at Wal-Mart, which has been under fire for some of its corporate, social, and environmental practices.
Check out press coverage in Tech Central Station and National Review.
Panic Attack: The New Precautionary Culture, the Politics of Fear, and the Threat to Innovation
February 14, 2006Our culture is in the grip of the "precautionary principle." From agricultural biotechnology and biomedicine to geopolitics, international business, education, and our most intimate relationships, risk aversion has become a defining and paralyzing ethic of our time. The notion that we should forsake the products and benefits of new technologies until it is proven that no adverse effects could result reflects an obsessive fear of the unknown. This conference, organized in cooperation with the UK Institute of Ideas, suggested that only by challenging the wider risk-averse culture that permeates contemporary society can we hope to rediscover a sense of purpose about progress and a desire to experiment with new ways of doing things.
NGOs: Indispensable or Unaccountable?
December 7, 2005Government and international aid agencies have come to depend on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to implement their development policy programs. Corporations are increasingly expected to consult with NGOs prior to making investments in the developing world. Yet the long-term impact and effectiveness of NGOs is largely unknown. Does the U.S. government rely too much on NGOs in its aid efforts? Or are NGOs the only way to stop corrupt governments from lining their pockets with aid money? What should the relationship between corporations and NGOs be?
Science Wars: Should Schools Teach Intelligent Design?
October 21, 2005What should public schools teach about life's origins? This debate has erupted anew because of the growing interest in intelligent design (ID) the notion that intelligent causes are responsible for the origin of the universe and of life in all its diversity. Proponents of teaching alternatives to evolution are now lobbying state legislatures and pressing school districts to incorporate ID into science curricula. Alarmed scientists and educators see ID as a disguised form of creationism and a direct attack on the scientific method and critical thinking. Is intelligent design religion or science? Would the teaching of intelligent design violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause?
Check out press coverage by the National Center for Science Education, the American Geological Institute, and C-SPAN.The Business of Stem Cells: Re-Examining Federal, State, and Private Funding and Regulatory Initiatives
March 9, 2005Because of limitations on federal support for human embryonic stem cell research, the regulatory and research funding picture has become increasingly complex. Many states, led by California with the passage of Proposition 71, have begun setting up their own initiatives. There are concerns about the impact of the restrictive federal policy and the repercussions of private-public initiatives with limited federal oversight.
The conference sparked many articles, including in Chemical and Engineering News, the Newark Star-Ledger, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, BNA Medical Research News.
Race, Medicine, and Public Policy
November 12, 2004Should “race” be considered in medical diagnoses and research? Check out the details about the AEI forum that Jon organized and view Jon's presentation on “Jewish Diseases,” a key part of his upcoming book, Abraham's Children, which will be published during 2005. (Read the UPI interview with Jon, "Tracing Jewish History Through Genes,” on his upcoming book.)
Read an article on the AEI "Race and Medicine" conference in American Medical News and a thoughtful USA Today editorial on the issue of ‘race and science' by Michael Crane, who attended the AEI conference.
Risk, Science, and Public Policy October 12, 2004
How to Save the Planet (Really) (.pdf)
The American Enterprise Magazine
January 2005 (Quoting Jon about the conference)"Socially Responsible" Investing and Pension Funds
Welcome Reform or Fiduciary Nightmare?
June 7, 2004Critics Fear Pension Activism (quoting Jon)
David Hafetz, New York
Sunday, July 22, 2004Biotechnology, the Media, and Public Policy
June 12, 2003We're Not from the Government, but We're Here to Help You
Jon's paper: "Why NGO-Stakeholder Dialogue Can Endanger Corporate Social Responsibility" American
June 11, 2003