Difference between revisions of "Business Council"

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THE BUSINESS COUNCIL
 
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Grant McConnell had only one hesitation in suggesting that the politics of business were conducted in narrow interest groups. That was the existence of the Business Council. Calling it “one of the more remarkable groups ever associated with the government,� McConnell based his account on the small amount of information on its advisory functions that investigators had been able to obtain from the tight-lipped Department of Commerce up until the mid 1960’s.15
 
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McConnell noted that in the 1940’s and 1950’s the Council included a cross-section of the major business leaders in the nation. It held six meetings a year, some in Washington, some in resort settings like Sea Island, Georgia and Hot Springs, Virginia. Major government officials were in attendance at the meetings, which were strictly confidential. The council also pre¬pared reports on a wide variety of general issues to give to government leaders. The expenses for meetings and reports were paid by private contributions.
 
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The Business Council, which was created in 1933 as an adjunct to the Department of Commerce, made a unilateral withdrawal from its quasi-governmental status in 1962 because of a small flap with the Kennedy administration. North Carolina businessman Luther H. Hodges, serving as Kennedy’s Secretary of Commerce, asked the council to include more small-business representatives and to allow reporters to cover its meetings. He was responding in part to congressional and journalistic criticisms of the council’s exclusive relationship with government, and in part to the fact that its chairperson at the time, Ralph Cordiner of General Electric, was in the limelight because of a gigantic price-fixing scandal in the electrical equipment industry. Rather than
 
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totally accept Hodges’ suggestions, the Business Advisory Council, as it was then called, quietly told the government that it was changing its name to the Business Council and becoming an independent organization which would offer its advice to all agencies of the government.
 
  
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==People==
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The Business Council website <ref> Business Council [http://www.businesscouncil.com/directory/ Member Directory] Accessed 27th December 2007</ref> lists their Officers for 2007 as...
  
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15. Grant McConnell, Private Power and American Democracy (Knopf,1966), p. 276.
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* Chairman - [[W James McNerney Jr.]] - Chairman, President & CEO of The [[Boeing Company]]
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Despite the fact that the Business Council was no longer an official advisory group to the Department of Commerce, it con¬tinued the prominent role it had developed during the Eisenhower administration, supplying businesspeople for government positions and meeting regularly in Hot Springs with government officials. It was especially close to the Johnson administration.16
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* Vice Chairman - [[Andrew N Liveris]]-  Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of The [[Dow Chemical Company]]
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McConnell considers the possibility that the Business Council might be “a directorate of big business effectually controlling the economic policy of the nation,� but dismisses the idea on the following grounds:
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* Vice Chairman - [[Stan O'Neal]] - Chairman & CEO of [[Merrill Lynch and Co.]]
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Certainly, if a search were to be made for a top executive committee of corporate business, no more likely body could be found than the Business Council. Nevertheless, such an interpretation would probably be mistaken. The Council included a number of disparate elements. Not only were some representatives of small business actually members, but some of the representatives of big business had interests in con¬flict with each other. Moreover, the recommendations of the Council have not always been put into effect.17
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* Vice Chairman - [[James W Owens]] - Chairman & CEO of [[Caterpillar Inc.]]
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In the end, McConnell sees the Business Council as a more ideological group, and also as a social group which confers prestige on its members. It is thus less important to its big-business members than industry advisory committees: “. .. mem¬bership on the National Petroleum Council has probably been more important than membership on the Business Advisory Council to Mr. Eugene Holman, Chairman of the Board of Standard Oil of New Jersey [Exxon]; much the same thing could probably be said of other figures of high stature in business.�18
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* Vice Chairman - [[Kevin W Sharer]] - Chairman of the Board & CEO of [[Amgen Inc.]]
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McConnell’s perceptions of the Business Council are sympto¬matic, for they show the failure to distinguish between narrow interest-group advisory committees and general policy groups. It is in this inclusion of both types of organizations in a single analytical category that the policy process is lost from view. In singling out the Business Council for further discussion, McConnell rightfully put his finger on an organization that has a significant place in the policy-planning process, but did not ex¬plore adequately its unique role.
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* Executive Director - [[Philip E Cassidy]]
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The council does not conduct as many study groups or hold as many meetings as do most policy-discussion organizations. Indeed, it was because the Business Council had only limited research capabilities that the Committee for Economic Develop¬ment was formed. Nonetheless, the Business Council is centrally situated in the policy-planning network. It is a collecting and consensus-seeking point for much of the work of the other organizations. Moreover, it is one of the few organizations that has regular and formal meetings with government officials. It is, then, a major connection between big business and government. In a way, its centrality among the policy groups makes it the unofficial board of directors within the power elite.
 
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Many Washington observers have made this claim about the centrality of the Business Council from impressionistic information, but the point also can be made more systematically. In one study, membership overlaps among thirty-one social clubs and policy groups were analyzed mathematically to determine the centrality score for each organization. The Business Council emerged as the most central organization, rivaled only by the Committee for Economic Development.19
 
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In a second study based on the overlapping members in thirty-six clubs and policy groups, another mathematical tech¬nique was used to determine the pattern of relationships among the groups. This study uncovered two cliques that were primarily rooted in organizations on the East and West Coasts, respec¬tively, and a third clique whose members were linked to both the. East and West Coast cliques. The Business Council was a member of this integrating clique, along with the
 
  
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The Business Council website<ref> Business Council [http://www.businesscouncil.com/directory/ Member Directory] Accessed 27th December 2007</ref> lists their Executive Committee for 2007 as...
  
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16. Hobart Rowan, The Free Enterprisers (0. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1964), p. 77.
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* [[Riley P Bechtel]] - Chairman & CEO of [[Bechtel Group Inc.]]
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17. McConnell, op. cit., p. 279.
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* [[Jack O Bovender Jr.]] - Chairman & CEO [[Hospital Corporation of America]]
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18. Ibid.
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* [[Arthur D Collins Jr]]. - Chairman & CEO of [[Medtronic Inc.]]
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19. G. William Domhoff, “Social Clubs, Policy-Planning Groups and Cor¬porations: A Network Study of Ruling-Class Cohesiveness,� The Insurgent Sociologist, Spring, 1975.
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* [[Peter T Grauer]] - Chairman, President & CEO of [[Bloomberg Inc.]]
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* [[Jeffrey R Immelt]] - Chairman & CEO of [[General Electric Company]]
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* [[Clayton M Jones]] - Chairman, President & CEO of [[Rockwell Collins]]
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* [[Steve Odland]] - Chairman & CEO of [[Office Depot Inc.]]
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* [[Matthew K Rose]] - Chairman, President & CEO of [[BNSF Railway Company]]
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* [[Sidney Taurel]] - Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of [[Eli Lilly and Company]]. Taurel is also a member of the boards of [[IBM Corporation]], [[McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.]], the [[RCA Tennis Championships]], is a member of the board of overseers of the [[Columbia Business School]], a trustee at [[Indianapolis Museum of Art]] and a member of The [[Business Roundtable]]. He is on the [[Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations]] and is an officer of the [[French Legion of Honor]]. Taurel was previously president and a member of the executive committee of the board of directors for the [[Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America]] (PhRMA)<ref> Eli Lilly and Company [http://investor.lilly.com/corpgov-BioDetail.cfm?BioID=4148&Group=2 Sidney Taurel] Accessed 31st January 2008</ref>.
  
  
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[[Johnson & Johnson]] Board members [[Leo F Mullin]], [[Charles Prince]] and [[William C Weldon]] are reported to be members of the Business Council<ref>Business Council [http://www.investor.jnj.com/governance/bio.cfm Investor Relations - Board of Directors] Accessed 27th December 2007</ref> <ref>Businessweek [http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=266313&privcapId=176270&previousCapId=154924&previousTitle=Agilent%20Technologies%20Inc. Executive profile] Accessed 27th December 2007</ref>.
  
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Committee for Economic Development, the Conference Board and several social clubs 20
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[[Coca Cola]] Board of Directors member [[James D Robinson]] III is reported to serve as a member of the [[Business Council]] as well as being general partner and co-founder of [[RRE Ventures]], president of [[J D Robinson Inc.]] (a strategic consulting firm) and non-executive chairman of the Board of Directors for [[Bristol-Myers Squibb]] (since 1976). His biography goes on to report that he also serves on the Boards of Directors of [[Novell Inc.]], [[Visiprise]] and [[PrimeRevenue]]. Robinson is a member of the [[Council on Foreign Relations]], an honorary trustee of the [[Brookings Institution]] and honorary chairman of the [[Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center]]. Robinson was previously Chairman and CEO of [[American Express]] Company (1977 to 1993), Co-Chairman of the [[Business Roundtable]] and Chairman of the [[Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations]] (ACTPN)<ref> Coca Cola Company [http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ourcompany/bios/bio_28.html James D Robinson] Accessed 21st January 2008</ref>.
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Because it cultivates what a congressional committee called an aura of secrecy,� there is very little systematic evidence on the functioning of the Council. However, one of my former re¬search assistants undertook a careful observational study for me of its May 1972 meeting. The four-day gathering was held in the lavish Homestead Hotel in Hot Springs, Virginia, a town of less
 
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than 2,500 people, 50 miles from Washington. Council members heard speeches by government officials, conducted panels on problems of general concern, received reports from hired staff and talke4 informally with each other and the government offi¬cials in attendance.
 
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The meetings were held in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere that reinforced the feeling of camaraderie between the business and government participants. Discussion sessions were alternated with social events, including golf tournaments, tennis matches and banquet-style dinners for members, guests and wives. The guest list included the chairman of the Federal Reserve System, the Secretary of the Army, the Director of the CIA, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, the Chairman of the Coun¬cil of Economic Advisers and a Special Assistant to the President.21
 
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Very little is known about the role the council has played in urging the government to adopt any specffic policies, mainly because it will not make its files available for research. However, a careful historical study of the council’s history is highly persua¬sive in arguing that it had little impact on government policy during its early years, when it was little more than an adjunct to the Departmenf of Commerce.22 Its only real domestic success throughout the New Deal was its supportive involvement in the Social Security Act.23 It was not until the Eisenhower administration that it began to assume its present role. Since that time it has been a major contact point between the corporate community and the executive branch, providing government officials with direct presentations Qf the policy perspectives developed in the rest of the network, and serving as a stepping stone to govern¬ment service for its members.24
 
  
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[[George M C Fisher]], who previously served as Vice Chairman for The [[Business Council]] (1997-1999) is also on the Board of Directors for [[Eli Lilly]]<ref> Eli Lilly and Company [http://investor.lilly.com/corpgov-BioDetail.cfm?BioID=4455&Group=2 George M C Fisher] Accessed 31st January 2008</ref>. Fisher is also a Senior Advisor for [[Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Company]] and Presiding Director of [[General Motors Corporation]]. He is a fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] and of the [[International Academy of Astronautics]]. Fisher's previous involvements include serving as chairman & CEO for [[Motorola Inc.]] and the [[Eastman Kodak Company]]. He worked for ten years in research and development at [[Bell Telephone Laboratories]], served as Chairman of [[PanAmSat Corporation]] and was on the boards of [[AT&T]], [[American Express Company]], [[Comcast Corporation]], [[Delta Air Lines Inc.]], [[Eastman Kodak Company]], [[Hughes Electronics Corporation]], [[Motorola, Inc.]], [[Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing]], [[Brown University]] and The [[National Urban League Inc.]] Fisher also served as chairman of the [[National Academy of Engineering]] (2000-2004), is a former member of the boards of the [[University of Illinois Foundation]] (1997-1999) and the [[U.S.-China Business Council]] (1997-1999), former chairman the [[Council on Competitiveness]] (1991-1993), former member of the [[World Wildlife Fund National Council]] and [[Trustee Emeritus of George Eastman House]]. He also previously served as Chairman of the [[Industry Policy Advisory Committee]] (IPAC). It is also reported that Fisher 'has been active in U.S./International trade issues through advisory groups to the [[U.S. Trade Representative]] and the [[U.S. Secretary of Commerce]]'. Fisher's previous involvements also include serving as member of the President's [[Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations]] which he joined in 1997<ref> Clinton Presidential Centre [http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org/legacy/121597-president-names-members-to-advisory-committee-for-trade-policy.htm President Names Members to Advisory Committee for Trade Policy] Accessed 31st January 2008</ref>
  
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[[Robert Essner]] - Chairman of [[Wyeth]] pharmaceutical company is reported to be a member of the [[Business Council]]<ref> Wyeth [http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=78193&p=irol-govBio&ID=40911 Robert Essner] Accessed 6th February 2008</ref>. Essner is also Chairman of the [[Children's Health Fund Corporate Council]], a member of the [[Business Roundtable]], a member of the Board of Directors of [[Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company]] and the [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]]. Essner's past involvements include serving as Chairman of the [[Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America]] and 13 years service with [[Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation]] (where he was named Chief Operating Officer in 1988).
  
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==Resources==
  
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20. Philip Bonacich and C. William Domlioff, “Overlapping Memberships Among Clubs and Policy Groups of the American Ruling Class,� paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, 1977. Using an entirely different approach based on interviews with businesspeople and the leaders of business groups, sociologist Floyd Hunter arrived at the same result in 1959 - the Conference Board, the Committee for Economic Development and the Business Council are at the heart of the national power structure. See Floyd Hunter, Top Leadership U.S.A. (Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1959), p. 33.
 
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21. See Craig Kubey, “Notes on a Meeting of the Business Council,� The Insurgent Sociologist, Spring, 1973, for a summary account of this study.
 
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22. Kim McQuaid, “The Business Advisory Council of the Department of Commerce, 1933-1961: A Study of Corporate/Government Relations,� Paul U. Selding, ed., Research in Economic History, Volume 1 (JAT Press, 1976).
 
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23. Domhoff, The Higher Circles, op. cit., pp. 210—215. The council also played a very central role in creating and managing the National Labor Board and labor advisory boards in specific industries in the years 1933-35. However, these efforts in “self-regulation� did not work out and were superseded by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, an act that was opposed by most members of the council. I am grateful to Professor Kim McQuaid for providing me with access to his original research on this topic through personal communications.
 
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24. Frank V. Fowlkes, “Business Council Shuns Lobbying but Influences Federal Policy,� National Journal, November 20, 1971, presents interview evidence of council influence.
 
  
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Excerpt from G. William Domhoff, (1979) ''The Powers That Be'', [[Business Council, extract from The Powers That Be|Business Council]], Vintage. pp. 67-9.
  
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==References==
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Similarly, a policy-discussion group started in the early 1950’s, the American Assembly, has many links to the CED, and once considered merger with it. Once again, the merger idea was dropped because the American Assembly has a unique function. Its twice-a-year meetings on a variety of general issues include labor and farm leaders as well as businesspeople and academics. Moreover, the assembly has a greater outreach program to upper-middle-income groups and students through books, pamphlets and a series of regional and local “Little Assemblies� based on the same topics discussed at the semi-annual national meetings in New York.26
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<references/>
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The deepest and most critical thinking within the policy net¬work does not take place in the policy-discussion groups, as many academicians who have taken part in them are quick to point out. While this claim may be in part sell-serving by professors who like to assume they are smarter than businesspeople and bankers, there is no question but that many new initiatives are created in various think tanks before they are brought to the discussion groups for modification and assimilation by the corporate leaders. There are dozens of these think tanks, some highly specialized to one or two topics.27 Among the most important are the RAND Corporation, the Stanford Research Institute, the Urban Institute, the National Bureau of Economic Research, Resources for the Future and the Center for International Studies at MIT. The institutes and centers connected to universities receive much of their funding from foundations, while the large and less specialized independent think tanks are more likely to undertake contract research for businesses or government agencies.
 
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Some organizations are hybrids that incorporate both think-tank and policy-discussion functions. They do not fit neatly into one category or the other. Such is the case with one of the most important institutions in the policy network, The Brookings Institution. This large organization is directed by big business-people, but it is not a membership organization. It, conducts study groups for businesspeople and government officials, but it is even more important as a kind of postgraduate school for expert advisors. Employing a very large number of social scientists, it functions as a source of new ideas and sophisticated consultants for policy groups and government leaders. In particular, its economists have served both Republican and Democratic administrations since its founding in 1927. It has been especially close to the CED since the 1950’s, but it also has strong ties to the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Assembly.28
 
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Several hybrids function in specialized areas. The Population Council was established in 1952 to fund research and develop policy on population control. Relying on large personal donations from John D. Rockefeller III and several foundations, it helped to create population research institutes at major universities, held conferences and publicized its findings. Case studies reveal that it has done very well indeed in getting its message across Resources for the Future was founded about the same time as the Population Council, with funds from the Ford Foundation. It has become one of the power elite’s major sources of information and policy on environmental issues, although it has to share this role with the Conservation Foundation, the American Conservation Association and three or four other closely related organizations30 In the issue-area of education, and in particular higher education, the Carnegie Corporation has played a central role through a series of special commissions.31
 
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25. Eakins, op. cit., p. 479.
 
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26. Ibid., pp. 465—471.
 
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27. See Paul Dickson, Think Tanks (Atheneum, 1971), for a descriptionof the major think tanks.
 
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28. Eakins, op. cit.; Bonacich and Domhoff, op. cit.
 
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29. William Barclay, Joseph Enright and Reid T. Reynolds, “Population Control in the Third World,� NACLA Newsletter, December, 1970; Steve Weissman, “Why the Population Bomb Is a Rockefeller-Baby,� Ramparts, May, 1970; Phyllis T. Piotrow, World Population Crisis: The United States Resporue (Praeger, 1973).
 
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30. Katherine Barkley and Steve Weissman, “The Eco-Establishment,� Ramparts, May, 1970; Peter Corner and David Horowitz, The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty (Holt, 1976), pp. 305-306, 384-385, and 401.
 
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31. Merle Curti and Roderick Nash, Philanthropy in the Shaping of Ameri¬can Higher Education (Rutgers Univ. Press, 1965); David N. Smith, Who Rules the Universities? (Monthly Review Press, 1974); and Frank Darknell, “The Carnegie Council for Policy Studies in Higher Education: A New Policy Group for the Ruling Class,� The Insurgent Sociologist, Spring, 1975.
 
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There are also corporate-financed groups in the areas of farm policy, municipal
 
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government and even the arts, for the arts are considered by some execu¬tives to be important in maintaining the morale of inner-city residents.32
 
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All of these more specialized groups are linked by funding and common directors to the biggest foundations, major policy-discussion groups and largest banks and corporations. Council on Foreign Relations members and trustees tend to dominate in the population establishment, and CED trustees are more evident in farm groups, but these differences are nuances within a general picture of cohesion. Sometimes the specialized groups lend their services to the discussion groups of the larger organizations. They often are listed as advisors on specialized CED policy statements.
 

Latest revision as of 11:16, 10 February 2008

People

The Business Council website [1] lists their Officers for 2007 as...

The Business Council website[2] lists their Executive Committee for 2007 as...


Johnson & Johnson Board members Leo F Mullin, Charles Prince and William C Weldon are reported to be members of the Business Council[4] [5].

Coca Cola Board of Directors member James D Robinson III is reported to serve as a member of the Business Council as well as being general partner and co-founder of RRE Ventures, president of J D Robinson Inc. (a strategic consulting firm) and non-executive chairman of the Board of Directors for Bristol-Myers Squibb (since 1976). His biography goes on to report that he also serves on the Boards of Directors of Novell Inc., Visiprise and PrimeRevenue. Robinson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution and honorary chairman of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Robinson was previously Chairman and CEO of American Express Company (1977 to 1993), Co-Chairman of the Business Roundtable and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN)[6].

George M C Fisher, who previously served as Vice Chairman for The Business Council (1997-1999) is also on the Board of Directors for Eli Lilly[7]. Fisher is also a Senior Advisor for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Company and Presiding Director of General Motors Corporation. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the International Academy of Astronautics. Fisher's previous involvements include serving as chairman & CEO for Motorola Inc. and the Eastman Kodak Company. He worked for ten years in research and development at Bell Telephone Laboratories, served as Chairman of PanAmSat Corporation and was on the boards of AT&T, American Express Company, Comcast Corporation, Delta Air Lines Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, Hughes Electronics Corporation, Motorola, Inc., Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, Brown University and The National Urban League Inc. Fisher also served as chairman of the National Academy of Engineering (2000-2004), is a former member of the boards of the University of Illinois Foundation (1997-1999) and the U.S.-China Business Council (1997-1999), former chairman the Council on Competitiveness (1991-1993), former member of the World Wildlife Fund National Council and Trustee Emeritus of George Eastman House. He also previously served as Chairman of the Industry Policy Advisory Committee (IPAC). It is also reported that Fisher 'has been active in U.S./International trade issues through advisory groups to the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce'. Fisher's previous involvements also include serving as member of the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations which he joined in 1997[8]

Robert Essner - Chairman of Wyeth pharmaceutical company is reported to be a member of the Business Council[9]. Essner is also Chairman of the Children's Health Fund Corporate Council, a member of the Business Roundtable, a member of the Board of Directors of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Essner's past involvements include serving as Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and 13 years service with Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation (where he was named Chief Operating Officer in 1988).

Resources

Excerpt from G. William Domhoff, (1979) The Powers That Be, Business Council, Vintage. pp. 67-9.

References

  1. ↑ Business Council Member Directory Accessed 27th December 2007
  2. ↑ Business Council Member Directory Accessed 27th December 2007
  3. ↑ Eli Lilly and Company Sidney Taurel Accessed 31st January 2008
  4. ↑ Business Council Investor Relations - Board of Directors Accessed 27th December 2007
  5. ↑ Businessweek Executive profile Accessed 27th December 2007
  6. ↑ Coca Cola Company James D Robinson Accessed 21st January 2008
  7. ↑ Eli Lilly and Company George M C Fisher Accessed 31st January 2008
  8. ↑ Clinton Presidential Centre President Names Members to Advisory Committee for Trade Policy Accessed 31st January 2008
  9. ↑ Wyeth Robert Essner Accessed 6th February 2008
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