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El más prominente think tank de los EE.UU de orientación marcadamente libertaria (anarcocapitalismo, que aboga por la supremacía absoluta de los mercados, impuestos virtualmente inexistentes y estado dedicado exclusivamente a la defensa militar y de los derechos de propiedad). El negacionista catalán Xavier Sala-i-Martín forma parte  de sus ‘académicos’ destacados, y ha sido singularmente activo en el negacionismo climático en La Vanguardia. También un conocido negacionista español, Anton Uriarte, ha tenido o tiene vinculación con este instituto.

Rupert Murdoch (News Corp.) y los hermanos Koch (Tea Party) forman parte destacada de su patronato, conociéndose de David Koch una aportación de 21 millones de dólares sólo entre 1977 y 1994. Su activismo antiecologista es de los más intensos del panorama estadounidense. El negacionista principal del Cato Institute es Patrick Michaels, a través de su empresa New Hope, de la que es accionista único y que publica el boletín World Climate Report. Esta empresa recibió del CAto Institute, Inc., en 2006, $242,900 en concepto de ‘servicios de política medioambiental’, pero Michaels declaró que el concepto real era la redacción del libro Climate of Extremes (2009) (10,11)

Fundadores:

Edward Crane (Mont Pélérin Society)
Charles G.  Koch (Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation)
Murray Rothbard

Año de fundación:

1977

Sede actual:

Washington (antes San Francisco)

Activos:

$25,346,484 (2007, valor máximo 1998-2008)

Presidente de honor:

Edward H. Crane III

Accionistas:

Charles Koch
David Koch
Edward H. Crane III

Mont Pélérin Society

William A. Niskanen (fallecido en octubre 2011; sucesor en litigio) (17)

Ex-presidente del consejo asesor económico de Ronald Reagan

Personal

120 personas
+ 100 (aprox.) académicos visitantes o adjuntos

Negacionistas climáticos de referencia:

Científicos con título de doctor

John Christy
Michael Gough

Competitive Enterprise Institute
Citizens for the Integrity of Science

Richard Lindzen
Patrick Michaels

WF, VIPP, CHC, CA, The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, American Council for Science and Health, George C. Marshall Institute, ICEE, Heartland Institute, Heritage Foundation, Competitive Enterprise Institute, GES, ASF, WCE, American Legislative Exchange Council,, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, American Policy Center
Su empresa New Hope (accionista único) publica el boletín World Climate Report. Recibió de Cato $242,900 en concepto de ‘servicios medioambientales’, pero Michaels declaró que el concepto real era la redacción del libro Climate of Extremes (2009) (10,11)
Climate blog at Forbes
Admite que el 40% de su trabajo es financiado por los combustibles fósiles (15)

Steven Milloy

Ex-Adjunct scholar

Competitive Enterprise Institute
The Advancement for Sound Science Coalition

Columnista y comentarista en Fox News
Editor de JunkScience.com
Colaborador de Tech Central Station

Xavier Sala-i-Martín
Walter Williams (Landmark Legal Foundation)

Políticos y medios de comunicación:

Dick Armey
Michael Gough (Adjunt scholar)
David Koch (Board of Directors)
Steven Milloy (exadjunt scholar)
Rupert Murdoch

Magnate de la prensa (News Corp.)

David Theroux

Ex-vicepresidente, fundador del Independent Institute en 1986 con William Koch

Otras personas del consejo

Robert L. Bradley

Ex-responsable de relaciones públicas de Enron

David H. Padden (fallecido en 2011)

Antiguo director hasta 2004
Fundador del Heartland Institute

Julian Simon (años 80 y 90)

Otros negacionistas que han trabajado para el Cato Institute

Roger Pielke, Jr.
Stephen Moore (13)
Anton Uriarte

Misión declarada:

Mejorar la comprensión de la política económica basada en los principios de gobierno limitado, mercados libres, libertad individual, y paz.

Orientación religiosa:

No se adhiere explícitamente a una denominación concreta, pero algunos de sus patronos pertenecen a la corriente dominionista y, en algunos casos, reconstruccionista.

Orientación económica:

Libertaria (ultraliberal extrema: todo gobierno es un problema)

Agencias de PR:

En cierto sentido, Cato Institue es una agencia de PR de Murdoch y Koch, entre otros

Medios de comunicación:

Cato Journal
Inquiry Magazine
Regulation

Centro asesor de referencia de los medios de Rupert Murdoch, especialmente el conglomerado Fox.

Libros negacionistas:

Wilfred Beckerman(1997) – Through Gree-Colored Glasses: Environmentalism Reconsidered
1995: Polluting Our Principles: Environmental Prosecutions and the Bill of Rigths
Steven Milloy: Junk Science Judo: Self Defense Against Health Scares and Scams
Richard L. Stroup (2003) – Eco-nomics: What Everyone Should Know about Economics and the Environment

Otros negacionismos:

Actividades:

Promueve la privatización completa de la seguridad social (financiado por AIG)
Defiende que las empresas puedan aportar cantidades ilimitadas a las campañas electorales de los candidatos que deseen (12)

Presupuesto anual:

$23.000.000

Financiación recibida documentada:

$48,173,077 (2006-2008)

Think tanks relacionados

Independent Institute (recibió  $110,000 de Cato en 2001) (14)
Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy

Posicionamiento negacionista climático:

Las afirmaciones del IPCC son cuestionadas por ‘exageradas’.
En todo caso hay demasiada incertidumbre en las predicciones. Propone no hacer nada hasta que no se reduzcan.

Entradas de blog relacionadas

Niños: fumad y escalfaos, que así os ultraliberaréis
La Union of Concerned Scientists denuncia a los medios de Rupert Murdoch
Excelencia periodística: la CNN acorrala al más charmant de los negacionistas, Patrick Michaels

Procedencia de la financiación documentada:

Ver nota

Total financiación documentada 1998-2008: $22,571,773

Armstrong Foundation $75,000
Barbara and Barre Seid Foundation $427,618
CIGNA Foundation $10,000
Carthage Foundation $245,000
Castle Rock Foundation $450,000
Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation $34,400
Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation $9,560,000
David H. Koch Charitable Foundation $4,043,240
Dick and Betsy Devos Foundation $5,000
Earhart Foundation $493,900
Exxon Mobil $110,000
F.M. Kirby Foundation $265,000
Gilder Foundation $375,000
Gleason Family Foundation (?) (16)
Gordon and Mary Cain Foundation $400,000
JM Foundation $125,000
Jaquelin Hume Foundation $150,000
John M. Olin Foundation $832,500
John Templeton Foundation $294,800
Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation $1,282,500
Rodney Fund $865,815
Roe Foundation $52,500
Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation $13,000
Sarah Scaife Foundation $2,037,500
Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation $5,000
Smith Richardson Foundation $50,000
Walton Family Foundation $30,000
William H. Donner Foundation $155,000
William Dunn of Stuart: $185,000
William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation $110,000 (2011) (18)

Otros financiadores

Familia Koch $21,000,000 (1977 – 1994) (4)

AIG (5)
American Petroleum Institute
Dow Chemical
General Motors
Honda
Mazda
Microsoft
Philip Morris $100,000 (1995) (6)

Documentada también financiación en 2012

R.J. Reynolds $50,000 (6)
Toyota
Volkswagen

General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Toyota, Volkswagen (7)

Detalle de orígenes de la financiación

Referencias

1. Chris A. Moore (1996) – Buying a Movement: Right-Wing Foundations and American Politics – People For the American Way Foundation – http://67.192.238.59/multimedia/pdf/Reports/buyingamovement.pdf
   “Leading ‘Contract with America’ strategist Grover Norquist was still more direct: “We will hunt [these liberal groups] down one by one and extinguish their funding sources.” (ref) Aiding in this endeavor are the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, and other foundation-backed organizations.”
2. Christian E. Weller and Laura Singleton (2006) – Peddling reform: the role of think tanks in shaping the neoliberal policy agenda for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund – En: Neoliberal Hegemony: a global critique – Dieter Plehwe, Bernhard Walpen and Gisela Neunhöffer (2006) – Senior economist at the Center for American Progress + Research associate at the Economic Policy Institute; University of WISCONSIN+ Economic Policy Institute
   “With Calomiris as a commissioner, another conservative think tank, the Cato Institute, gained influence on the Commission. The Cato Institute provided Professor Calomiris with frequent opportunities to publish his ideas on the IMF and World Bank (Calomiris 1998) …  Named after the libertarian letters published in the 1700s under the name Cato, the Institute was founded in 1977 by Edward Crane, a MPS member. Publications by the Cato Institute are an important medium for the dissemination of conservative research and have comprised numerous pieces critical of the IFIs. For example, W. Lee Hoskins, another member of the Meltzer Commission, argued in a co-authored Cato Analysis that Congress should ‘withdraw its support for the IMF and the World Bank’ (Hoskins and Coons 1995). Following the Mexican crisis, Hoskins and Coons (1995) argued that the solution to the crisis was a ‘full embrace of free market principles’. Financial crises, they asserted, are the result of unsound policies, and the offending countries must be allowed to ‘suffer the consequences of investor wrath’.”
3. Barkley Rosser – Misleading Cato Petition Ad on Climate – Econospeak:Analysis of the Economically Incorrect – 30/03/2009 – http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2009/03/misleading-cato-petition-ad-on-climate.html
   “A source is claimed to be an article from 2005 in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society by Pielke et al. I googled and found no such article, but did find some statement by him addressed to “Stern Review.” In that he says that while climate is a factor in rising disasters, they could not necessarily be tied to global warming, and that in the future they might be offset by rising population and property values, hardly what is claimed the petition/ad.”
4. Chris A. Moore (2008) – Milking the Cash Cow – Curtis A. Moore – http://curtismoore.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/milking-the-cash-cow.pdf
   “The full extent of industry funding for the myriad front groups is impossible to determine with certainty. Although information on donors is provided to the Internal Revenue Service, this is not (for the most part) available to the public. However, bits and pieces gleaned from searching a variety of databases–the Foundation Directory Online, for example–can be stitched together to provide a rough idea of the scope of special-interest spending. According to one such tally, the Kochs gave more than $21 million to the Cato Institute alone between 1977 and 1994. And in 1999, at least $1.4 million came to Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation from just two of the several foundations controlled by the Kochs.”
5. Dan Morgan – Think Tanks: Corporations’ Quiet Weapon – The Washington Post – 10/08/2005 – Washington Post Staff Writer – http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A46598-2000Jan28
   “For example, the largest supporter of Cato’s study of Social Security privatization is the U.S. insurance company AIG, which manages privatized retirement systems abroad and stands to benefit if–as Cato is recommending–such an option is put in place here. But other groups, including CSE, use donations for specific projects without making public the names of their donors–raising questions even among some of their fellow think tanks. “A nonprofit which is doing work for a very clear interest ought to reveal that,” said Urban Institute President William Gorham.”
6. Steven J. Milloy. The “Junkman” exposed – Americans for Nonsmoker’s Rights – February 2006 – Americans for Nonsmoker’s Rights – http://www.no-smoke.org/getthefacts.php?id=482
   “In 1999, Milloy became an “adjunct scholar” with the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Washington, DC that received at least $100,000 from PM and $50,000 from R.J. Reynolds in 1995 (ref) Cato’s board of directors includes Rupert Murdoch, who also sits on PM’s board.30 The Cato Institute has published three books by Milloy—Science Without Sense; Silencing Science; and Junk Science Judo: Self Defense Against Health Scares and Scams.”
7. The Cato Institute’s Love-In with Gas-Guzzlers – PR Watch – 20/05/2009 – http://www.prwatch.org/node/8383
   “Michaels landed interviews on ABC, WIBA’s “Upfront with Vicki McKenna,” FOX’s “Happening Now” program and FOX’s “Special Report” program. What wasn’t disclosed to USA Today’s readers or any of the television viewers or radio listeners was that the Cato Institute’s latest annual report (pdf – see page 47) lists its corporate sponsors as including General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Toyota, Volkswagen and the American Petroleum Institute.”
8. Christian E. Weller and Laura Singleton (2006) – Peddling reform: the role of think tanks in shaping the neoliberal policy agenda for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund – En: Neoliberal Hegemony: a global critique – Dieter Plehwe, Bernhard Walpen and Gisela Neunhöffer (2006) – Senior economist at the Center for American Progress + Research associate at the Economic Policy Institute; University of WISCONSIN+ Economic Policy Institute
   “A partial list of MPS [Mont Pélérin Society] membership illustrates the ideological links between various US research institutes, universities, government and media. The four most frequent think tank associations of MPS members in the US are AEI, Cato, Heritage, and the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. ”
9. Bob Burton – The Cato Institute’s Generous Funding of Patrick Michaels – PR Watch – 24/05/2009 – http://www.prwatch.org/node/8382
   “The firm, which he wholly owns, describes itself as “an advocacy science consulting firm.” These days, New Hope’s main activities are publishing the firm’s blog, World Climate Report, and helping anonymous clients to publicize “findings on climate change and scientific and social perspectives that may not otherwise appear in the popular literature or media … In its returns, Cato reports that since April 2006 they have paid $242,900 for the “environmental policy” services of Michaels’ firm. (In preceding years, New Hope Environmental Services was not listed amongst the five highest paid independent contractors supplying professional services to Cato.) In response to an email inquiry, Michaels stated that the Cato funding “largely supported the extensive background research for my 2009 book, ‘Climate of Extremes’.”
10. Bob Burton – The Cato Institute’s Generous Funding of Patrick Michaels – PR Watch, 24/05/2009 – http://www.prwatch.org/node/8382
    “The firm, which he wholly owns, describes itself as “an advocacy science consulting firm.” These days, New Hope’s main activities are publishing the firm’s blog, World Climate Report, and helping anonymous clients to publicize “findings on climate change and scientific and social perspectives that may not otherwise appear in the popular literature or media … In its returns, Cato reports that since April 2006 they have paid $242,900 for the “environmental policy” services of Michaels’ firm. (In preceding years, New Hope Environmental Services was not listed amongst the five highest paid independent contractors supplying professional services to Cato.) In response to an email inquiry, Michaels stated that the Cato funding “largely supported the extensive background research for my 2009 book, ‘Climate of Extremes’.”
11. The Cato Institute and Patrick Michaels – Desmogblog, 26/05/2009 – http://www.desmogblog.com/cato-institute-and-patrick-michaels-its-small-world-after-all
    “Michaels is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and according to tax documents uncovered by PR Watch for 2006 and 2007, Cato ponyed up almost a quarter million to Michaels’ firm New Hope Environmental Services for “environmental policy” services.”
12. Lee Fang – Exclusive: David Koch Refuses To Answer Questions about Citizens United, Secret Right-Wing Meetings – Think Progress, 10/01/2011 – http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/10/citizens-united-koch/
    “Koch-funded front groups filed a series of amicus briefs arguing that unlimited corporate money in politics is protected by the First Amendment. For example, the Cato Institute, founded and financed by the Koch brothers, submitted a brief that called for “unfettered” corporate “speech” and the Institute for Justice, founded and financed by David’s brother Charles, submitted a brief claiming that campaign finance laws prohibiting unlimited corporate money “trump the First Amendment.” Koch-funded groups later lobbied aggressively to oppose efforts to provide transparency for the new tidal wave of corporate spending. As ThinkProgress has covered extensively, the Citizens United case opened the floodgates for corporate money. “
13. C. Gibson  – Pro-Koch Op-ed Betrays Claim of “journalistic integrity” – PolluterWatch, 09/02/2011 – http://polluterwatch.com/blog/pro-koch-op-ed-betrays-claim-journalistic-integrity
    “Stephen Moore, who sits with Taranto on the Wall Street Journal editorial board and is an economic pundit on TV networks, attended the secretive gathering hosted by Charles Koch in Aspen, Colorado last June. In fact, it was Moore who revealed in a 2006 interview with Charles Koch that these meetings exist. As outlined in a forthcoming Greenpeace report, Moore has ties to the Cato Institute, co-founded by Charles Koch, and the Heritage Foundation, which have each received millions of dollars from Koch foundations since 1997. Moore has provided an explicit voice in the fabricated non-debate over climate science, where scientists are pinned against industry talking points and cherrypicked data (see clip provided by ThinkProgress).”
14.  Independent Institute – Grants received by this organization – 01/10/2011 – http://independent-institute.idilogic.aidpage.com/independent-institute/index.b124.u139.htm
    “William K Bowes Jr Foundation (MENLO PARK, California), 2001 – $ 100,000 William E Simon Foundation Inc (MORRISTOWN, New Jersey), 2003 – $ 50,000 Y & H Soda Foundation (ORINDA, California), 2003 – $ 25,000 McCutchen Foundation (PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania), 2003 – $ 20,000 Bell Atlantic Foundation (NEW YORK, New York), 2003 – $ 20,000 El Adobe Corporation (SANTA BARBARA, California), 2003 – $ 16,200 Dean And Margaret Lesher Foundation (WALNUT CREEK, California), 2003 – $ 15,000 General Motors Foundation Inc (DETROIT, Michigan), 2003 – $ 10,000 Louise M Davies Foundation (SAN FRANCISCO, California), 2003 – $ 10,000 Armstrong Foundation (FORT WORTH, Texas), 2001 – $ 5,000 John M Bryan Family Fund (SAN FRANCISCO, California), 2004 – $ 5,000 Uc Berkeley (Berkeley, California) – $ 152,500 Creative Capital Foudation (New York, New York) – $ 150,000 Regional Cancer Foundation (San Francisco, California) – $ 110,000 Cato Institute (N W Wash, District of Columbia) – $ 100,000” Stanford University (Stanford, California) – $ 100,000 Independent Institute (Oakland, California) – $ 100,000
15. John Cook (2012) – Cato’s Patrick Michaels: Serial Deleter of Inconvenient Data – Skeptical Science, 17/01/2012 –  – http://www.skepticalscience.com/patrick-michaels-serial-deleter-of-inconvenient-data.html
    “Patrick Michaels is a research fellow at the Cato Institute think tank, the chief editor of the website World Climate Report, has been given a climate blog at the business magazine Forbes, and his articles are frequently re-posted at climate “skeptic” blogs like Watts Up With That (WUWT).  Despite his clear conflict of interest (Michaels has estimated that 40% of his work is funded by the petroleum industry), many people continue to rely on him as a reliable source of climate information.”
16. Gleason Family Foundation – Schools Matter – Published online: 06/01/2011 – http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2011/01/media-bullpen-gleason-family-foundation.html
    “For interested readers, here’s a list of the edu-advocacy orgs they’ve supported over the years::Alliance for School Choice; American Enterprise Institute; BAEO; Cato Institute; Center for Education Reform; Center for Union Facts; Coalition for Educational Freedom; Heartland Institute; Heritage Foundation; Institute for Justice (libertarian); Manhattan Institute for Policy Research; Milton and Rose Friedman; Foundation NCTQ; Pacific Research Institute; Philanthropy Roundtable; School Choice Conference ($305,002 in 2006 – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico); School Choice Wisconsin.”
17. Mike Allen – Fight to control CATO – Politico, 01/03/2012 – http://www.politico.com/playbook/
    “Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch, the deep-pocketed conservative activists, launched a court fight yesterday over control of the Cato Institute, one of the nation’s best-known free-market think tanks. The Washington-based public-policy group was founded in 1974 as the Charles Koch Foundation. The name was changed to Cato in 1976, with the Koch brothers as longstanding contributors. The group had four shareholders until last year: Charles Koch; David Koch; Edward H. Crane III, Cato’s president; and William A. Niskanen, who died in October.”
18. William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation – U.S. Venture Partners – Grants distributed by this organization for year 2001 – http://william-k-bowes-jr-foundation.idilogic.aidpage.com/william-k-bowes-jr-foundation/
    “Exploratorium (San Francisco, California) – $ 1,165,000 Ucsf Foundation (San Francisco, California) – $ 1,000,000 Stanford University (Stanford, California) – $ 400,000 United Religious Initiati (San Francisco, California) – $ 400,000 S F Conservatory Of Musi (San Francisco, California) – $ 302,500 Grace Cathedral (San Francisco, California) – $ 300,000 Asian Art Museum Of Sf (San Francisco, California) – $ 255,000 Uc Santa Barbara University Of California (Santa Barbara, California) – $ 250,000 Ucsf Foundation (San Francisco, California) – $ 212,000 Harvard Business School (Boston, Massachusetts) – $ 200,000 Stanford University (Stanford, California) – $ 200,000 Uc Berkeley (Berkeley, California) – $ 152,500 Creative Capital Foudation (New York, New York) – $ 150,000 Regional Cancer Foundation (San Francisco, California) – $ 110,000 Cato Institute (N W Wash, District of Columbia) – $ 100,000” Stanford University (Stanford, California) – $ 100,000 Independent Institute (Oakland, California) – $ 100,000″

This page has the following sub pages.

• Cato Institute: Detalle de orígenes de financiación