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Issues in the News

1. SCIENCE

Leon Hesser’s newest book, The Man Who Fed the World, tells the story of scientist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Fellow Dr. Henry I. Miller on Borlaug’s legacy:

“Life really can imitate art. Leon Hesser's straightforward yet gripping biography of Norman Borlaug, the plant breeder known as the Father of the Green Revolution (“The Man Who Fed the World,” Durban House Press, 2006, $24.95), portrays the kind of nobility and idealism shown by Jimmy Stewart in the title role of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” If the Borlaug story were a movie, this week's presentation in Des Moines of the 2006 World Food Prize, first envisioned by and spurred by Borlaug, would be the denouement.”

2. LEGAL

Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling faces sentencing on fraud and conspiracy charges.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Economic Policy Fellow John Berlau on the impact of recent corporate finance scandals:

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“Because the Enron bankruptcy and Enron shenanigans occurred before Sarbanes-Oxley was passed, the government had to convict Lay and Skilling with preexisting law. It was successful. But it was unsuccessful in getting a conviction for Richard Scrushy of HealthSouth, even with the new crimes and penalties in Sarbanes-Oxley. The Enron and WorldCom convictions show that the law before Sarbanes-Oxley was more than adequate to go after corporate fraud.”

3. HEALTH

Recent studies point to the health advantages of eating fish.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Analyst Steven Milloy on why the new conclusions on fish and health should be thrown back:

“Each of the individual fish studies is unique in terms of data collection and statistical methods – think of them essentially as apples and oranges – so that they can’t readily be mixed together to produce a meaningful result. The researchers seem to be hoping that the differences between the studies are randomly distributed so that when their results are combined the differences cancel each other out. Without empirical evidence of such canceling out, this amounts to wishful thinking rather than science.”

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

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