NERA Economic Consulting

Background

National Economic Research Associates (NERA) Economic Consulting was co-founded on April 10, 1961 by the late Jules Joskow and by Irwin M. Stelzer, senior fellow and director of the right-wing Hudson Institute’s Center for Economic Policy.

In 2004, Stelzer was described as “right-hand man of Rupert Murdoch,” the CEO of News Corp., which owns Fox News. The two economists were advised by the late Alfred E. Kahn, known as the “Father of Deregulation.”¹ ² ³ ⁴

NERA describes itself as “a global firm of experts dedicated to applying economic, finance, and quantitative principles to complex business and legal challenges” that creates “strategies, studies, reports, expert testimony, and policy recommendations for government authorities and the world’s leading law firms and corporations.” They boast that 96 of the Fortune 100 largest corporations have been NERA clients.⁵

When President Donald Trump announced he was pulling the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, he cited several negative statistics regarding the impact of the climate deal, suggesting a $3 trillion drop in GDP, a loss of 6.5 million jobs, and 86% reduction in coal production. DeSmog traced the roots of Trump’s claims on Paris to a March 2017 report by NERA Economic Consulting. The report had been prepared for the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce‘s Institute for 21st Century Energy.⁶ ⁷

NERA has a history of working for industry. In the 1990s, NERA carried out a study for the tobacco industry that concluded there wasn’t a link between tobacco advertising and smoking levels.⁸

Fossil Fuel Ties

NERA has produced numerous reports supporting the LNG industry and the coal industry and, the group’s very first clients included “many major combination gas and electric utilities with regulatory problems that extend beyond gas costs.”⁹

The NERA report Donald Trump cited was also sponsored by the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) and the U.S Chamber of Commerce.¹⁰

The ACCF has accepted millions of dollars in donations from major corporations and industry groups, including ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute and foundations linked to the billionaire petrochemical brothers Charles and David Koch.¹¹

According to its website, NERA Economic Consulting’s “Practice Areas” include Energy and Environmental Economics. One NERA document details their “Energy” service as follows:¹² ¹³

“We work with companies, governmental bodies, and regulators worldwide to design competitive gas and electricity markets and to develop tariffs and rules of access for regulated transmission and distribution systems for electricity, gas, and the transport of oil and oil products.

“With industry restructuring in many countries, we also help companies develop strategies for exploring new opportunities and minimizing new risks, including those related to climate change, environmental regulation, and energy policy. […]”¹⁴

NERA’s History with Tobacco

1994–1995

NERA served as a contractor to Philip Morris against an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposal to implement regulations for smoking on the job, Tobacco Archives documents reveal.¹⁵ ¹⁶

Dr. Albert L . Nichols of NERA wrote a Dec. 1995 NERA economic study contracted by Philip Morris which critiqued OSHA regulations, describing them as “draconian” in nature, suggesting OSHA relied on “patently ludicrous” economic assumptions. Nichols also testified at the request of Philip Morris.¹⁷

In a Feb. 1995 Associated Press article, Nichols was also quoted saying that cigarette sales in Maryland “could fall by $27 million” on an annual basis if the regulations are implemented.¹⁸

1990–1992

A search of the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library reveals that on December 19, 1990, NERA released a report on advertising in the tobacco industry.¹⁹

According to the report’s introduction, its purpose was to review “the publicly available econometric literature regarding the question of whether cigarette advertising affects cigarette consumption.” It concludes by quoting another study, which stated that “advertising bans in the broadcast media have had virtually no effect on per capita consumption.”²⁰

NERA produced another study in January 1992 titled “Advertising and Cigarette Consumption: Is the Literature All Smoke?” that similarly concluded that “No well-executed studies support either the view that advertising increases overall cigarette consumption or the view that advertising increases cigarette market share.”²¹

A January, 1991 memo from former Philip Morris employee Cynthia von Maerestetten describes the first NERA study as “the single best and most solid piece of work on the subject (by the bad guys or the good guys) to date.” She adds that “It should be particularly helpful in areas where the New Zealand Toxic Substances Review Board Report has been used with and by government sto justify ad ban proposals.”²²

While details on who commissioned the report are not obviously disclosed, Maerestetten writes in the memo that “Essentially, you (PMI) own it and can distribute it publicly/privately in any way you see fit.”

1990

NERA worked to fight against proposed Restaurant Smoking Bans in Los Angeles county in 1990, working with PR firm Ogilvy-Mather and the Tobacco Institute, according to archived tobacco industry documents.²³

1986

NERA’s tobacco connections extend back at least to 1986, where a memo from NERA’s then-vice-president William B. Shew addressed to Arnold & Porter attorney Thomas Silfen says the tobacco industry should aim to explain the so-called health “benefits” of smoking.²⁴ ²⁵

“The individual weights the benefits of smoking against the costs,” the memo reads. “Smoking does not pose immediate health hazards; rather, any adverse consequences occur only after a substantial lag.”

At the time of the memo, Arnold & Porter served as national counsel for Philip Morris.

Stance on Climate Change

2012

According to a NERA Economic Consulting document on Climate Change, with a PDF creation date of September, 2012:²⁶

“Greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are increasingly important concerns for governments and businesses across the globe. As governments move to enact policies and regulations that will curtail greenhouse gas emissions, firms must understand and prepare for the possibility of a reduced greenhouse gas future. NERA’s understanding of market structure, regulatory incentives, and the economic instruments relevant to most climate change policies can form a key component of firm and industry strategies for dealing with greenhouse gas challenges.”²⁷

Funding

According to its website, “NERA has worked with all 100 of the American Lawyer Global 100 largest law firms” and “96 of the Fortune 100 largest corporations have been NERA clients.”²⁸

While the company does not list their clients, some of their major clients are detailed on its history page and include:²⁹

AT&T
“major combination gas and electric utilities”
NYSE
“work involving the Arab oil embargo and various government and private entities in the US energy sector”
Atomic Energy Commission
“several large M&A cases such as Mead/Occidental”
South California Edison
Major League Baseball Players Association
Enron
WorldCom

Key People

NERA “Experts”

The following “Experts” were listed on the NERA website between 1997 and 2017.

Name	1997	1998	2003	2004	2017	Description
Agustin Ros			Y	Y
Airat Chanyshev					Y	Senior Consultant
Alan (Jeff) Daskin			Y	Y
Alan Cox	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Managing Director. Chair of NERA’s Intellectual Property Practice
Alan Daskin	Y	Y				Senior Consultant, White Plains
Alan E. Finder					Y	Affiliated Industry Expert
Alan Grant					Y	Senior Consultant
Albert (Nick) Nichols	Y	Y	Y	Y
Alejandro Requejo			Y	Y
Alex Richardson					Y	Senior Consultant
Alexander Voegele					Y	Affiiated Consultant
Alexandre Carbonnel					Y	Consultant
Alfred E. Kahn	Y	Y	Y	Y
Algis Remeza			Y	Y
Alison Oldale			Y	Y
Alon Carmel					Y	Senior Consultant
Alyssa Lutz			Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Amanda Pletz					Y	Associate Director
Amity Swank			Y	Y
Amparo Nieto			Y	Y	Y	Associate Director
Andrej Juris			Y	Y
Andrew Carron	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Chairman
Andrew Homewood			Y	Y
Andrew Joskow		Y	Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Angela Pachon			Y	Y
Aniruddha Banerjee	Y	Y	Y	Y
Ann Whitfield			Y	Y
Anne E. Smith					Y	Managing Director. Co-Chair, Environment Practice
Anne Gron					Y	Managing Director
Anne Layne-Farrar			Y	Y
Anthony Yezer		Y				Special Consultant, Cambridge
Antoinette (Toni) Pincott					Y	Managing Director
Atilano Jorge Padilla			Y			Director, Brussels, Madrid and Rome
Bastian Gottschling					Y	Principal
Becky Stuttard			Y	Y
Benjamin Chee					Y	Director
Bernard Reddy	Y	Y	Y	Y
Bernard Shull	Y	Y	Y	Y
Bob Grabham			Y	Y
Bradley A. Heys					Y	Director
Bruce Grundy	Y	Y				Special Consultant, White Plains
Bruce Netschert	Y	Y				Special Consultant, Washington D.C.
Bruno Soria					Y	Associate Director
Bryan Ray			Y	Y	Y	Associate Director
Bryan Tomlin					Y	Affiliated Academic
Cagatay Koc			Y	Y
Carl Peterson			Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Carlo Scarpa					Y	Affiliated Academic
Carlos Pabon-Agudelo			Y	Y
Carol Osborne			Y	Y
Cesar Herrera			Y	Y
Chantale LaCasse			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Charles Zarkadas	Y	Y		Y
Chetan Sanghvi					Y	Managing Director
Christian Dippon			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director. Chair of NERA’s Global Energy, Environment, Communications & Infrastructure Practice
Christine Meyer			Y	Y
Christine Siegwarth Meyer					Y	Managing Director
Christopher Erath			Y	Y
Christopher Vellturo	Y	Y				Vice President, Cambridge
Chudozie Okongwu			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Cindy W. Ma			Y	Y
Clara Segurola					Y	Senior Consultant
Collin Cain			Y	Y
Craig Merrill			Y	Y
Dana Heller				Y
Daniel Abrams			Y	Y
Daniel Garcia Swartz			Y	Y
Daniel LaGattuta			Y	Y
Daniel Radov			Y	Y	Y	Director
Daniel Whitaker			Y	Y
Dante Quaglione			Y	Y
David Babbel			Y	Y
David Blackburn					Y	Director
David Blanchflower		Y	Y	Y
David Ellis			Y	Y
David Evans	Y	Y	Y			Senior Vice President, Cambridge, Chicago, and Brussels
David Graham					Y	Associate Director
David Harrison	Y	Y				Vice President, Cambridge
David Harrison Jr.			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director. Co-Chair, Environment Practice
David Hough			Y	Y
David Lewis			Y	Y
David M. Boonin					Y	Affiliated Industry Expert
David Matthew			Y	Y
David Monk					Y	Associate Director
David Monk Jr.			Y	Y
David Sevy			Y	Y
David Squires			Y	Y
David Sunding		Y				Senior Consultant, San Francisco
David Tabak			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Denise Martin	Y	Y	Y	Y
Denise Neumann Martin					Y	Managing Director
Dennis Colenutt			Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Dirk van Leeuwen			Y	Y	Y	Senior Consultant
Dominik Hübler					Y	Principal
Drew Claxton			Y	Y	Y	Associate Director
Edward Bramley-Harker			Y	Y
Edward Kahn	Y	Y				Vice President, San Francisco
Edward Kee					Y	Affiiated Consultant
Elaine Buckberg			Y	Y
Elena Zoido			Y	Y
Elizabeth Bailey			Y	Y
Elizabeth M. Bailey					Y	Affiliated Academic
Elizabeth Newlon					Y	Associate Director
Elizabeth Xiao-Ru Wang			Y	Y
Emily Bulman			Y	Y
Emmanuel Llinares					Y	Managing Director. Head of Global Transfer Pricing
Enese Lieb-Doczy			Y	Y
Enrique Torres-Correa			Y	Y
Erik Sleutjes			Y	Y
Erin McHugh					Y	Associate Director
Esther Parker			Y	Y
Eugene Ericksen	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Affiliated Academic
Eugene Meehan	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Fabrizio Hernandez			Y	Y
Fabrizio Hernández					Y	Managing Director
Faten Sabry			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director. Bankruptcy Practice Chair
Federica Maiorano			Y	Y
Fernando Avalos			Y	Y
Fernando Barrera			Y	Y
Francesco Lo Passo			Y	Y
Frank Douglass			Y	Y
Frank P. Maier-Rigaud					Y	Managing Director. Head of Competition Economics Europe
Fred Dunbar	Y	Y	Y	Y
G. Steven Olley			Y	Y
Gabriella Monahova					Y	Senior Consultant
Garrett Glasgow					Y	Senior Consultant
Gary Dorman	Y	Y	Y	Y
Gary Lambert					Y	Senior Consultant
George Anstey					Y	Associate Director
George Korenko			Y	Y
Georgi Tsvetkov					Y	Senior Consultant
Georgina Martinez			Y	Y
Gideon Koch			Y	Y
Glenn R. George					Y	Managing Director
Gordon Hughes			Y	Y
Gordon MacKerron			Y	Y
Graeme Hunter				Y	Y	Managing Director
Graham Hadley			Y	Y
Graham Houston			Y	Y
Graham Shuttleworth			Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Grant Saggers					Y	Associate Director
Greg Houston			Y	Y
Gregory Duncan	Y	Y	Y	Y
Guillaume Madelpuech					Y	Principal
Guillermo Lozano Branger			Y	Y
Hamish Fraser			Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Hans-Martin Ihle					Y	Senior Consultant
Harlow Higinbotham			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Harold Ware	Y	Y	Y	Y
Healey Whitsett					Y	Senior Consultant
Hethie Parmesano	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Hiroaki Ishigaki					Y	Managing Director
Howard Chang			Y	Y
Howard Kitt	Y	Y	Y	Y
Ian Jones			Y	Y
Ignacio Franceschelli					Y	Senior Consultant
Ignacio Vizcaino			Y	Y
Inmaculada Gutierrez			Y	Y
Isabelle McKenzie			Y	Y
Ivelina Velikova					Y	Senior Consultant
J. Douglas Zona		Y				Senior Consultant, White Plains
J. Howard Beales, III					Y	Affiliated Academic
Jaime D’Almeida			Y			Consultant, Cambridge
James Brickley			Y	Y
James Dougherty			Y	Y
James Forcier		Y				Senior Consultant, San Francisco
James Grayburn			Y	Y	Y	Associate Director
James Jordan			Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
James Mellsop					Y	Managing Director
James Overdahl					Y	Affiliated Industry Expert
Jan Peter van der Veer			Y	Y
Janusz Mrozek					Y	Senior Consultant
Jason Hong					Y	Senior Consultant
Jason Zeitler			Y	Y
Jeanne Lubek			Y	Y	Y	Director
Jeff D. Makholm					Y	Managing Director
Jeff Makholm	Y	Y	Y	Y
Jeff Youngen			Y	Y
Jeffrey A. Bloczynski			Y	Y
Jeffrey A. Eisenach					Y	Managing Director. Co-Chair, Communications, Media, and Internet Practice
Jeffrey L. Baliban			Y	Y
Jennifer Cascone Fauver					Y	Associate Director
Jennifer Chen			Y	Y
Jeremy Stein			Y	Y
Jerome Hass	Y	Y	Y	Y
Jerry Arnold					Y	Affiliated Academic
Jesse David			Y	Y
Jim Rollo			Y	Y
Jin Park			Y	Y
Joel Simkins					Y	Senior Consultant
John Dodgson			Y	Y
John Gaisford	Y	Y				Senior Consultant, Los Angeles
John Garvey					Y	Managing Director
John H. Johnson IV			Y	Y
John Montgomery			Y	Y
John Prather Brown			Y	Y
John Rhys			Y	Y
John Scalf					Y	Senior Consultant
John Sepple	Y	Y				Vice President, Washington D.C.
John Thanassoulis			Y	Y
Jon Stern			Y	Y
Jon Wainwright			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Jonathan Falk	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Associate Director
Jordan Milev					Y	Associate Director
Jorge Baez					Y	Associate Director
Jorge Fernandez			Y	Y
Jorge Sanz					Y	Associate Director
Jose Maria Rodriguez Ovejero			Y	Y
Joseph Cook			Y	Y
Joseph Crespo			Y	Y
Joseph Eckert	Y	Y				Vice President, Washington D.C.
Juan Carlos Ortigas			Y	Y	Y	Associate Director
Judith Greenman	Y	Y				Senior Vice President, White Plains
Jules Joskow	Y	Y	Y	Y		Former President.
Julio Garcia-Cobos			Y	Y
Karen Frazer			Y	Y
Karl McDermott			Y	Y	Y	Affiliated Academic
Kate Foreman					Y	Senior Consultant
Kathleen (Kathy) King			Y	Y
Kazuto Yamashiro			Y	Y
Ken Serwin			Y	Y
Kenneth Froot	Y	Y	Y	Y
Kenneth Gordon	Y	Y	Y	Y
Kenneth Train			Y	Y	Y	Associate Director
Kent Anderson	Y	Y	Y	Y
Kent Van Liere					Y	Managing Director
Kevin Counsell					Y	Senior Consultant
Kristin Terris					Y	Associate Director
Kristina Sepetys		Y	Y	Y
Kristopher A. Boushie					Y	Associate Director
Kurt Strunk			Y		Y	Director
L. Alan Winters			Y	Y
Laura Brien		Y				Senior Consultant, San Francisco
Laura T. W. Olive					Y	Senior Consultant
Lauren Stiroh			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director. Chair of NERA’s Global Antitrust and Competition Practice
Lawrence Wu			Y	Y	Y	President
Leonard Waverman			Y	Y
Leonardo Giacchino			Y	Y
Lewis Evans					Y	Affiliated Academic
Linda McLaughlin	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Lisa Correa			Y	Y
Louis Guth	Y	Y	Y	Y
Lucy Eyre			Y	Y
Lucy P. Allen	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Luisa Affuso			Y	Y
Marc Ivaldi					Y	Affiliated Academic
Marcella Fantini			Y	Y
Marcelo Rabinovich					Y	Senior Consultant
Marcia Kramer Mayer	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Marco Schönborn					Y	Senior Consultant
Marion Stewart	Y	Y	Y	Y
Mark Berkman	Y	Y				Vice President, San Francisco
Mark L. Berenblut					Y	Affiiated Consultant
Mark Williams			Y	Y
Marta Moro					Y	Senior Consultant
Martin Siner			Y	Y
Mary Elizabeth C. Stern			Y	Y	Y	Director
Mary Starks			Y	Y
Matthew Evans			Y	Y
Melissa Pittaoulis					Y	Associate Director
Michael Baye					Y	Affiliated Academic
Michael Buckland			Y	Y
Michael Gorman			Y	Y
Michael Noel			Y	Y
Michael Quinn	Y	Y				Senior Consultant, Cambridge
Michael Rosenzweig	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Michael Salinger	Y	Y	Y	Y
Michael Spackman			Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Michael Tennican	Y	Y	Y	Y
Mike King			Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Monica Gandolfi			Y	Y
Nadia Soboleva					Y	Senior Consultant
Nadine Watson			Y	Y
Naoya Kaneko					Y	Senior Consultant
Nathan Blalock					Y	Senior Consultant
Nathan Larson			Y	Y
Neil Dryden			Y	Y
Nicola Tosini					Y	Senior Consultant
Nigel Attenborough			Y	Y	Y	Affiliated Industry Expert
Nihan Mert-Beydilli			Y	Y	Y	Associate Director
Nina Shore			Y	Y
Nobuo Mori			Y	Y
Oksana Kitaychik					Y	Associate Director
Oscar Arnedillo			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Pana Della Valle	Y	Y				Senior Consultant, New York City
Paola Valenti			Y	Y
Patrick Conroy			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director. Chair of NERA’s Securities and Finance Practice
Patrick Smith			Y	Y
Paul Bernstein					Y	Associate Director
Paul Brandon	Y	Y	Y	Y
Paul Griffin	Y	Y				Special Consultant, San Francisco
Paul Hinton			Y	Y
Paul Hofer			Y	Y
Paul Joskow	Y	Y				Special Consultant, Cambridge
Paul Wertheim					Y	Affiliated Academic
Paul Wong					Y	Senior Consultant
Pedro Luis Sanchez			Y	Y
Pedro Posada					Y	Associate Director
Perry Sioshansi	Y					Senior Consultant, San Francisco
Peter Abegg			Y	Y
Peter Boenisch					Y	Senior Consultant/Principal
Peter Goate			Y	Y
Peter Griffes	Y	Y				Senior Consultant, San Francisco
Peter Max	Y	Y	Y	Y
Philip de Homont					Y	Associate Director
Philip Kalmus			Y	Y
Phillip Beutel	Y	Y	Y	Y
Phillip Winterfeldt			Y	Y
Phoebus Dhrymes			Y	Y
Pieter (Pim) Fris			Y	Y
Pim Fris					Y	Affiiated Consultant
Pinar Bagci			Y	Y
Rachel Goodyer			Y	Y
Ramsey Shehadeh			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Ramzi Zein			Y	Y
Raymund Wong					Y	Associate Director
Rebecca Billings					Y	Associate Director
Richard Bergin			Y	Y
Richard Druce					Y	Associate Director
Richard Hern			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Richard J. Eichmann					Y	Director
Richard Marsden					Y	Managing Director
Richard Rapp	Y	Y	Y	Y
Richard Rozek	Y	Y	Y	Y
Richard Schmalensee	Y	Y	Y	Y
Robert (Russ) O’Haver			Y	Y
Robert Hahn			Y	Y
Robert Kneuper	Y	Y				Senior Consultant, Washington D.C.
Robert Mackay			Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Robert Patton					Y	Associate Director
Robert Petersen	Y	Y				Senior Consultant, San Francisco
Robert Porter	Y	Y				Special Consultant, White Plains
Robert Rubinovitz			Y	Y
Robert Southern					Y	Managing Director
Rocio Concha			Y	Y
Rodney Frame	Y					Vice President, Washington D.C.
Ron Miller			Y			Senior Consultant, New York
Sally Hunt	Y	Y	Y	Y
Sandra Ringelstetter Ennis					Y	Chief Operating Officer. Managing Director
Sarah Butler			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Sarah Voll			Y	Y
Satoshi Nakashima				Y
Saul Estrin			Y	Y
Scott J. Bloomberg					Y	Associate Director
Scott Thomas	Y	Y	Y	Y
Sean Gammons			Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Sébastien Gonnet					Y	Director
Sharon Brown-Hruska					Y	Director
Shuchi Satwah			Y	Y
Simeon Thornton			Y	Y
Soren Tang Sorensen					Y	Associate Director
Sorin M. Sorescu					Y	Affiliated Academic
Sourav Chatterjee			Y	Y
Stefan Berger					Y	Senior Consultant
Stefan Boettrich					Y	Senior Consultant
Stephanie Demperio					Y	Senior Consultant
Stephanie Plancich			Y	Y	Y	Associate Director
Stephen Gibson			Y	Y
Stephen Powell			Y	Y
Stephen St. Marie	Y	Y				Senior Consultant, San Francisco
Stephen Usher	Y	Y	Y	Y
Steven Bloom	Y					Senior Consultant, New York City
Steven Schwartz	Y	Y	Y	Y
Stuart Gabriel		Y	Y	Y
Stuart Holder			Y	Y
Stuart L. Harshbarger					Y	Director
Subramaniam (Subbu) Ramanarayanan				Y		Associate Director
Sugandha D. Tuladhar					Y	Associate Director
Sumanth Addanki	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Managing Director
Svetlana Starykh			Y	Y	Y	Senior Consultant
Takefumi Suzuki			Y	Y
Tamane Ozeki			Y			Consultant, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Thilo Klein			Y	Y
Thomas Bornholdt			Y	Y
Thomas L. Porter			Y	Y
Thomas McCarthy	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Managing Director. Health Care Practice Chair
Tilling Lee					Y	Senior Consultant
Tim Booer			Y	Y
Timothy Daniel			Y	Y
Timothy McKenna					Y	Associate Director
Timothy P. Daniel		Y				Vice President, Washington D.C.
Timothy Tardiff	Y	Y	Y	Y
Timothy Watts					Y	Director
Todd Foster			Y	Y
Todd Morrison	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
Tom Braukmann					Y	Principal
Tom Hird			Y	Y
Tomas Haug					Y	Director
Tsuruhiko Nambu			Y	Y
Tsvetan Beloreshki			Y	Y
Ulrich Schwalbe					Y	Affiliated Academic
Vakhtang Kvekvetsia			Y	Y	Y	Associate Director
Vernon Noronha			Y	Y
Veronica Irastorza					Y	Associate Director
Victor Goldberg	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Affiliated Academic
Victor Miesel			Y	Y
Vinita Juneja	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Managing Director. Chair of NERA’s White Collar, Investigations and Enforcement Practice
Vladimir Starkov					Y	Associate Director
W. David Montgomery					Y	Affiiated Consultant
W. Kip Viscusi		Y	Y	Y
Walter Surratt	Y	Y	Y	Y
Wayne Olson			Y	Y
William Baker			Y	Y	Y	Affiiated Consultant
William P. Hrycay					Y	Senior Consultant
William Rankin			Y	Y
William S. Taylor					Y	Senior Consultant
William Taylor	Y	Y	Y	Y
Willis Geffert					Y	Senior Consultant
Yogesh Sharma			Y	Y
Yuko Saito					Y	Associate Director
Zava Aydemir			Y	Y

Actions

March 2017

NERA’s report, “Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Regulations On the Industrial Sector,” would go on to be cited by Donald Trump supporting his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement.³⁰

According to a fact check at Politifact, the statistics should be taken “with a grain of salt.” A separate team of professors, economists, and scientists at Climate Feedback had reviewed the study after it was previously cited by failed Republican Presidential candidate (and climate science denier) Ted Cruz. A majority of the reviewers found the study was “biased, inaccurate, misleading.”³¹ ³²

A fact check of Donald Trump’s speech by Associated Press, where he cited the NERA study, points out:³³

“The study makes worst-case assumptions that may inflate the cost of meeting U.S. targets under the Paris accord while largely ignoring the economic benefits to U.S. businesses from building and operating renewable energy projects.

Academic studies have found that increased environmental regulation doesn’t actually have much impact on employment. Jobs lost at polluting companies tend to be offset by new jobs in green technology.”³⁴

September 9, 2014

As DeSmog reported, NERA Consulting was behind one of several reports that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed before reaching its final conclusion pushing for a lifting of the oil eport ban.³⁵

NERA’s report, titled “Economic Benefits of Lifting the Crude Oil Export Ban,” was prepared for the Brookings Institute. Page 95 of the report presents a simplified cost benefit analysis regarding CO2 emissions:³⁶

“Considering the latest guidance from the U.S. EPA on the social cost of carbon is estimated to be $30 per ton of CO2, the costs of using an oil export ban as a means of limiting emissions are 30 to 45 times as large as the benefits.”³⁷

July 29, 2014

W. David Montgomery, Senior Vice President at NERA Economic Consulting, submitted testimony before the United States Senate on “The Economic and Budgetary Consequences of Climate Change.”³⁸

In his testimony, Montgomery suggests a strategy of adaption and contends that reducing U.S. emissions would have a “paltry difference” in global warming:³⁹

“It is true that most of the damage from climate change will not occur in the U.S. but rather in poor countries in equatorial regions – in other words, in regions where failed states, rapacious dictators, and ethnic and religious violence are endemic. The paltry difference in global warming that the US can make by reducing emissions will not help those countries. I believe that we have both a national interest and moral obligation to provide effective, community based aid to those countries to assist them in adaptation.”⁴⁰

February 17, 2013

NERA Economic Consulting produced a report for the National Assocation of Manufacturers (NAM) on the “Economic Outcomes of a U.S. Carbon Tax.” The 2013 study was later cited on July 10, 2015 by Jay Timmons, CEO of the National Association of Manufactures (NAM), in a a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal responding to an opinion piece discussing Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) support for a carbon tax.⁴¹ ⁴²

According to the Partnership For Responsible Growth, the study “is flawed in both design and interpretation. It finds that any revenue raised by a carbon tax would be outweighed by the economic cost. This is simply false.”

The Partnership article adds, “NAM’s report is misleading at best — at worst, it is a political tool they use to turn attention away from the positive merits that a carbon fee could bring the country.”⁴³

The NAM/NERA report determines that GDP would be reduced by about $97 billion in 2023 if the $20/ton tax was implemented. In the case of the 80 percent reduction in emissions, the report found GDP would be cut by $1.4 trillion by 2053.⁴⁴

November 19, 2012

As revealed by Reuters and reported at DeSmog, NERA Economic Consulting was the third party contractor behind a 2011 report written on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). The ACCCE report concluded that “clean-air rules proposed by the Obama administration would cost utilities $17.8 billion annually and raise electricity rates 11.5 percent on average in 2016.”⁴⁵ ⁴⁶

According to the full NLG study’s “key findings,” the U.S. was projected to “gain net economic benefits from allowing LNG exports. Moreover, for every one of the market scenarios examined, net economic benefit increased as the level of LNG exports increased.”⁴⁷

March 1, 2012

NERA Economic Consulting published a report titled “An Economic Impact Analysis of EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxic Standards Rule” which supported the coal industry’s claim that the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) Rule would cost the U.S. tens of billions of dollars and “kill” 180,000-215,000 jobs.⁴⁸

Those same figures were picked up and cited by prominent climate change denier U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) in June of 2012 when he spoke against President Barack Obama’s so-called “war on coal,” as well as by the Republican Policy Committee in a May 2012 paper titled, “Obama’s War on Coal.”⁴⁹

April 29, 2010

NERA published a letter to the New York Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to protest the prospective closure of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants.⁵⁰

NERA Economic Consulting’s parent company is the Oliver Wyman Group, which is in turn a child company of the Marsh & McLellan Companies group. Marsh & McLellan Companies include:⁵¹