Ira Magaziner
Encyclopedia
Ira Magaziner was born in New York City
, New York
, USA. After being a student activist and business consultant, Magaziner became the senior advisor for policy development for President Clinton
, especially as chief healthcare policy advisor. He now serves as chairman of the William J. Clinton Foundation
's international development initiatives, which are at the forefront of non-governmental organization
s in addressing Global Health and Environmental issues.
, Magaziner was one of the two architects of the "New Curriculum," a liberal academic approach which includes no core requirements aside from the concentration the student pursues. Magaziner excelled academically at Brown and in 1969 was named valedictorian
of his class.
During the 1968 black student walkout at the University, Magaziner held rallies in support of their demands, and as president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, he negotiated with the administration on the terms of their return. His valedictory address at graduation was featured in a 1969 Time magazine special on student leaders—a special which also included a story about a recent Wellesley College graduate, future First Lady
and New York Senator Hillary Rodham. After his address, Magaziner led the students in turning their backs on Henry Kissinger
, who was receiving an honorary degree. Magaziner also organized Brown's "spring weekend" concerts and festivities.
He was named a Rhodes Scholar
upon graduation and studied political philosophy and economics under Isaiah Berlin at Balliol College. At Oxford
, Magaziner met Bill Clinton, also a Rhodes Scholar, who would become a close friend and boss during the 1990s. After two years at Oxford, Magaziner left the program without earning a degree to organize protest rallies against the Vietnam War—at one point in cooperation with actress Vanessa Redgrave
.
After Oxford, Magaziner and a group of former Brown students attempted to implement social democratic reforms in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts
. These reforms included starting an agricultural cooperative, supporting liberal candidates for city council, strengthening the union movement, and printing a progressive town newspaper. Magaziner soon abandoned the project, after the group recognized that the effects of foreign business competition on the local manufacturing base would undercut their efforts. Magaziner then determined that a greater understanding of business was necessary to promote broad-based social and economic reforms.
in Boston, London and Tokyo from 1973 to 1979. He founded Telesis
in 1979 and built it into a respected international firm with offices in the U.S., France, Japan and Australia. Magaziner sold Telesis in 1986 to Towers Perrin
Inc. and managed the U.S. strategy practice for Towers Perrin from 1986 to 1989. Throughout his consulting career, Magaziner's client list has included General Electric, Corning Glass, the Governments of Ireland and Sweden and other high-tech manufacturing and health care companies.
Magaziner also has had significant influence in Rhode Island. Working alongside Governor J. Joseph Garrahy, he devised a state economic plan, known as the "Greenhouse Compact", which, upon approval by the voters, aimed to resolve several key economic issues in the state, to create several business "incubators", and to stimulate state exports. While initially popular among state legislators, it was ultimately voted down by referendum. Magaziner and his family continue to support prominent Democratic Rhode Island politicians and other social causes, including the Rhode Island Food Bank.
Magaziner has authored two books on business strategy and industrial policy: Minding America's Business and The Silent War. The former, co-authored with future Clinton Secretary of Labor Robert Reich
, laid out a plan for U.S. industrial policy in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and received critical acclaim. Emphasis was placed on eliminating subsidies for inefficient American industries, and applying fiscal and industrial policy strategies to stimulate growth in sectors for which the U.S. had "cost-advantage." The Silent War, co-authored with Providence Journal columnist Mark Patinkin
, tells the story of international business competition in the early 1990s, and Magaziner's experiences in dealing with different countries' relationships to their corporate base.
in the early Clinton administration, which aimed to implement a managed competition regime for the health insurance industry, and to establish community rated insurance pools to cut costs for small businesses and the uninsured. The plan was widely-criticized for being too complex. Pharmaceutical companies and health insurance companies waged a broad-based ad-campaign against the plan, which included the famous "Harry and Louise
" ads. Despite the attacks by Republicans and industry associations, Magaziner did little to respond. People within the administration criticized Magaziner's blunt and domineering approach, attacking critics who disagreed instead of trying to build consensus. The Democratic congressional staff began calling him "Hillary's Rasputin".
Brad DeLong, Deputy Treasury Secretary for the Clinton administration at the time, argues that Magaziner's failures stemmed from having a background in management consulting instead of policy: "A management consultant's principal goal is to win a debate in front of his employer ... by making intellectual arguments, controlling the flow of information..., [and] walling-off potential adversaries from the process ... You develop a policy by forming a large coalition ... Then you have a large group of people who are enthusiastic about the proposal: they will go out and make your arguments for you."
Despite its political failings, the substance of the Clinton Health Plan has echoes in current reform plans for the US Health System. For instance, almost all of the 2008 Democratic candidates' plans call for employer mandates, cooperative insurance pools, and managed competition between health plans with a minimum benefits package. Of his Health Plan, President Clinton often says that it was politics that undermined Magaziner's efforts, not policy. It should be noted, however, that these are all Democratic endorsements. Most conservatives still believe less drastic measures are a better approach to increasing coverage while maintaining quality.
Magaziner was court ordered to pay $285,864 to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
, in 1997 by a federal judge for lying about whether the Task Force to Reform Health Care hired non-governmental employees, and therefore would be required to release documents from their strategic deliberations upon public request. Under a 1972 Federal law required a task force not be private if it includes non-Government people. The fine, however, was later overturned on appeal on August 25, 1999.
Following the controversy, Magaziner stayed in the administration and worked to develop an E-Commerce policy initiative with OSTP staff and industry advisors. That initiative evolved to include a facilitative role in the formation the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN
), to assume Internet administrative activities previously maintained by the US DARPA. Magaziner's White House office also oversaw the development of policies to increase American exports, and drafted legislation for American involvement in international health, including the development of "compulsory licensing" for developing countries facing health crises.
. He is the principal architect and manager of the Clinton HIV/AIDS initiative (CHAI), which attempts to cut costs for critical AIDS treatment and diagnostic testing in the developing world, while also improving public health infrastructures in partner countries; the Climate Change Initiative (CCI), which seeks to cut costs for renewable and energy efficient technologies; the Childhood Obesity Initiative, which works in partnership with snack food and soft drink companies to deliver healthier foods to school children in the U.S.; and finally, in partnership with Scottish businessman Tom Hunter
, the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI), which promotes Agricultural Development in several African countries.
Simultaneously, Ira is CEO of SJS advisors, a consulting firm, which currently advises a number of private companies including Corning Glass, with whom he worked prior to the Clinton Administration.
Magaziner lives in Bristol, Rhode Island
with his wife Suzanne and children Seth, Jonathan and Sarah.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, USA. After being a student activist and business consultant, Magaziner became the senior advisor for policy development for President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, especially as chief healthcare policy advisor. He now serves as chairman of the William J. Clinton Foundation
Clinton Foundation
The William J. Clinton Foundation is a foundation established by former President of the United States Bill Clinton with the stated mission to "strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence." The Foundation focuses on four critical areas:...
's international development initiatives, which are at the forefront of non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
s in addressing Global Health and Environmental issues.
Student activism
During his college years at Brown UniversityBrown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, Magaziner was one of the two architects of the "New Curriculum," a liberal academic approach which includes no core requirements aside from the concentration the student pursues. Magaziner excelled academically at Brown and in 1969 was named valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
of his class.
During the 1968 black student walkout at the University, Magaziner held rallies in support of their demands, and as president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, he negotiated with the administration on the terms of their return. His valedictory address at graduation was featured in a 1969 Time magazine special on student leaders—a special which also included a story about a recent Wellesley College graduate, future First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
and New York Senator Hillary Rodham. After his address, Magaziner led the students in turning their backs on Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
, who was receiving an honorary degree. Magaziner also organized Brown's "spring weekend" concerts and festivities.
He was named a Rhodes Scholar
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
upon graduation and studied political philosophy and economics under Isaiah Berlin at Balliol College. At Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, Magaziner met Bill Clinton, also a Rhodes Scholar, who would become a close friend and boss during the 1990s. After two years at Oxford, Magaziner left the program without earning a degree to organize protest rallies against the Vietnam War—at one point in cooperation with actress Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
.
After Oxford, Magaziner and a group of former Brown students attempted to implement social democratic reforms in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts
Brockton, Massachusetts
Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population was 93,810 in the 2010 Census. Brockton, along with Plymouth, are the county seats of Plymouth County...
. These reforms included starting an agricultural cooperative, supporting liberal candidates for city council, strengthening the union movement, and printing a progressive town newspaper. Magaziner soon abandoned the project, after the group recognized that the effects of foreign business competition on the local manufacturing base would undercut their efforts. Magaziner then determined that a greater understanding of business was necessary to promote broad-based social and economic reforms.
Business consulting
Magaziner went on to work for the Boston Consulting GroupBoston Consulting Group
The Boston Consulting Group is a global management consulting firm with offices in 42 countries. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world. It is one of only three companies to appear in the top 15 of Fortunes "Best Companies to Work For" report for...
in Boston, London and Tokyo from 1973 to 1979. He founded Telesis
Telesis
Telesis or "planned progress" was a concept and neologism coined by the American sociologist Lester Frank Ward , in the late 19th century to describe directed social advancement via education and the scientific method...
in 1979 and built it into a respected international firm with offices in the U.S., France, Japan and Australia. Magaziner sold Telesis in 1986 to Towers Perrin
Towers Perrin
Towers Perrin was a professional services firm specialising in human resources and financial services consulting, which merged in January 2010 with Watson Wyatt to form Towers Watson...
Inc. and managed the U.S. strategy practice for Towers Perrin from 1986 to 1989. Throughout his consulting career, Magaziner's client list has included General Electric, Corning Glass, the Governments of Ireland and Sweden and other high-tech manufacturing and health care companies.
Magaziner also has had significant influence in Rhode Island. Working alongside Governor J. Joseph Garrahy, he devised a state economic plan, known as the "Greenhouse Compact", which, upon approval by the voters, aimed to resolve several key economic issues in the state, to create several business "incubators", and to stimulate state exports. While initially popular among state legislators, it was ultimately voted down by referendum. Magaziner and his family continue to support prominent Democratic Rhode Island politicians and other social causes, including the Rhode Island Food Bank.
Magaziner has authored two books on business strategy and industrial policy: Minding America's Business and The Silent War. The former, co-authored with future Clinton Secretary of Labor Robert Reich
Robert Reich
Robert Bernard Reich is an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997....
, laid out a plan for U.S. industrial policy in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and received critical acclaim. Emphasis was placed on eliminating subsidies for inefficient American industries, and applying fiscal and industrial policy strategies to stimulate growth in sectors for which the U.S. had "cost-advantage." The Silent War, co-authored with Providence Journal columnist Mark Patinkin
Mark Patinkin
Mark Patinkin is an author and nationally-syndicated columnist for the Providence Journal. He is a graduate of Middlebury College. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for international reporting, and he has won three New England Emmy awards for television commentaries. He is also the author of...
, tells the story of international business competition in the early 1990s, and Magaziner's experiences in dealing with different countries' relationships to their corporate base.
The Clinton years
Magaziner is best known for leading, along with Hillary Clinton, the failed Task Force to Reform Health CareClinton health care plan
The Clinton health care plan was a 1993 healthcare reform package proposed by the administration of President Bill Clinton and closely associated with the chair of the task force devising the plan, First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton....
in the early Clinton administration, which aimed to implement a managed competition regime for the health insurance industry, and to establish community rated insurance pools to cut costs for small businesses and the uninsured. The plan was widely-criticized for being too complex. Pharmaceutical companies and health insurance companies waged a broad-based ad-campaign against the plan, which included the famous "Harry and Louise
Harry and Louise
"Harry and Louise" was a $14 to $20 million year-long television advertising campaign funded by the Health Insurance Association of America —a predecessor of the current America’s Health Insurance Plans —a health insurance industry lobby group, that ran intermittently from September 8, 1993 to...
" ads. Despite the attacks by Republicans and industry associations, Magaziner did little to respond. People within the administration criticized Magaziner's blunt and domineering approach, attacking critics who disagreed instead of trying to build consensus. The Democratic congressional staff began calling him "Hillary's Rasputin".
Brad DeLong, Deputy Treasury Secretary for the Clinton administration at the time, argues that Magaziner's failures stemmed from having a background in management consulting instead of policy: "A management consultant's principal goal is to win a debate in front of his employer ... by making intellectual arguments, controlling the flow of information..., [and] walling-off potential adversaries from the process ... You develop a policy by forming a large coalition ... Then you have a large group of people who are enthusiastic about the proposal: they will go out and make your arguments for you."
Despite its political failings, the substance of the Clinton Health Plan has echoes in current reform plans for the US Health System. For instance, almost all of the 2008 Democratic candidates' plans call for employer mandates, cooperative insurance pools, and managed competition between health plans with a minimum benefits package. Of his Health Plan, President Clinton often says that it was politics that undermined Magaziner's efforts, not policy. It should be noted, however, that these are all Democratic endorsements. Most conservatives still believe less drastic measures are a better approach to increasing coverage while maintaining quality.
Magaziner was court ordered to pay $285,864 to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons is a politically conservative American non-profit organization founded in 1943 to "fight socialized medicine and to fight the government takeover of medicine." The group was reported to have approximately 4,000 members in 2005, and 3,000 in...
, in 1997 by a federal judge for lying about whether the Task Force to Reform Health Care hired non-governmental employees, and therefore would be required to release documents from their strategic deliberations upon public request. Under a 1972 Federal law required a task force not be private if it includes non-Government people. The fine, however, was later overturned on appeal on August 25, 1999.
Following the controversy, Magaziner stayed in the administration and worked to develop an E-Commerce policy initiative with OSTP staff and industry advisors. That initiative evolved to include a facilitative role in the formation the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
), to assume Internet administrative activities previously maintained by the US DARPA. Magaziner's White House office also oversaw the development of policies to increase American exports, and drafted legislation for American involvement in international health, including the development of "compulsory licensing" for developing countries facing health crises.
The Clinton Foundation
Magaziner is now the Policy Director and Chairman of the Clinton Foundation Policy Board at the William Jefferson Clinton FoundationClinton Foundation
The William J. Clinton Foundation is a foundation established by former President of the United States Bill Clinton with the stated mission to "strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence." The Foundation focuses on four critical areas:...
. He is the principal architect and manager of the Clinton HIV/AIDS initiative (CHAI), which attempts to cut costs for critical AIDS treatment and diagnostic testing in the developing world, while also improving public health infrastructures in partner countries; the Climate Change Initiative (CCI), which seeks to cut costs for renewable and energy efficient technologies; the Childhood Obesity Initiative, which works in partnership with snack food and soft drink companies to deliver healthier foods to school children in the U.S.; and finally, in partnership with Scottish businessman Tom Hunter
Tom Hunter
Sir Thomas Blane Hunter is a Scottish businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.In April 2007, Hunter was reported in the Sunday Times Rich List as the first ever home-grown billionaire in Scotland, with an estimated wealth of £1.05 billion...
, the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI), which promotes Agricultural Development in several African countries.
Simultaneously, Ira is CEO of SJS advisors, a consulting firm, which currently advises a number of private companies including Corning Glass, with whom he worked prior to the Clinton Administration.
Magaziner lives in Bristol, Rhode Island
Bristol, Rhode Island
Bristol is a town in and the historic county seat of Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,954 at the 2010 census. Bristol, a deepwater seaport, is named after Bristol, England....
with his wife Suzanne and children Seth, Jonathan and Sarah.