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Saturday, November 21, 2009
 
 
EVENTS
Obesity, Individual Responsibility, and Public Policy
Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Time: 12:00 PM — 5:30 PM
Location: Wohlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, AEI 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
 
 
About This Event

On June 10, AEI will host a conference on obesity, individual responsibility, and public policy. The Centers for Disease Control reports that "In the United States, obesity has risen at an epidemic rate during the past twenty years." By some calculations, being overweight is as deadly as smoking. Experts will examine this claim and its implications for public policy. Is controlling obesity a matter of government regulation-through taxes or public disclosure laws-or is it a matter of willpower and choice? Does the tort system dampen individual responsibility and threaten the existence of companies whose products may be labeled as fattening? This conference will examine the epidemiology of obesity, the reasons that Americans are overweight, and the difficulties with legal and legislative remedies.

 
Agenda

10:45 a.m.

Registration

11:00

Opening Speaker:

Richard A. Epstein, University of Chicago

11:30

Panel I: Epidemiology and Implications of Obesity

 

Panelists:

Frank Hu, Harvard School of Public Health

 

 

Glenn Gaesser, University of Virginia and author of Big Fat Lies

 

Moderator:

James K. Glassman, AEI

12:30 p.m.

Luncheon Speaker:

Richard H. Carmona, U.S. surgeon general

1:30

Panel II: Why Are We Obese?

 

Panelists:

Ruth Kava, American Council of Science and Health

 

 

Tomas Philipson, Food and Drug Administration and University of Chicago

 

 

Sally Satel, AEI

 

 

John E. Calfee, AEI

2:45 Break  
3:00 Panel III: Remedies
  Panelists: Michael S. Greve, AEI
    Kelly Brownell, Yale University
    Greg Critser, author of Fatland
    Rick Berman, Consumer Freedom

4:30

Adjournment

 
 
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