It’s a sad fact that often the most informative (and benign,
non offensive) comments by a number of contributors in response to articles by
the likes of Margaret Wente or Neil Reynolds are removed. This often happens to facts which
contradict claims in the articles, or which raise uncomfortable questions.
Again today. Information about Ms. Wente and Don Coxe, whom
she quotes - was removed:
A potentially interesting (and undisclosed) relationship
between Wente and quoted expert Don Coxe who hails from Wente’s home turf –
Chicago. From the acknowledgements
section of his 2003 book:
“Those who undertook the
arduous task of evaluating the manuscript deserve special thanks, and I
appreciate the comments and suggestions I received from Margaret Wente…”
Wente writes: “’Canada’s mining and oil wealth
is not just minerals dug from the ground,’ Don Coxe, a leading investment
strategist, points out. ‘It is the managements, geologists, engineers,
drillers, workers and investment bankers who staff companies headquartered in
Canada that operate across the world.’”
Those quotes Ms. Wente uses in her
breathless paean to Canada as an oil and gas
superpower appear on page 17 of an older issue of Coxe’s monthly portfolio strategy
journal.
It’s interesting to read them in context (particularly when
he discusses “Dutch Disease”). So
why is pointing out the relationship, or the source of the quotes worthy of
censorship?
And, as is so frequently the case, Ms. Wente’s column
includes material that, it’s fair to suggest, might have benefited from
attribution.
Concluding her promotion of the Chinese takeover bid of
Nexen as “maximizing our opportunities as a global petro-power”, Wente writes, “Wilfrid
Laurier was almost right when he said the 20th century belonged to Canada. He
was only off by 100 years”.
Key Porter’s promotional
blurb for a similar cheerleading book
by Brian Lee Crowley et al (which it is reasonable to believe Ms. Wente is
familiar with, as it’s up her alley and was covered in the Globe) reads:
“Laurier did indeed
predict the Canadian Century. He was absolutely right; he was
merely off by 100
years.”
A clever hook – and perhaps
Crowley, Clemens, Key Porter et al don’t mind the additional publicity.
And likely Mr. Coxe, who thanked
Ms. Wente for her help, is pleased to see material from his newsletters in her
articles.
But again, it’s reasonable to ask, why not
simply disclose any relationships and/or attribute the quotes? And why the routine censorship of
information like this?
Update: A bit more
information that might have been disclosed:
Don Coxe, the only “investment
strategist” quoted by Ms. Wente in her gushing endorsement of the proposed
takeover of Nexen by CNOOC is described by the Globe in an earlier article as “strategy adviser to BMO
Nesbitt Burns”.
In a more recent Globe business article,
BMO Nesbitt Burns is described as advisor to CNOOC in the takeover bid of
Nexen: “BMO Nesbitt
Burns and Citigroup advised CNOOC”, the Globe reports.
Again, should this information, like Ms. Wente’s assistance in the
writing of Mr. Coxe’s book, have been subject to full disclosure?
