AdvertisementThe job of a think tank is to generate the ideas that politicians implement in office. The left has, of course, followed suit with its own think tanks (although progressive think tanks strike me as comparatively inert -- perhaps because the left already owns so much of academia). AdvertisementTo be effective, a think tank, like a good journalist, should be friendly toward elected officials without becoming their friend. Consider, for a moment, policy research -- a vital part of what a think tank does (in my view, a think tank that produces no original research is not thinking, but I digress). In a world where we can act almost as fast as we can think, the opportunities for idea-rich think tanks are without limit.