Soros Should Revive the Old Liberalism (from Financial Times)
A January 17, 2005 column by Amity Shlaes in the Financial Times expresses the hope that the left-wing thinktanks to be funded by philanthropist George Soros will raise the intellectual standards of political discourse. She notes that not all political activists are as good as sorting out perceived and actual risks as the American Council on Science and Health:
Merck's removal of its anti-arthritis drug Vioxx from the market is an example. "Heart attacks and strokes double with Vioxx" was the headline about its withdrawal. But as the American Council on Science and Health points out, that doubling was from the small base of 1.9 per cent of the population to 3.5 per cent. The drug is a risk, but one a patient might choose to run, given the choice. This, however, is hard to impress on a party leadership that prefers the "perception is reality" argument.