Tanks for thinking

In this week's Spectator Anthony Browne, director of Policy Exchange, is looking enviously across the Atlantic at the thriving condition of centre-right think tanks as compared with their British counterparts. Think tanks, whether centre-right or of any other stripe, are not a scene about which I have much knowledge, so I should perhaps proceed with caution in commenting on it. But, then again, maybe I'll just proceed. If I get something wrong, someone else can point it out.

Odd features of Browne's piece to my untutored eye. First:

Universities are pretty much monopolised by the Left, and seem to rejoice in their lack of real-world impact.

This is not something people of the centre-right can have any complaint about, surely. Universities are open to the competition of ideas, left, right and centre, and competition is a value favoured by the centre-right. If they're not competing adequately within universities, maybe they're doing something wrong. Ditto with regard to a second - the general - theme of Browne's piece: namely, how much less well-heeled British centre-right think tanks are than their cousins across the sea. If the centre-right can't raise money, think about what it's like for other people. Anyway, it's a problem the centre-right should feel at home with. No one is obliged to part with their ruboolas, legitimately earned, n'est-ce pas? Third, from within the left it's not difficult to see how many problems the left has got; partisans of the centre-right cannot but agree. If you can't prosper against this advantage, something may be amiss. Maybe your ideas aren't as good as you think they are.