Think Tanks! What Are They Good For?

In a Democracy Desperate For New Ideas and Nonpartisanship, They Might Plan Our Future

In The Comedian, Jerry Seinfeld’s movie about his craft, Seinfeld reveals he always wanted to do a skit about think tanks. The comedian, keen to deconstruct meaning, defines think tanks as: “It’s a tank … to think in …” And then he plots a skit where a think tank employee sitting in a bare room in a Rodin-like thoughtful pose is asked by colleagues if he is ready to go to lunch, only to respond that wait, wait, he isn’t done with his “work.” And then he suddenly is.

Seinfeld must …