Opinion in 1992

The British government seems to believe that a market in energy absolves it from responsibility.

The US Institute of Medicine has just produced a document that is either scary or a spur that will persuade governments to pay more attention to old-fashioned public health.

Columbus, for all the criticism of the past few weeks, deserves his place in history.

By charging drug companies 'user fees' that will be spent hiring new staff, the US Food and Drug Administration will reduce the time it takes to review new pharmaceuticals from an average of two years to one.

Funding for a new programme, with only $1.5 million for grants, is hardly enough to scratch the surface.

Europe seems keen on construction projects with benefits for the environment: will environmentalists agree?

The US Congress has been teasing the administration by tagging a nuclear test-ban onto a domestic spending bill. The trick will help to advertise an important question, but the need now is for serious and energetic diplomacy.

The decision of the US Patent Office not to protect gene fragments is welcome, but questions remain.

The chauvinistic response of many Britons to the events of the past two weeks would be better directed towards an understanding of the weakness of British industry — the real reason why £1 is no longer worth DM2.95.

Two prosperous countries in the West — Germany and the United States — are in trouble over health costs.

The temptation to cut back on research in the current financial crisis should be resisted.

The uncertainty caused by the French referendum on Europe last Sunday could threaten many institutions of European collaboration. Responsibility for avoiding that outcome rests with the British.

Alarms about the risk of food contaminants may become a powerful non-tariff restraint on trade.

A US Congressman is asking whether support for basic research can be taken for granted. The research community, which is inclined to react impatiently, should instead give a moderate response to a fair question.

Discrimination against women in science is wrong but so is a quota system.

Next week's referendum in France on the European treaty on monetary union is bound to be a milestone; the best hope is that it will mark the beginning of a better and wider Europe.

The New York City Board of Education is in the dark ages, demanding that AIDS education emphasize abstinence.

The world's foreign exchanges have been like bear-pits in the past few weeks, but the causes of the turmoil have long roots, in the US budget deficit and in most of Europe's tradition of tolerating inflation.

The US federal agency with responsibility for national emergencies has flunked again.

The bankruptcy of Wang Laboratories is sad — and confirmation that even the best cannot stand still.