in this way precludes the policy alternative of holding back basic inventions from foreigners through more regulation and points toward moe flexible solutions that give American workers and engineers experience in quickly turning basic inventions into products.
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Second, it is important to distinguish among levels of problem complexity. It should be made clear to clients of policy analysis that more complex problems will be harder to solve and take longer. Policymakers often ignore this distinction between simple and complex problems in the rush to gain public approbation. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich once argued that Clinton's ten-year drug policy strategy was too pessimistic: "The Civil War took just four years to save the union and abolish slavery. Why can't w solve the drug problem, another form of slavery, in just a few years?" Of course, changing the intractable behavioral foundations of policy problems requires time, resources, and continuity of effort. Declines in drug use are gradual every where; demanding quick solutions to complex problems to score political points with a populist base can lead to public pressure for more severe penal ties, targeting minorities as scapegoats, and, finally, to overall policy fatigue and discouragement (Musto 1998).