Provide a critical assessment of the following comparative general claim:
The increase in the number and support of conservative think tanks has been substantial since the mid-1970s. The American Enterprise had twelve resident thinkers when Jimmy Carter was elected; today it has forty-five. The Heritage Foundation has sprung from nothing to command an annual budget of $11 million. The budget of the Center for Strategic and International Studies has grown from $975,000 ten years ago to $8.6 million today. Over a somewhat longer period the endowment of the Hoover Institution has increased from $2 million to $70 million.
Adapted from Gregg Easterbrook, 'Ideas Move Nations'
As technology has advanced, the world has seen several major changes. These changes have made the way leaders and others see the world and the people in it differently. In many cases, they can see some people or groups of people clearly. In some cases, they can see and hear groups for the first time. Real time news, up to the minute postings on social media, interactions between companies all play a part and all are important. Places previously ruled by authoritarians, the rule now belongs to businesses that interests in that country.
One of the changes brought by technology is the instant access to the world at large, during which ...
The critical assessment of comparative general claim are determined.