Here is the cowardly State Science Institute report on Rearden Metal from Atlas Shrugged, where a state agency attempts to use vague concerns of unproven potential issues to ban the product for what are essentially political reasons (well-connected incumbents in the industry don't want this sort of competition). From page 173 of the Kindle version:
[Eddie] pointed to the newspaper he had left on her desk. They [the State Science Institute, in their report on Rearden Metal] havent said that Rearden Metal is bad. They havent said that its unsafe. What theyve done is . . . His hands spread and dropped in a gesture of futility. [Dagny] saw at a glance what they had done.
She saw the sentences: It may be possible that after a period of heavy usage, a sudden fissure may appear, though the length of this period cannot be predicted. . . . The possibility of a molecular reaction, at present unknown, cannot be entirely discounted. . . . Although the tensile strength of the metal is obviously demonstrable, certain questions in regard to its behavior under unusual stress are not to be ruled out. . . . Although there is no evidence to support the contention that the use of the metal should be prohibited, a further study of its properties would be of value.
We cant fight it. It cant be answered, Eddie was saying slowly. We cant demand a retraction. We cant show them our tests or prove anything. Theyve said nothing. They havent said a thing that could be refuted and embarrass them professionally. Its the job of a coward.
