The President’s Economist
Joe Weisenthal made an off-hand comment about how frustrating it must be to be the economic adviser to the president or a presidential candidate. These poor souls must go to great pains explaining the benefits of free market principles like free trade as the candidates/president listen and nod, only to see their lesson totally discarded as their pupil turns around and demonizes an opponent for supporting NAFTA, or passes a tax cut without cutting spending to “stimulate the economy.”
Politics, which relies so much on shifting resources from one group to another to appease constituents, is the nemesis of sound economics. Yet “the people” do want a good economy and are impressed by someone who sounds like they can help build one, so the economic advisers are called in. If nothing else, they can help with terminology.
One could write a good movie about one of these tragically ignored experts. It would be called The President’s Economist, and it would be about a plucky female grad student in economics who writes a ground-breaking thesis that gets a lot of attention and praise. She’s hired to be the president’s economic adviser based on it, yet the president - who seems intrigued by her policy suggestions - never seems to act on them. She’s comes in as an idealist who is used to the world of academia where ideas can flourish, pure and unmolested. So when her suggestions are diluted or totally disregarded by the reality of politics, she falls into despair.
But by the end, it turns out the President is learning more from her than she thinks. All along he’s been stumping for her policies, but under the cover of populist slogans and political jargon to make her ideas palatable.
In the triumphant climax, the president gets a law passed that was directly inspired by her advice (a worldwide no exceptions free trade agreement that demolishes all the industry subsidies, price controls and tariffs on earth) and at the end of his speech on the matter - as she watches from the wings - he turns to her and winks. Her faith in politics is restored, and so too is the faith of the viewers.
It would be a little like The American President, but more right-wing.
3 years ago