There is the seen and the unseen. In Washington, Congress can quite literally be seen in action when it is in session. But when it’s in recess, like it has been for the past two weeks, Capitol Hill is somewhat of a ghost town. In economics one can also find the seen and the unseen
It’s spring break in Washington. Climb Capitol Hill, ride the Metro, or visit the National Mall, and you’re bound to see packs of teenagers in identical t-shirts roving the cityscape.
The morning of what President Trump referred to as “Liberation Day,” I found myself sitting at a conference room table across from a member of Congress and his Chief of Staff. The meeting had been scheduled several weeks prior as way to provide businesses with a progress report on the status of the reconciliation bill, tax policy, and deregulation.
In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens wrote that “Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade.” How right he was. Consider that it’s March Madness, and while my team Maryland made it to the “Sweet 16,” they had to face Number 1 Florida to advance. They didn’t.
My first “real” job was at a company that stood just a block away from where SCOA’s Washington office sits today. During, and following, my senior year in college, I landed a role as a public relations assistant at a sports marketing outfit. ProServ was the name of the firm founded by former Davis Cup captain Donald Dell to represent tennis stars such as Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, and Stan Smith.
Last year, during the Christmas holiday, I purchased each member of my immediate family one of those Page-a-Day Calendars that I thought matched their personality. Among others, I bought calendars on Zen, Dad Jokes, Sports Trivia, Cats, and Crossword Puzzles. If I would have bought one that included a Word-of-the-Day, there is no doubt that “tariff” would have popped up this week.
Earlier this week, sitting in an introductory pitch meeting with one of Washington’s leading public policy consulting firms, discussing the first 45 days of the second Trump administration, one word jumped out at me. I actually circled it in my notepad…”schizophrenic.” Whoa…