Letter from Washington

We might not have believed it if we had not seen it with our own eyes, but there is a wave of probusiness sentiment sweeping over the capital. From the most unexpected sources flow puffy “studies” about subjects all but unknown here only a few years ago—subjects such as productivity and incentives and saving and return on investment.

Part of the change is taking place on the Hill, where, in some ways, we see a return to the style of the Fifties, when discussions of jobs and enlarged tax bases took precedence over social schemes. Another surprise is the paper output of the think-tanks, as the parking places for unemployed bureaucrats are designated. Over the past generation, a certain pattern was firmly established: during Republican Administrations, these Democrats-in-exile would crank out garden-variety liberal proposals, intending thereby to tug GOP policymakers a few degrees to the left. When the Democrats returned to office, the think-tanks would slip-slide even further to the left, offering protective cover to a “centrist” Administration. Whichever party controlled the Executive Branch, however, the think-tanks effectively controlled the agenda of government.

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We might not have believed it if we had not seen it with our own eyes, but there is a wave of probusiness sentiment sweeping over the capital. From the most unexpected sources flow puffy “studies” about subjects all but unknown here only a few years ago—subjects such as productivity and incentives and saving and return on investment.

Part of the change is taking place on the Hill, where, in some ways, we see a return to the style of the Fifties, when discussions of jobs and enlarged tax bases took precedence over social schemes. Another surprise is the paper output of the think-tanks, as the parking places for unemployed bureaucrats are designated. Over the past generation, a certain pattern was firmly established: during Republican Administrations, these Democrats-in-exile would crank out garden-variety liberal proposals, intending thereby to tug GOP policymakers a few degrees to the left. When the Democrats returned to office, the think-tanks would slip-slide even further to the left, offering protective cover to a “centrist” Administration. Whichever party controlled the Executive Branch, however, the think-tanks effectively controlled the agenda of government.