Meanwhile, economist Hayden Boyd of the Commerce Department helped persuade Congress to drop counterproductive import restrictions on books manufactured abroad. And in the Interior Department, years of analysis by economist Richard Wahl paid off when the Bureau of Reclamation turned toward supply and demand, rather than government decisions, as a means of allocating precious Western water resources. In these and other cases, federal economists have played central roles in debates on issues affecting millions of Americans. And there's no doubt that economists' potential for influence is increasing, for public policy today is becoming more and more synonymous with economic policy. In international affairs, while the political and military conflicts of the Cold War have waned, economic relationships with the European Economic Community, Japan and other nations have come to the fore.
Economic analysis is more and more the currency of Washington policy debate.
Proponents of new policies are expected to make a case that growth, greater productivity, rising incomes and other economic gains will result. The current drive to improve American education thus is often justified as an investment in U.S. economic competitiveness. Economics promises quantitative, and thus hard and unambiguous, results. By using the common denominator of dollar evaluations, program expenditures in diverse areas can be compared and their relative importance assessed. Yet, federal economists today also face many challenges and uncertainties as to their role in government.