Mastery of the Obvious

It's always encouraging to watch your government officials display their mastery of the painfully obvious. Take this from Treasury Secretary John Snow:

U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow acknowledged on Tuesday that record high oil prices are beginning to take their toll on the U.S. economy, but not enough to derail the economy's strong recovery.

"Energy prices are way too high," Snow said on CNBC television. "Clearly, it's hurting."

Um...duh.

I certainly don't know as much macro-economic theory as a sitting Secretary of the Treasury, I'm just a humble MBA-guy after all. But even us amateurs dabbling in the dark arts of economics know this much; high energy prices suck money out of the economy that would otherwise be multiplying it's way through the hands of American businesses. That's not a good thing if it continues for too long.

Likewise, as Snow and others rightly point out, the economy has a certain resilience to it and it has withstood over-$50-a-barrel oil for quite some time now. That's not really the point though.

If this is what passes for Marketing communication in the Bush Administration, well then Houston...we have a problem. Sadly, based on prior experience, it may indeed be just that. But if a John Snow is reduced to MBA-Macro-Econ-speak in 30-second increments then somebody somewhere isn't doing their job.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting that President Bush has a magical plan that once enacted cuts oil prices back to $30-barrel. Such things don't exist in the harsh environment of real-world economics.

What I would like is somebody, anybody on Pennsylvania Avenue who can articulate the Administration's position and their short- and long-term energy goals. I know they exist, but sell me on it! Sell my neighbors on it. Sending it to Congress is only step one; if you want real-world support for something you need a buy-in. That takes work.