Senate Confirmation Hearing: Blairite for Comptroller General

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

I would like to start out by thanking President Pericles for nominating me, and the esteemed senators of Atlasia for allowing me to testify this evening. It is an honor to be considered for this position, and not one I take lightly.

I have not been nominated for this position as a career politician, and indeed I have never sought elected office in this great nation. Instead, my name was put forward based upon my economic expertise, and I promise you all today that I have the technical know-how and innate nonpartisanship to fulfill the role of Comptroller General properly.

If confirmed, I intend to publish monthly Atlasian Economic Reports based upon real-world economic indicators, major legislation passed in Atlasia, and unique impacts coming from the specifics of Atlasia's timeline--war, pandemic, infrastructure, or technological breakthrough. I will publish detailed GDP, wage, and unemployment metrics at the federal and regional level as well as commodity prices, stock market indices, and currency exchange rates. I hope that this will allow for more realistic gameplay and allow legislators to ground their proposals in on-the-ground economic reality.

Beyond that, I am here to provide detailed economic forecasts on proposed legislation if asked and to determine a fundamental economic baseline so politicians across Atlasia can approach issues from the same frame of reference.

I yield the floor to questions.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Would you be able to do cost estimates for legislation being debated?

Absolutely. However, I would appreciate being requested to perform a cost estimate several days to a week before you need it by to allow me to find the time to do it well.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

What is your background in economics and have you ever held a position similar to this one, online or in real life?

I have never professionally modelled this type of cost estimate, but I have worked in the legislative process and currently I work on housing policy. In either case, I've developed a strong enough familiarity with the tools and economics required to create realistic cost estimates which are integral to the type of work I do. TL;DR, I'm not qualified to do this in real life, but unless Atlas has some econ PHD I don't know about, I'm the best you've got. Academically, I hold a bachelors in econ and a masters in public policy, so again, I'm very familiar with the metrics involved, and have worked alongside forecasters and used plenty of data like this to work on other projects.

Would you have any problem with accurately scoring an economically beneficial bill with which you personally disagree? Would you have any problem with accurately scoring an economically horrible bill with which you personally agree?

Not at all. I have no interest in assuming this role just to act in bad faith and I hope to earn the trust of Atlasians across the political spectrum. In most cases, the fundamental impacts of a bill on revenue, employment, and expenditures can be modeled in a clear manner and conflict arises only when determining whether the costs warrant the benefits. In these situations, my job is simply to provide you with data and it is for the legislators to draw their own conclusions. In less straightforward cases, particularly those with spillover effects that could affect business or consumer behavior, I will model a range of realistic outcomes and use a random number generator to determine which outcome actually occurs. I promise that I will do my best to be as fair and objective as one can be in this role.