Economist and Ordinary Times contributor Jericho Hill draws on his previous career working in pro wrestling to explain media manipulation, political narratives, and economic storylines on the latest episode of the Heard Tell podcast.
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Our friend and Economist Jericho Hill thinks that while concerns about the economy and inflation are justified, there are media story lines and narratives that might actually be making things worse than they are. And he would know about putting on a show with narratives and story lines because before he was an economist he had a cup of coffee in the pro wrestling business working behind the scenes and even performing as a referee. So on this episode of Heard Tell, we are turning down the news cycle noise on inflation, talking about how politics is faker than wrestling, how inflation is real but can be manipulated, and compare which hurts more: those Ric Flair-like chops to the chest hurt or the economic data we are seeing.
Jericho previously wrote about this topic for Ordinary Times:
Consider some of what I saw and heard in my time on the Hill…
For televised hearings, staffers of the same party work together to plan questions to maximize political benefits. In other words, a senator with many military bases in their state will almost always ask the military funding questions. In contrast, a senator with few military bases will not. Promos, when a wrestler talks to the audience, are far less scripted today than most political speeches and interviews. The very best talkers in wrestling talk for 5 minutes with 3 bullet points.
In non-televised subcommittee hearings, senators from both parties listen and respond to expert testimony. Discussion is robust and focuses on fact finding and seriousness. However, several weeks later in a televised committee meeting, these same senators act different. There, they ask non substantive or “gotcha” questions to score political points. Contrast this to the work wrestlers do when making promos; they clear what they think they want to say with their feuding opponent. Eddie Kingston said “When I speak, if its about me its a shoot (the truth) but if its about my opponent its a work (fabrication, lie, embellishment).”
In the rotunda, watching two senators (neither whom I worked for) from different parties discussing amendments and bills in a friendly manner, before heading to their respective TV interviews in that rotunda to harshly critique each other’s positions. This is not unlike the work the heel (bad guy) and face (good guy) wrestlers do in planning out matches in the locker room and before the fans arrive.
After a few months of helping to prepare questions for senators to ask in Committee, it was obvious that questions were doled out in accordance to (a) senator’s constituent composition, (b) political needs, (c) rank. The same is true in professional wrestling; screen time and focus depends on where stories are and what is capturing the fan interest.
