I'd be shocked if this concocted quarantine that they shipped Musk off into gets any changes implemented. IQ as Musk sees it (no doubt logic/math type IQ) is not what effects change in government. Connections, social intelligence, and knowing how to work the system is what moves things in Washington.
I'm reminded of a story I heard in an interview of a Fed insider. They had an initiative designed to onboard Wall Street talent to counter the fact that so much of the modern financial system was building up outside of traditional regulated banking. Meanwhile the street was increasingly reliant on alternative data sources that were not in Fed reports. So they wanted people who could give the real scoop on what was happening in rainbow markets. Maybe someone going to go " Everyone knows SVB is loading up on massive amounts of duration risk at crazy prices, but what else could they do? This was always the in-game of FED ZIRP policy and now it's accelerating the critical levels right under the surface... "
Anyway, They had a decent response and the initiative and a pile of resumes, but the Fed ended up promoting internally to higher pay grades, end of story. High "IQ" smart initiative with a good response, but they didn't have the right teams with enough reach an institutional leverage implementing it. I would be shocked if the outcome is anything but that, at best. Too bad, because the initiative isn't necessarily a bad idea, but it's certainly off to a bad start with Musk at the helm. Sub 10% chance of success in my eyes.
The object is not to get changes implemented, it's to give an air of legitimacy to changes already planned to be made by executive order.
Unitary executive theory is a core part of Trump's official platform (Agenda 47) and the unofficial fanfic version (Project 2025). Ramaswamy's own campaign was centered on the idea that the President can rule by fiat.
While this does sound a bit obnoxious asking someone to "work" for no pay, considering the ask, this isn't a strange does it might sound. It's quite likely that position like this can't be monetized in other ways, as all government positions seem to be able to do. So if you are independently wealthy and able to move yourself into a policy influencing position like this, that can be a net benefit even without a salary.
I'm reminded of a story I heard in an interview of a Fed insider. They had an initiative designed to onboard Wall Street talent to counter the fact that so much of the modern financial system was building up outside of traditional regulated banking. Meanwhile the street was increasingly reliant on alternative data sources that were not in Fed reports. So they wanted people who could give the real scoop on what was happening in rainbow markets. Maybe someone going to go " Everyone knows SVB is loading up on massive amounts of duration risk at crazy prices, but what else could they do? This was always the in-game of FED ZIRP policy and now it's accelerating the critical levels right under the surface... "
Anyway, They had a decent response and the initiative and a pile of resumes, but the Fed ended up promoting internally to higher pay grades, end of story. High "IQ" smart initiative with a good response, but they didn't have the right teams with enough reach an institutional leverage implementing it. I would be shocked if the outcome is anything but that, at best. Too bad, because the initiative isn't necessarily a bad idea, but it's certainly off to a bad start with Musk at the helm. Sub 10% chance of success in my eyes.
Unitary executive theory is a core part of Trump's official platform (Agenda 47) and the unofficial fanfic version (Project 2025). Ramaswamy's own campaign was centered on the idea that the President can rule by fiat.
"The Department of Government Efficiency is hiring"
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42142487
https://twitter.com/DOGE/status/1857076831104434289
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-dollar_salary