The Seen and the Unseen

In Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt contends good economics requires us to look beyond the immediate benefits of a policy. While the beneficiaries of a policy are easy to see, those bearing the costs are often unseen. Good economic policy decisions require us to look at the seen and the unseen. Both New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Trump are examples of looking only at the seen.  

Mamdani has declared his intention to raise wages for delivery-app drivers to make the city more affordable for them. Business groups pointed out that this would raise prices for consumers and thus make the city less affordable. A spokesman for Mamdani replied, “the insinuation that putting more money in the pockets of delivery workers undercuts affordability is absurd.”

If we look only at delivery-app drivers, the spokesman’s statement is plausible. Delivery-app drivers will benefit and they are easily seen. Those who will bear the costs—those using delivery apps—are unseen. The same is true of Trump’s ever-changing tariffs. He can easily point to the industries that will benefit and ignore the costs that will be borne by everyone else. Tariffs may save jobs in some industries, but the costs of the tariffs results in lost jobs in other industries.

Taken out of context, these policies might seem good. But economic meddling doesn’t occur in a vacuum.

Both Trump and Mamdani are examples of what Ayn Rand called an “anti-conceptual mentality.” Trump, for example, has denounced Mamdani’s socialist policies while evading the fact that his own economic interventions are socialistic. Mamdani has called Trump a fascist while evading the fact that fascism is a variant of socialism.

A casual observer would see Trump and Mamdani as having very different political philosophies. What is less easily seen is that the two men have more in common than either would admit.