The White House chief of staff must be a policy wonk, legislative mastermind, political guru, management whiz and trusted presidential adviser all rolled into one.
A host of Republican grandees, from Haley Barbour, a former governor of Mississippi, to Paul Ryan, the party's leading budget wonk, rushed to denounce the Heritage report.
By contrast, Mr Biden's CEA-an advisory body of wonks that aims to ground the president's policies in sound economics-may be the most progressive in recent memory.
Scholars are often greatly excited by " natural experiments" , events that end up separating two groups of people, allowing wonks to compare their subsequent behaviour.
Monetary wonks see a clear distinction: quantitative tightening is an enduring change to the Fed's balance-sheet, whereas the emergency credit will vanish when things normalise.