When Elections Aren’t About the Economy

The Upshot: “Growth is lukewarm, but it has been consistent enough to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. Wages have not risen by much, and the uneven recovery has left segments of the population behind. But the overall unemployment rate is down to 5 percent. That’s unusual for a presidential election season — it has been at 5 percent or lower in only three of the 14 contests that have taken place since 1960.”

“Indeed, the lack of stark economic problems may have allowed Mr. Trump to push unconventional policies. If the economy were repeating the plunge of 2008, fewer voters might be prepared to support a candidate whose policies would disrupt world trade and whose tax cuts would almost certainly lead to a far bigger budget deficit.”