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 Both candidates for President are unveiling their economic plans in advance of next week’s debate, which may be the only time they meet in person during this campaign.

They’ve never met before and very probably hope to never meet again.

Whenever any politician talks about “the economy” and how they are going to manage it, it’s instructive to check as to whether they have any qualifications to do so. For starters, as far as I have been able to determine, we’ve only had a handful of Presidents who studied economics in college and just three with degrees in the “dismal science.” 

Our best-educated President by far in these matters was George H.W. Bush who had a B.A. in economics from Yale, as well as an MBA from Harvard. 

He presided over the negotiation and signing of NAFTA, which Donald Trump calls the “worst trade deal ever.” During his Presidency, there was an economic downturn affecting much of the Western world. The impacts of that recession contributed directly to Bush’s loss in the 1992 election to Bill Clinton. 

This was the race when James Carville issued his famous strategic advice, “It’s the economy, stupid!” to Clinton’s campaign team, a message that was timely and oh so true.

Another President who held a B.A. in economics was Gerald Ford, who graduated from the University of Michigan, where he was primarily known as a football star. So how did Ford do? He presided over the worst economy in the four decades since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and negative growth.

The third President on this list was Donald Trump , who received his B.S. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Here’s a fairly neutral summary of his performance while President from our friends at Wikipedia: 

“Despite a campaign promise to eliminate the national debt in eight years, Trump approved large increases in government spending and the 2017 tax cut. As a result, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1 trillion in 2019. Under Trump, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75 trillion by the end of his term, and the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio hit a post-World War II high. Trump is the only modern U.S. president to leave office with a smaller workforce than when he took office, by 3 million people.”

In order to be fair to these three guys, we have to note that what happened in the economy under the Bush, Ford and Trump administrations was not entirely due to things they did that were “right” or “wrong.” Much more complex factors beyond their control were in play, particularly increasing globalization of our national economy and rapid technological advances, and in Trump’s case, Covid.

In addition, all Presidents are subject to the incessant rhythm of the business cycles, which go up and down as endlessly as the tides. The dirty secret here is Presidents do not and cannot control the economy. It controls them.

(Ed of part one. Part two tomorrow.)

HEADLINES: 

• Jobs Report Today: Economy Added 142,000 Jobs in August; Stocks Open Slightly Higher (WSJ)

• August jobs report set to be the 'pivotal' factor in the size of the Fed's coming interest rate cut (Yahoo) 

• U.S. Jobs Report Shows Hiring Has Shifted Into Lower Gear (NYT)

• Here’s what Harris’ plan to tax unrealized investment gains means for the wealthiest Americans (CNBC)

• Harris Tells the Business Community: I’m Friendlier Than Biden (NYT)

• Donald Trump again attacked ABC News and its veteran anchors ahead of next week's presidential debate, calling the network the "worst" and "meanest" on television. [HuffPost]

• Trump says Musk could head 'government efficiency' force (BBC)

• Economist Eugene Fama: ‘Efficient markets is a hypothesis. It’s not reality’ (Financial Times)

• Trump Bombs His Big Speech Debuting Elon Musk’s Commission (New York)

• Trump lawyers spar with judge over pace of D.C. election interference case (WP)

• Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian operation, US says (AP)

• US Treasury chief Yellen has no comment on U.S. Steel-Nippon review (Reuters)

• GOP lawsuits set the stage for state challenges if Trump loses the election (AP)

• How America’s Baby Bust Became an Election Issue (WSJ)

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• Hunter Biden enters guilty plea in federal tax case, avoiding a trial (NBC)

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• US military draws up plans for collapse of Gaza ceasefire talks (Financial Times)

• Scientists use food dye found in Doritos to make see-through mice (WP)

• US, Britain, EU to sign first international AI treaty (Reuters)

• Google tests its ‘Ask Photos’ AI assistant that understands what’s in your pictures (Verge)

• Mushroom learns to crawl after being given robot body (Independent)

• AI's solution to the 'cocktail party problem' used in court (BBC)

• AI gadgets have been a bust so far. Apple aims to change that (CNBC)

• ‘He was in mystic delirium’: was this hermit mathematician a forgotten genius whose ideas could transform AI – or a lonely madman? (Guardian)

• Rabbit Who Got Caught By Hawk Honestly Relieved It Can Finally Relax Now (The Onion)