The most economy-focused mid-term ever?

Rahul Tandon (0:00)

It is just under four weeks till Americans head to the polls. President Trump has said they are the most important midterms ever. And whenever voters in the world's biggest economy go to the polls, one issue tends to be at the top of their minds.

SPEAKER_2 (0:13)

Stay focused, talk about things that matter to people. It's the economy, stupid.

Rahul Tandon (0:18)

James Carville said that in the presidential campaign in 1992, but it is still relevant today, maybe even more so. And with fuel prices rising, concerns growing over AI data centers and tariffs still on the agenda. Today on Power Players from Business Daily, we're asking, are these the most economy-focused midterms that we've ever seen?

I'm Rahul Tandon in the UK.

Will Bain (0:45)

Hello, I'm Will Bain.

Michelle Fleury (0:47)

And I'm Michelle Fleury on the other side of the Atlantic.

Rahul Tandon (0:49)

Now, we were discussing what to do this week, and you two have spent quite a lot of time looking at various US elections, travelling up and down the country. So before we get into the economics, are you both excited?

Will Bain (1:02)

Well, I think, I always think, I got told off...

Rahul Tandon (1:05)

Come on, both of you.

Will Bain (1:06)

I got told off once, Michelle, by a boss here in the UK, saying, oh, everybody, all they ever want to cover is US elections. But that's because they've got more razzmatazz than all of our other ones here in Europe. Bigger characters, bigger budgets, all that kind of stuff behind them. And also, because the US is the world's biggest economy, they have more impact in terms of setting the direction for where the global economy, where global business might go. What do you think? Is that a fair assessment?

Michelle Fleury (1:31)

No, I totally agree with that. Also the other thing I would say about this one, as an economics journalist, it's pretty exciting because this one more than others, it is more economic focused than others. We're not talking so much about cultural issues. It all comes down to the pocketbook. And so in that sense, plenty for us to chew over.

Will Bain (1:51)

To steal from James Carville again, Rahul, it's always the economy stupor, but this time, it's like the economy supersized, I think.

SPEAKER_5 (1:58)

Many times, yeah.

Rahul Tandon (2:00)

The question we're posing is, is it the most economically focused election ever? We'll get your thoughts at the end of the programme, but let's put some arguments forward here, because there have been others, haven't there Michelle, where the economy has been right at the centre.

Michelle Fleury (2:13)

Yeah, throughout history, the obvious ones, I guess, if you look at the 70s, at that point you had an inflation crisis, an oil crisis. Those were heavily dominated by the economy. The 1930s, the Depression, what came after that. So it's not like the economy hasn't come up before, but I think you go around America, it is pocketbook issues, what they say, kitchen table issues, that everyone keeps talking about. Every issue, every policy relates back to how Americans are feeling when they draw cash from the bank, if anyone's still using cash, paying for anything. It is all about what they can or cannot afford.

Rahul Tandon (2:52)

It's interesting, is it? Because we're all business journalists. And yeah, I think I find that a lot of the stories I'm covering now are much more on the main news agenda than I've seen before. We're going to set out what is happening inside the US. And as always, it's a complicated picture. Shall we start with the positive? You know, country with a growth rate of 2.2% is not bad, Germany 1%, unemployment steady at 4.2%. And President Trump at the UN General Assembly back in September, well, according to him, Americans have never had it so good.

Donald Trump (3:18)

America is back, and our country is stronger today than ever before. Our economy is the envy of the world. Our military is the most powerful on earth. Our technology is second to none, and we are leading in virtually everything. Our energy is fueling the planet. America is rising. Our nation is growing. Our power is expanding. Our country is doing better than ever before.

And our future is very, very bright.

Will Bain (3:49)

We'll stop the podcast. We're all wrong.

SPEAKER_7 (3:53)

That was a short one, wasn't it? Thanks for listening. See you later.

Will Bain (3:56)

Nothing to discuss here. Unfortunately, it's comments like that from President Trump that have fueled attack adverts, if you're listening around the world. Here's one in a race that we might talk about. North Carolina, a bit of a battleground for the Senate. The Democratic candidate is Roy Cooper. He's talking here about his opponent, a guy called Michael Watley who was pretty much handpicked by President Trump. Fair to say the economy comes up in this pretty short ad.