"The Economy Will Decide The Election"

Pundits repeat over and over again that "the election will be determined by the economy" as if its true, but the fact is that this conventional wisdom is nothing more than an amalgamation of various assumptions cobbled together. In reality, economic conditions always influence presidential elections. But how determinitive they are also depends on other variables, including candidates, campaigns, international events, cultural issues, and the context the public is evaluating the economy against. Follow me below the fold.