The superficial interpretation favours the Democrats as better stewards of the economy in the post-war period.
However, a deeper investigation reveals events, such as oil shocks, as a vital driver of differences.
The point being that neither the US economy, nor the stock and bond markets that roughly reflect her outlook, answer to one individual (whether president or chair of the Federal Reserve).
The US economy in particular is too big, complex and various for that to be the case.
The forces at work in the US often move too slowly and unmeasurably to be of much interest to our newsfeeds.
Outside of the blockbuster technological breakthroughs, the most important part of the growth story surrounds the tinkering by the world’s entrepreneurs as these leaps forward are commercialised.
This activity is thought to lean on all sorts of unsexy stuff from the setting of institutions to the freedom of the individual.
Nothing that would knock the battle for the Oval Office off the front pages anyway.
Will Hobbs is head of UK multi-asset wealth at Barclays Private Bank & Wealth Management
