A thoughtful to-do list

ONE of the many unfortunate consequences of America’s presidential election turning into a reality TV show is the near-total absence of serious debate about economic policy. The vitriol on both sides of the partisan divide has made it all but impossible to have a minimal agreement even on the facts. Mendacity and insults have left no room for any substantive discussion about what the next president’s economic priorities ought to be. Whatever you think of Donald Trump, his populist, protectionist prescriptions are woefully short on policy detail; the few areas where concrete plans exist are internally inconsistent (slash taxes, increase spending and eliminate government debt). Hillary Clinton has reams of wonkish proposals, but she has trouble articulating an overall economic agenda and, amid the rhetorical mud-wrestling, her fiddly ideas have received little scrutiny.That is the background against which we publish an essay this week by Barack Obama, in which America’s president lays out what he sees as the biggest economic challenges his successor will have to tackle (see ). In a thoughtful argument pitched towards the centre ground of American politics, Mr Obama staunchly defends free trade, globalisation and American-style capitalism. He makes clear that America has gained “perhaps more than any other [nation] from immigration, trade and technological innovation” and criticises the “crude populism” on the left of his own party as well as that of the right which has bubbled up in 2016.