Values, the Economy and Metaeconomics in the 2000 US Presidential Election: A Historical Perspective (1896-1996)

Abstract

Conventional wisdom holds that the outcomes of U. S. Presidential elections are positively related to the state of the American economy. The eight years of the Clinton-Gore administration (1992-2000) witnessed sustained growth and employment with price stability. Given the conventional wisdom, Gore should have won with ease; but he did not. This phenomenon raises two fundamental questions: (1) Either the conventional wisdom is a myth; or (2) For a good percentage of voters, the economy was not the deciding factor in 2000. A quick review of U.S presidential elections over the last one hundred years (1896-1996) reveals that the conventional wisdom is not a myth. A detailed analysis of the Presidential election 2000 shows that for a good percentage of voters the main issue was not the economy, rather moral values and metaeconomics.