Whoever can finally coin an effective economic message could win the White House

CNN —

Voters keep telling pollsters that their economic insecurities are the biggest issue in the 2024 election. So, it’s a knock on both parties that none of their candidates have yet found a decisive way to address those fears.

But both nominees will make new attempts to convince Americans they can deliver prosperity in the next three days. Former President Donald Trump will try to make a case against Kamala Harris’ role in the Biden economy on Wednesday in North Carolina. The vice president will chase his jet fumes down to the critical swing state on Friday, with the first major policy speech of her campaign, which aides say will provide answers on how she will lower prices.

The US economy has recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic more strongly than those of many other developed nations. But for decades, many Americans have felt squeezed, and 21st century presidents have all struggled to deal with the political consequences of inequality fostered by globalization.

Trump, who found fertile political ground amid economic blight in 2016, has this year spent more time flinging insults, race baiting and whining about his personal grievances than rolling out detailed plans to help workers. His hyperbole — like warning of a looming Great Depression – lacks seriousness. And his nostalgic revisionism of his economic management during his first term ignores the reality that his major initiative — a huge tax cut — did far more to benefit the wealthy than working Americans.

President Joe Biden dedicated his domestic agenda to restoring economic fairness and sought to revive manufacturing and repair the country’s crumbling infrastructure. But his big spending plans helped fuel the inflation that has hurt so many Americans.