How much is the media talking down the economy? John R. Lott Jr. goes to the numbers:

A Google search on news stories during the three-month period from July 2000 through September 2000 using the keywords “economy recession US” produces 1,610. By contrast, the same search over just the last month finds 50,763. Or, even more telling, take the three months from July through September last year, when the GDP was growing at a phenomenal 4.9 percent. The same type of Google search shows 7,310 news stories. … A little perspective on the economy would be helpful. The average unemployment rate during President Clinton was 5.2 percent. The average under President George W. Bush is just slightly below 5.2. The current unemployment rate is4.8 percent, almost half a percentage point lower than these averages. The average inflation rate under Clinton was 2.6 percent, under Bush it is 2.7 percent. Indeed, one has to go back to the Kennedy administration to find a lower average rate.

Obama seems to believe that downturns in the business cycle are caused by tax cuts. Mrs. Clinton seems to believe that the presence of Republicans in the White House causes recessions.

Question the media ought to be asking all three candidates: “About that housing-credit mess … How exactly is federal action going to transmute bad investments into good investments?”