From the most recent Pew poll comes this chart tracking the salience of economic issues in American politics:
Of course, the 1992 recession, though bad, wasn't that bad. The difference is that it happened in a relative vacuum. The USSR had fallen, the Cold War had ended, there were no obvious threats on the horizon, no foreign entanglements commanding the front pages. Today, the economy has to view with a much more crowded issue sphere. Indeed, you can see in the following chart that it's basically been trading places with Iraq. Take Iraq out of the picture, and you'd probably have economic issues at near 1992 levels:
It's amazing, though, how far terrorism has fallen. Isn't it about time to hype release a new bin-Laden tape?
Of course, the 1992 recession, though bad, wasn't that bad. The difference is that it happened in a relative vacuum. The USSR had fallen, the Cold War had ended, there were no obvious threats on the horizon, no foreign entanglements commanding the front pages. Today, the economy has to view with a much more crowded issue sphere. Indeed, you can see in the following chart that it's basically been trading places with Iraq. Take Iraq out of the picture, and you'd probably have economic issues at near 1992 levels:It's amazing, though, how far terrorism has fallen. Isn't it about time to 
