That the President manages the economy is an

That the President manages the economy is an assumption (i) the prevailing wisdom that dominates electoral politics in the United States. As a result, presidential elections have become referenda on the business cycle, whose fortuitous turnings are (ii) the President. Presidents are properly accountable for their executive and legislative performance, and certainly their actions may have profound effects on the economy. But these effects are (iii) . Unfortunately, modern political campaigns are fought on the untenable premise that Presidents can deliberately produce precise economic results. Blank (i): peripheral to, central to, at odds with Blank (ii): justifiably personified in, erroneously attributed to, occasionally associated with Blank (iii): usually long-lasting, regrettably unnoticeable, largely unpredictable