Former president says that to remove rancour from politics, Americans must listen to each other more. Yes, but also ram things through less

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

As an economist who writes for a living, what I naturally wonder as I watch the Democrats in convention this week is: how much are they spending on speech-writing? The party is flush with money now that it has changed presidential candidates and a prime-time speech is a lot cheaper than a prime-time drama, sitcom or even reality show. Even so, it’s not easy to provide four hours of carefully scripted talking heads every night. And it can’t be cheap. It’s good to see members of the scribblers’ guild doing well. Assuming it’s not all done with AI.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Whatever the technology, the party got its money’s worth with (late-ish) prime-time presentations from Michelle and Barack Obama Tuesday night. She got off what’s likely to be the convention’s most memorable line: referring to Donald Trump supposedly feeling threatened by two hard-working, highly successful Black people like her and her husband, she said she wanted to know “who’s going to tell him that the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs.” The partisan crowd loved it. Reports said the ovation level reached peak decibels during her applause lines.

As for her husband, he gave a characteristically thoughtful speech calling for less........

© Financial Post