Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump flew to North Carolina last week to deliver what were billed as major speeches on the economy. Neither laid out a comprehensive policy plan – not Harris in her half-hour focus on housing, groceries and prescription drugs, nor Trump in 80 minutes of sprinkling various proposals among musings about dangerous immigrants.

But in their own ways, both candidates sent voters clear and important messages about their economic visions. Each embraced a vision of a powerful federal government, using its muscle to intervene in markets in pursuit of a stronger and more prosperous economy.

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have unveiled contrasting visions of how........

© The Sydney Morning Herald