That looks rash as well as unfair: in America, the workers who would be thus left to their own devices fall disproportionately in swing electoral states such as Michigan, Ohio and Florida.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

The impressive fall in unemployment in many swing states is a bit misleading: their payroll growth has been slower than in the country as a whole.

ECONOMIST: The economy

That will make a few densely populated counties in each swing state the main battleground for the fall campaign, and the most important will be Fairfax County in Virginia.

FORBES: Defense-Heavy Fairfax County, Va., Could Decide Presidential Race

Admittedly, the trade figures always swing around wildly, and this fall was due more to a fall in imports than any surge in sales abroad.

BBC: Quantitatively more easing from the Bank