U.K.: Fear of recession colors U.S. election

The Observer offers a succinct summary of the state of the U.S. economy as it tries to peg the fear that the U.S. is entering a recession to its coverage of the presidential race. The article points to falling home values and stock price and rising gas prices and unemployment as indicators that the economy may be entering a recession. It offers little new information to forward the theory of recession, aside from rising unemployment figures, instead attributing the assertion to the opinions of "many economists" and a recent New York Times headline. Likewise, in relating the issue to the election, the article states that "Some experts believe the bad news could boost the chances of Hillary Clinton."

The article follows the recent American media frames in suggesting the possibility that Clinton could be seen as a "comeback kid" right now, and the ties between the candidates and the state of the economy are also relevant frames this week, following the news of Tuesday's primaries in Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island and accompanying the small news item of Obama's predicted win in Wisconsin today. Continuously, the British media has used the same framing devices as American news sources in their portrayal of election developments, which is not surprising given the cultural proximity between the two nations and the general similarities between both nations types of government (more similar, that is, than a democratic republic and a dictatorship would be).