Two of the candidates on this stage — Bobby Jindal and George Pataki — are governors touting their records on the economy in their states. But you probably shouldn’t listen to them. As our own Ben Casselman wrote last month:
According to most experts, a governor’s power to influence his state’s economy is limited at best, especially in the short term. Governors don’t decide where oil will be discovered, whether a local company will have a big IPO or whether a major employer will close up shop. Most importantly, they don’t control national economic conditions, which can dwarf the effects of decisions made at the state level.
