Guest column: Joseph Nye

ON 4 NOVEMBER, Americans will elect their 44th president amid the worst financial turmoil the country has known since the onset of the Great Depression in 1929. Both candidates are United States senators with little experience as executives, so their ability to manage the crisis has become a central issue in the election.

At the beginning of the campaign, many observers predicted that Iraq would be the major issue in 2008. Instead, it is the financial crisis. In principle, this should help Barack Obama and the Democrats, because polls show them stronger on economic is...