Robert J. Samuelson laments in his latest Newsweek column that neither Barack Obama nor John McCain has shown evidence that he would put forward an economic plan to address serious long-term problems:

By all rights, we should be having a fierce debate over the role of government. What should it do, for whom and why? What works? What can we afford? Who should pay? These questions would suggest a campaign that seriously engages the future, but instead and not surprisingly, we have a bidding war between candidates to see who can promise the most appealing package of new spending programs and tax cuts.

As if often the case, Thomas Sowell delivers a one-liner that should help Samuelson understand why the candidates aren’t addressing these important issues:

Economists may say that there is no such thing as a free lunch but politicians get elected by promising free lunches.