Do elections really matter for the economy?

The economic influence of elections is often overstated. They have only tended to have significant effects if governments have embarked on big structural reforms, interfered with monetary policy or changed their geopolitical stance. Even then, the electoral and institutional landscape must enable governments to implement these policy changes. This suggests that, of the many elections taking place in 2024, those in the US and Taiwan are likely to have the biggest economic and potentially market consequences.