So what is the right way to think about the relationship between money, the media, and campaign outcomes? Is it wise for Obama to spend so much on media? Is it wise for McCain to risk alienation of the media? Would all that money and energy be better spent on something else?

There may be some wisdom to be gleaned from a strange incident in the not-too-distant past in Peru. A few years ago, the economists John McMillan and Pablo Zoido wrote a fantastically interesting paper about Vladimiro Montesinos, who ran the Peruvian secret service under President Alberto Fujimori.

Montesinos was extremely corrupt and brazen. Not only did he routinely bribe anyone who could help Fujimori maintain power — more than $3 million a month went to judges, police officials, opposition politicians, and TV station owners — but Montesinos also kept ledgers of these bribes and even videotaped the transactions. Sadly for him (but good for McMillan and Zoido), Montesinos was busted, and the economists were able to analyze the bribe data.
McCain, the Media, Money, and Montesinos (and Obama Too)