Reza Yaghboubi, GPTT senior economic researcher evaluated the performance of Iranian presidential candidates in their first debate in a note published on Tasnim news website on June 20. According to him, the debate could not convince the audience in any way, and it was just a gathering of candidates in the same format as the TV economic roundtable held at best. He mentioned that the experience of writing the reform document as a program for the Raisi administration, relying on a large body of the country’s experts, showed that even the existence of such a program cannot be a guarantee for the government’s success in solving various challenges. Given the current difficult situation of Iran’s economy, it is clear that a president does not have a chance for trial and error after handing over the government to identify different ideas and frameworks to solve problems and determine the right strategy. On the other hand, simply having a precise plan cannot be the president’s road to success, and in case of an unforeseen external shock or disturbance during the implementation of his plan, the president will be forced to choose in a critical situation. Yaghoubi stressed that the presence of a specific “theoretical point of view” in the president’s mind to make decisions in that framework seems necessary to be steadfast in the path of economic reforms. Like a “compass” that shows a traveler the direction of movement even in stormy conditions and guides him to his desired destination. From this point of view, the task of debate designers should be to clarify the ideas and theoretical frameworks of each presidential candidate.