Obama Offers Split Verdict on Economy »
Posted By Eagle_Eye 6 months ago in Business & Finance
WASHINGTON -It's a difficult balancing act.
Where some economists see "green shoots" of a recovery others see only yellow weeds of continuing recession. It's hard to know for sure whether things are getting better or worse.
President Harry S. Truman whimsically asked for a "one-handed economist." He complained that "all my economists say, `on the one hand ... on the other hand.'"
That's pretty much the dilemma that President Barack Obama and policymakers now face.
With consumer spending accounting for more than two-thirds of the economy, Obama is mindful that reviving it depends a lot on restoring confidence. So he's been trying to put the most positive spin on any signs of improvement, as have leaders in other recession-wracked countries.
"It's safe to say we have stepped back from the brink, that there is some calm that didn't exist before," Obama said recently about what already is the longest recession since World War II.
On the other hand, there's a clear danger. Sound too cheery and people lose confidence in your judgment, especially if their own eyes see a bleaker picture.
Ease up on government stimulus spending too soon and the recovery could be snuffed out. Talk by some Group of Eight finance ministers about stimulus exit strategies briefly spooked international stock markets. But keep stimulus spending going too long and you end up with huge deficits and soaring inflation.
Polls show people in the United States increasingly are concerned about the government's record levels of debt, a sour legacy for future generations.
So Obama has talked up and talked down the economy. At the same time.
"Even as we've made progress, we know that the road to prosperity remains long and it remains difficult," he told a Chicago audience this past week as he promoted his health care overhaul. It's an effort that Obama says will help the economy in the long run, but one that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says could top $1 trillion over 10 years.
The daily numbers don't help much.
On the one hand, some statistics suggest the recession's fury is easing. Not only are fewer jobs being lost, but there are signs that stability is returning to housing and manufacturing. Even with recent declines, stocks are up about 30 percent from their March lows.
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Eagle_Eye
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Eagle_Eye6 months ago
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I think, IMHO, considering all that is going on, he is doing the best he can with the mess there is.
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There is no "Quick" fix to get out of this mess and back on track. Any positive moves made at this time is desperately needed, the petty party bickering has got to stop and politicians have got to get serious about putting America back on track. -
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automan9096 months ago
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What is so positive about 10% unemployment?
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He promised that if we pass the stimulis it would only be 8%.
He has done nothing to stimulate anything.
He needs to stop blaming Bush and realize that he can't spend us out of this.
Bush wanted to regulate Fannie and Freddie long before the housing mess hit but the Democrats blocked him.
The next thing will be inflation due to Obama bankrupting America.
It looks like that is his goal.
After all... He listened to G D America for 20 years.
It looks like it rubbed off.
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TheRealizer6 months ago
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The blue collar-manufacturing jobs are not coming back. All of the dislocated workers will have to face reality and try to train for service type jobs. The destroyed working class will never be in a financial position to support the country as they once did.
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Thank your elected officials for not protecting our industrial-manufacturing base. -
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PatrioticAmerican6 months ago
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I cant believe you guys think there is still a reason to be positive about what he is doing, he is spending More of your Money then any pres before him he is starting new programs with money we don't have lending money to countries that we dont have not giving tax breaks to those that own the businesses we need to survive and chasing more companies over seas because they are not going to be taxed out of existence for running a productive and money making companies. Yes he has done somethings i agree with ex; extending the cobra act and extending Unemployment benefits and cracking down on credit card companies, But other then those He has not done a whole lot to impress me or to fix the finical problems here in America
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