Saturday, September 06, 2008

How Obama Reconciles Dueling Views on Economy


Please take the time needed to read this article carefully. It really lays out alot of what we will be talking about in class.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

This article brings up an interesting point that contradicts Charles Wheelan's theory in Naked Economics. He states that as long as there is economic growth, wealth distribution is not necessary. However, even though the current economy is growing, people are not seeing the effects, their pieces of the pie are still the same size. The article states that this is not due to inflation, so what causes it? The war? What is necessary to fix it?

Anonymous said...

This article brings up an interesting point that contradicts Charles Wheelan's theory in Naked economics. He states that as long as there is economic growth, wealth distribution is not necessary. However, even though the current economy is growing, people are not seeing the effects, their pieces of the pie are still the same size. The article states that this is not due to inflation, so what causes it? Taxes, the war? What is necessary to fix it?

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

This article makes an interesting point, that Barack Obama does not have a concrete view on what should be done on the economy. Unlike John McCain, who will keep the classic republican views. As the david Leonhardt pointed out the economy has changed a lot in the last 10 odd years and needs some serious change. Obama could possibly bring the changes that we want as well as need.It was also interesting to know that the avarge family is making less then they did 10 years ago.

Anonymous said...

This article presents the problem that everyone knew about but with greater detail: The economy is forever growng just on principle, but the American people are not seeing the benefits. The average American family is still somehow making less than they were a decade ago, even with the advancement of technology and time. This article coveys the fact that although it might not particuarly seem like it, Barack Obama does have a plan to get us out of the economic trenches.

emily hren said...

A lot of Obama critics have been saying that he hasn't been specific enough about what he is going to do for this country, if elected. This article lays it all out and shows the pros and cons of Obama's ideas, as well as those of McCain's. It seems like a very good idea to fix the market economy so then the market economy can do it's job of fixing prices and issues of supply and demand. Additionally, Obama's plans on increasing our nation's infrastructure has a lot of good points to it because as our society becomes more and more technologically advanced, certain factory jobs are going to disappear. Jobs pertaining to construction and infrastructure improvement can provide new jobs to the people who are already inclined to work that builds things. A mix of unconventional views could very well do our economy good. I found it interesting that people can still favor McCain's plan when it is so similar to past economic plans that resulted in deficits that were only reversed after several decades.

Anonymous said...

I think it was really refreshing to hear that Obama is looking at the economic issues from more than one perspective. Just because he's a Democrat doesn't mean everything he does has to be a Democratic ideal. In fact, why does it always have to be democratic or republican, liberal or conservative, left-wing or right-wing? Why can't it just be good for the economy and good for the people? All the people.

Anonymous said...

In the beginning of this election, I thought Obama was going to have a strong lead. However, over the past few months I've realized how close this election may be. Espically after reading this article. Even I am aware of the economic crisis this country is facing and I can't vote. So this shows how obvious this problem is. Seeing as Obama doesnt have a definite solution to the econonmic crisis, I understand how competetive the elction is coming down to. Although he does show concern for many serious problems, such as Global Warming, China is now a big contributor to that as well, so thats a problem Obama should try to fix with other countries he needs to win the support of his country before anything else. In our summer reading book, I began to understand econonmics a lot more espically the way the author connected such large ideas to smaller ones his readers would understand. After reading this article and the book, I have become so confused and overwhelemed with all the different economic problems and how finding a solution is much more complicated. After watching film clips and seeing old advertistements Roosevelt had to use to bring this country out of the depression its scary to think that I might have to go through something like that.

Anonymous said...

One of the knocks made by republicans against Obama is that he does not have set views on many important issues. An example of this is his position on the economy: he doesn't have one. Obama is caught between two types of democratic economic policies, the Reich view and the Rubin view. He says he will be practical about economic issues and figure them out as he goes, but many people are skeptic of his plans. There is clearly an economic crisis in America, because there is growth but families are not finding themselves better off as a result. It will be important for Obama to solidify his views on the economy if he wants to win the coming election.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed this article, I found it very interesting to learn about Obama's stance on economics. One main point that Obama had was "If we don't make seroius changes soon, probably in the next 10 or 15 years, we may find that it's too late." The arguement that starts this articel off, is that Obama's economic view is not clear or as clear as his opponents John McCain, but who's to say he doesnt have a good one. Obama's bases for his economic ideas is for equality within the classes, once this is solved by tax cuts or whatever else, then more important or crucial issues can be dealt with. Such issues include global warming and healthcare. What I found to also be interesting was in his interview Obama said while for the Republican party they have gained votes because of their delivery of economic ideas, and because Obama doesnt have a clear economic ideology. Is that really gonna hurt him in the presidential running? I dont think so.

Anonymous said...

This article states the many complicated problems the United States faces both long term and short term. McCain's classic Republican policies will only continue to worsen the gap between the rich and the poor that we currently see. Although Obama's policy is not completely clear he understands that there is no one right answer as the Bob vs. Bob example explains. Finally the article raised another interesting point that for the first time on record economic growth has not translated into better living standard for most American's. Hopefully Obama's policies will be able to even out the slices of the economic pie.

Anonymous said...

I find this article interesting because it is a wake up call to all Americans. Everyone buys so much and they buy it on debt and now we are in a financial crisis because of it. It also shows how each year just because the economy grows does not mean we gain more profit. Most families are still making less than they were after 2000. I liked how Obama was smart in his interviews not directly blaming bush for sluggish incomes, he blamed the administration for using tax codes. I also like how Obama hopes to lessen the gap between the rich and the poor because it’s so large right now. With his proposals he cannot completely get rid of it but he can substantially lessen the gap.

Anonymous said...

The article glances upon the topic regarding market systems vs. government controlled economies. Obama believes that free markets are more beneficial to the economy. Obama, for a number of years worked at a college in Chicago where "the chicago school believes that markets- that is of individuals making separate decisions- almost always function better than economies that are managed by governments." I would have to agree with this opinion because a market system is very dependable and practical for the economy of our country.

Anonymous said...

I really liked this article. It explained a lot about Obomas stance on our economic problems and it really helped me to realize how serious our economy is hurting. I like that Oboma is combining the market and the government to help it. Another thing that I really like is that he proposes creating jobs to stimulate the economy that will help the environment. Its good that he wants to make the gap between the rich and the poor by increasing the the taxes for the rich but I think that he has to be careful not to discourage the rich from investing by doing this. Other wise Ithink that his policies are great and I hope that if he is elected that they work.

Anonymous said...

I understand this article was supposed to illustrate the short-comings of Obama's vague economic policy, yet it only makes me like him more. The facts given in the article about Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy and how their incomes have roughly doubled over the last couple of years are astounding. Equally as astounding is McCain's financial plan which would only give tax breaks to the top .1% of earners. The trickle-down theory is obviously not working now so why continue it? Obama's economic plan is justified in being so vague. I personally believe that the majority of Americans wouldn't understand the stark economist approach it appears he would take.

Anonymous said...

Like many people think our economy is in need of a change and although Barack obama does not have a set plan for our economy many americans he is the man to change it for the better. On the other hand John McCain is sticking with the same plans for our economy that has been used in recent years. People say that the our economy is growing but most americans are still not reaping the benefits and our economy will truly be growing once they do.

Anonymous said...

This article makes an interesting point that even though the economy is growing family income has not risen substanantially. Most families are still making less than they were in 2000. How is that possible? For the bottom sixty percent of these workers this economic growth has become a theoretical concept. Why is this only a concept to these people? And what has to be done to change this?

Anonymous said...

We all can feel that the economy is not doing so great right now and the question that we have to ask ourselves is what to do next? with the election coming up we have Barack Obama on one side that is willing to make a change and try something new to help the economy succeed. John McCain wants to alter the republican economic view just a bit which in the long run hadn't really been working so why would we agree with him now?

Anonymous said...

Barack Obama's general economics stance is that the budget deficit is important, but is not the biggest issue. If the government can invest instead in alternative energy and builds new infrastructure, the jobs and incomes those industries provide will help stabilize the gap bewteen rich and poor, and help reduce the deficit as an added benefit. Obama does not beliive that the free market is perfect, but instead will make it his goal to establish government policies to fix any of its flaws, and continue growth.

Anonymous said...

I found it interesting how Obama talks about the fact that he doesn't think Bush should be blamed for all the stagnant incomes over the last decade. He then lists several examples that back up his point. However this doesn't eliminate the fact the Bush still got us into an unimaginably huge debt. Also, I thought that the fact that Obama would save on average $900 per person in tax cuts rather than McCain's $200, this is of course for the bottom 80% f the population.

Anonymous said...

The article gives us a better view of Obama's economic plan than it does McCain's. Obama doesn't seem to have a concrete plan laid out to fix the economic problems the country is facing but what does come through is an overall idea. It seems as though he believes in a market economy with only a little government involvement. The government's role should be to fix the imperfections in the market economy. He believes that government should lay the groundwork for a market economy to function. These are interesting ideas but it does raise questions about a specific plan.

Anonymous said...

I thought thought this was very interesting. I really like the fact that Obama is going to combine the market with the goverment to fix the economy. Both of these things are important and it seems logical to use a little of each to solve the problem. I also like that he cares about the enviornment and is working solutions to that into his solutions for the economy. To stimulate the economy he will make jobs for the middle class which pretain to helping enviormental issues. Like Liz said if anything this article made me like Obama more.

Anonymous said...

We can all feel that the economy isn't doing so great right now. So why do people still agree with McCain's economic policy? As this economic policy is extremely similar to the policy we are currently following. On the other hand this article addresses Obama's future Economic policy which personally makes a lot more sense. I agree that people should be more worried about the others, like global warming, health care and the economic hangover that could follow the housing bust. Obama's smart thinking and seeing into the future just makes his plan all the better. If people stick with McCain all that we are going to see in the coming years is a declining economy.