The Merits of Obamanomics

The White House’s impact on the health of the world’s leading economy is often exaggerated. With how prosperous the United States was during Bill Clinton’s term, his presidency continues to be considered the ideal model to follow. The American economy would implode soon after the Internet bubble burst. For Barack Obama, the track record is more difficult to make out. In making daring decisions in urgent situations since his arrival to power, the Democrat has doubtlessly contributed to the evasion of an international cataclysm. The stimulus package that he submitted to Congress, the rescue of the automobile industry, and the audacious policy of the Federal Reserve have allowed America to come out of the “subprime” crisis that it itself had caused.

The debt of $18 trillion is suspended like the sword of Damocles above the future of the United States. But if this debt exploded under Barack Obama, it is because he inherited two ruinous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. The Republican Party and the business community won’t forgive him for having regulated Wall Street through the Dodd-Frank law in order to sanction the downward slide of the 2000s.

If the American economy appears today as a guarantee of relative stability, it is because Barack Obama was able to inspire a wind of optimism that has in part reinvented the country. Even if his strategy hasn’t produced the effects that had been expected, he did work quickly in his attempts to make the United States, the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, a greener economy that is based on technology. Even if it means alienating his Democratic allies, he as president pushes for the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement with 11 other countries representing 40 percent of the global gross domestic product. For him, the maintenance of American power is through the economy and through Asia.

However, Barack Obama warns against the risks to which the U.S. economy is exposed. The explosion of income inequality could jeopardize the country’s cohesion. The Democratic president urges Congress in vain to invest in infrastructures that are not worthy of the world’s leading power. Considering innovation to be the currency of tomorrow’s economy, he is sounding the alarm in relation to the shortcomings of the American education system. Yet, the U.S. momentum in these two areas remains worrisome.