There were significant expectations laid on the new president after the election. The economic situation Obama had to face when becoming the president was a true disaster. The first step the new president was to take was to define the team that would be supposed to meet the challenge. Obama decided not to reject the help of the specialists from his e-rivals’ groups. Thus, Tim Geither and Larry Summers became the key two people in his working group.
Contrary to Bush, Obama faced the difficulties right on the first days of his work. Obama had to make one of the most import decisions a person can probably face. The president had either to take the side of Larry Summers and to begin a series of revolution reformations or to rely on his Minister of Treasury Geither and to follow the plan of graduate development that had been initially announced to the public.
The choice was, indeed, very difficult as on the one hand, the president had promised to be tough on banks and the Wall Street system, on the other hand, Summer’s offer implied considerable risks. The President decided to stick to a more cautious policy. The taken measures aimed at the healthcare reformation proved to be efficient, even though the effect was not obtained at once. The social pressure the president and his team experienced was very powerful and would not decrease for a long period of time.
There are different points of view on the efficiency of Obama’s economic policy. In fact, the president had to solve the problems created by Bush’s administration. On the one hand, the President’s words and intentions seem to have little in common. Despite the fact, that the key idea of his election speech was the introduction of the strict policy towards the Banks and the Wall Street executives, his real actions were rather unconfident and tolerant. No loud dismissals that the society expected would ever occur. Instead, the President continued supporting banks and their representatives.
On the other hand, some people think, that Summer’s plan could have led the country to a much more serious crisis; thence, the president’s choice was the only reasonable decision possible. Nevertheless, a lot of specialists claim that the presence of the “too big to fail” establishments, along with the derivatives and other signals is the evidence of the economic problems that Obama and his administration failed to solve (Gilmore, 2012b).
The role of interest groups in the preparation of the grounds favorable for the crisis can hardly be underestimated. The Wall Street executives would never hide the fact that their activity is aimed at earning the maximum amounts possible, no matter what effect that might have on the country’s economy (Gilmore, 2012a). The focus on the self-profit and the application of fraud methods were apt to result in the crisis finally.
The crisis character largely depends on the public mood and on the fact, whether the social expectations relatively to the necessary measures have been satisfied. In the case under discussion, the justice system proved its complete incompetence when it failed to convict any of the well-known people responsible for the crisis. As long as those who are in charge of derivatives and defective loans operating are still free and continue their activity, the grounds for the new crisis are likely to appear soon. However, this time the environment is apt to be much more tense as the society would not like to put up with the fact that some of the citizens are “untouchable” (Gilmore, 2013).
Reference List
Gilmore, J. (Reporter), & Hamilton, D., & Jennings, T. (Producers). (2012a). Money, Power & Wall Street. Episode 4 [Television series episode]. In M. Gaviria (Executive Producer), Frontline.
Gilmore, J. (Reporter), & Hirsh, L., & Gold, T. (Producers). (2013). The Untouchables [Television series episode]. In M. Smith (Executive Producer), Frontline.
Gilmore, J. (Reporter), & Wiser, M., & Kirk, M. (Producers). (2012b). Money, Power & Wall Street. Episode 3 [Television series episode]. In M. Kirk (Executive Producer), Frontline.