Home / US Presidential Election 2008 Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Obama to wrestle with huge economic challenges
Adjust font size:  ZoomIn ZoomOut

Barack Obama, who has won Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, will inherit a series of economic problems on a scale not seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The U.S. economy, struck by the current financial crisis, contracted in the third quarter of this year at an annual rate of 0.3 percent, signaling the country is likely heading into a recession.

The contraction came as nervous consumers cut back on their spending by 3.1 percent, the biggest amount since the second quarter of 1980.

It marked the first drop in consumer spending, which accounts for two thirds of overall economic activity, since late 1991, when the economy was coming out of a recession.

A recession is under way, but "it's too early to talk about the depth of the downturn," said economist Victor Zarnowitz of the New York-based Conference Board, who serves on the NBER committee, which identifies recessions.

"Some further credit tightening would tip us over into a more severe recession, but it is too early to tell," he added.

Many economists believe that new coming president's biggest challenge will be navigating a deep and potentially prolonged economic downturn.

"We know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century," warned Obama late Tuesday when claiming his election win.

"There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college," he said.

"There's no president in recent history that's had so many crisis to deal with ... This president's going to have his hands full," said Leon Panetta, chief of staff to the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton.

"The one good thing about the next presidency is, there's no place to go but up," he joked.

Like Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, the new president will get a rare opportunity to leave a sweeping and long- lasting imprint on the U.S. economy.

To save the economy from a possible severe recession, Obama has supported a second stimulus package worth about 150 billion dollars, though some outside economists are urging them to consider twice that amount.

The package will includes government spending on public infrastructure, aid to local governments and greater aid to the unemployed and those on food stamps.

Some economists believe the such a new stimulus package would have little effect in the current quarter, while some supporters say it will help pull the economy out of a recession earlier next year and perhaps mitigate the downturn.

Though a recession will likely dominate Obama's agenda, other short- and long-term economic challenges will also feature high on the to-do list, economists and advisers to both candidates said.

Obama has promised to revamp regulations governing Wall Street, work to bring down the costs of health care, boost indigenous energy sources, and fight climate change by setting caps on carbon dioxide emissions for big industries.

"To rebuild that middle class, I'll give a tax break to 95 percent of workers and their families," he wrote in an article published by The Wall Street Journal recently. "If you work, pay taxes, and make less than 200,000 dollars, you'll get a tax cut," while the wealthy people who earn more than 250,000 dollars a year, will pay more taxes.

Obama said the reforms will help create two million new jobs by "rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and laying broadband lines that reach every corner of the country."

"I'll invest 15 billion dollars a year over the next decade in renewable energy, creating five million new, green jobs that pay well, can't be outsourced, and can help end our dependence on Middle East oil," he outlined.

Obama is likely to create a vastly larger economic role for the government and he will also permanently alter the relationship between financial markets and Washington, finish the job of reshaping the U.S. banking system, said the U.S. media.

"The next president is going to have to have two financial SWAT teams," said Barry Eichengreen, professor of economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley.

"One to stabilize the crisis and staunch the bleeding, the other to focus on the issue of how to sustain long-run economic growth," he said.

Obama also knows the difficulty. "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep," he said late Tuesday, while assuring his supporters he will make the success.

"We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you -- we as a people will get there," said the first black president in the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2008)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous
China Archives
Related >>
- Consensus needed to tackle crisis
- Asian, Euro leaders start summit to fight crisis
- Wall Street jumps in record Election Day rally
- Wall Street posts stunning gains
- Wall Street rallies as investors believe Fed to cut interest rates
- Wall Street layoffs could surge over 200,000
- Wall Street suffers heavy sell-off
Most Viewed >>
- Bush's foreign policy legacy not without merits
- China to fly flag for South at G20 summit
- Full text: Barack Obama's victory speech
- Obama to wrestle with huge economic challenges
- Russian parliament may allow Putin's return to power
> Korean Nuclear Talks
> Reconstruction of Iraq
> Middle East Peace Process
> Iran Nuclear Issue
> 6th SCO Summit Meeting
Links
- China Development Gateway
- Foreign Ministry
- Network of East Asian Think-Tanks
- China-EU Association
- China-Africa Business Council
- China Foreign Affairs University
- University of International Relations
- Institute of World Economics & Politics
- Institute of Russian, East European & Central Asian Studies
- Institute of West Asian & African Studies
- Institute of Latin American Studies
- Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies
- Institute of Japanese Studies
主站蜘蛛池模板: 天天操天天干天天干| 久久精品老司机| 一级二级三级毛片| 波多野结衣精品一区二区三区| 嫩草影院www| 亚洲六月丁香六月婷婷蜜芽| 老妇bbwbbw视频| 国产资源在线看| 久久精品一区二区| 男人桶女人的肌肌30分| 国产女人在线观看| re99热久久这里只有精品| 曰批免费视频播放免费| 免费人成在线观看网站品爱网| 亚洲xxxx18| 思思久久99热只有精品| 亚洲一级毛片免费看| 精品久久久无码中文字幕边打电话| 国产精品中文字幕在线| 一本大道香蕉在线影院| 日日噜噜夜夜爽爽| 亚洲国产精品嫩草影院久久| 精品国产国产综合精品| 国产特黄特色的大片观看免费视频| 一级特黄女人生活片| 最近中文字幕mv免费视频| 人妻少妇精品视频一区二区三区 | 91精品国产综合久久香蕉| 无码精品久久久天天影视| 亚洲国产精品成人综合久久久| 清纯女神被老头耸动| 国产三级av在线播放| 奇米精品一区二区三区在| 小兔子救了蛇被蛇两根进去| 久久精品中文闷骚内射| 最近中文字幕无吗免费高清| 亚洲中文无码a∨在线观看| 欧美午夜一区二区福利视频| 免费大黄网站在线看| 高清不卡毛片免费观看| 国产麻豆剧果冻传媒一区|