"A Time for Change: The Obama Agenda"-Referring to History to Fix the Future
Monday, January 19, 2009DARREN GERSH: No one said it would be easy. Barack Obama will not only make history tomorrow as the nation's first African-American president; he will also face historic challenges. Tonight, we will examine those challenges along with the solutions Obama is proposing. We'll learn about his leadership style, his views on business and we'll hear from a close Obama adviser. Let's begin with his first challenge -- fixing the dismal economy -- and how Obama is taking a lesson from the history books.
FMR. PRESIDENT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT: Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
GERSH: You can hear Franklin Roosevelt's voice echoing through history in the lines Barack Obama has been trying out lately.
OBAMA: We are still the nation that has overcome great fears and improbable odds.
GERSH: Polls show Obama is well-positioned to mount a new anti-fear offensive. Most Americans now support his stimulus plan and roughly three out of five think he'll be a good president. On the flip side, readings on consumer confidence are at an all-time low. Yale's Robert Shiller has a new book coming out on the role of human psychology in the economy. He says, once people begin to fear for the future, it is not easy for a president to turn the tide.
ROBERT SHILLER, ECONOMICS PROF., YALE UNIVERSITY: Imagine that you have a husband and wife who have lost faith or trust in each other. But your only way to deal with the problem as a marriage counselor is to talk about the family finances. It doesn't necessarily fix it.
GERSH: Even so, analysts say Obama can begin to restore confidence through a proven record of targeted and consistent economic action. And much work is being done there. First, there's the $825 billion now in the works for an economic recovery package of infrastructure spending and tax cuts. The Obama team also promises to use the second installment of TARP money to shore up big banks, refinance homeowners facing foreclosure and get credit flowing to small business. Longer term, the Obama administration plans to rewrite financial regulations and eventually tackle the nation's entitlement spending and restore budget discipline. Of course, the Obama team will have to do all of this flawlessly. A big failure would shatter what little confidence remains. But Shiller says Obama's economic plan will also have to do something more -- reposition the country psychologically.
SHILLER: Ultimately, it is the story that matters. It's the idea. We have an impressive new president who has the potential to inspire us and I want to see that happen. I want to see a new story coming out that we are getting this problem behind us.
GERSH: Which helps explain why the Obama transition has launched a multi-media campaign showing the new president as in command and moving quickly. Economist Tyler Cowen says the sense of well-considered action may help as much as some of the action itself.
TYLER COWEN, ECONOMICS PROF., GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: I think in a way, what the economy needs now is a kind of placebo -- the feeling that we are being treated, that we are getting the very expensive aspirin, that we're taking the medication, but without necessarily having to go through all of it.
ROOSEVELT: Keep your money in a reopened bank.
GERSH: Historians have long marveled at Franklin Roosevelt's ability to radiate confidence in the depths of the great depression and a world war. In that sense, Cowen is pleased to see history has put forward a new president who seems so unflappable, his campaign nicknamed him "no drama Obama."
COWEN: I think what Obama is doing is saying, I am going to apply a steady hand. We are going to have some change, but it will be measured and managed and I know what I am doing. I have picked smart advisers and I will guide you through this.
