Wanted: Obamanomics

Newsweek has a decent article about the recession. To make a long story short, this one's probably going to last a while: maybe as long as three years. Three years of falling or stagnant home values, high food and gas prices, a weak job market, and hard-to-get credit. That's a long time.

So here's the thing: Why, with most people saying the economy is the top issue, haven't we heard more from Obama on the subject? His plan for health care is good, but health care is a long-term structural problem that's going to take years to fix. He has similarly good ideas about other long-term things we need - better science, more infrastructure, better education, alternative energy. Working on these things is great, because they will lead to increased investment, which can help the economy recover. But what about short-term economic relief? And is there anything that the president can do to help America through tough times?

One thing he could do would be to promise to assault the deficit. The federal budget deficit (and people's individual debts as well) requires us to borrow huge amounts of money from China, which pushes down the value of the dollar. Since oil (and therefore food) prices are in dollars, this makes oil much more expensive. If Obama promised to slash the deficit - and maybe to give people incentives to save more - it might shore up the dollar and cut the price of oil and grain futures. Deficit reduction was a big winner for Clinton in '92, and could work again.

In any case, Obama needs to talk about the economy a lot more. Along with improving America's prestige in the world, increasing America's saving and investment will be the other big task for the next president. And the economy is weighing more on people's minds every day.

Update: Wow, Obama gives me exactly what I ask for in one day! Now that's change you can believe in! ;-)