I think, in terms of the keys to success, I think the stress tests that were done here were credibility, reasonable stressed scenarios.
Posted by Ben Smith on 04/22 at 04:45 AM
Why White House is Failing: Confidence is Key
Liz | 08/10 at 07:58 AM
I have been writing for some time that one of the reasons the stimulus spending is not working is because the attendant rise in government debt has caused a paralyzing drop in confidence. You would have had to be living in a cave to have missed the Tea Party rallies against the giant Wall Street bail-outs; these spirited demonstrations brought home to one and all the connection between government assists and the sorry condition of our country’s balance sheet. The passage of Obamacare was the next leg of the stool. Despite President Obama’s protestations, no one believed that we could save money and simultaneously take on medical care for an additional 31 million people. Though Obama took the Congressional Budget Office to the woodshed when that office revealed just that, and persuaded them to come up with more agreeable forecasts, no one doubted that our fiscal integrity was about to take a hit. Ever-rising healthcare costs made people more anxious, and also angrier. The last straw was the Euro debt crisis. There were folks just like us, led by democratically elected governments, who had sold their citizens down the river for political gain. Americans who still doubted the consequences of government recklessness were convinced.
My message is gaining currency, as more people scratch their heads over the causes of the slowing recovery. There is no doubt that confidence continues to sink. A piece in the weekend Wall Street Journal posted below notes that the decline in optimism is wide-spread. It is especially evident in sectors that are especially vital- such as small businesses. As the Obama team reflects on why their magic isn’t working, they might actually want to sit down with some real people and ask why their spirits are so low. It would be a start, at least.
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