100 days of Obamanomics

President Obama’s first 100 days have been dominated by economic crises, said Daniel Gross in Slate, and he's had some successes. True, the economy shrank by 6.1 percent last quarter, the U.S. is "still hemorrhaging jobs,” and AIG, Citibank, and GM are all in acute crisis. But much to his credit, Obama has been “a sort of human Valium,” calming the jittery markets and boosting the mood of consumers.

There will be no soothing the economy, said Lawrence Kudlow in RealClearPolitics, if Obama continues his 100-day-old “war against investors, businesses, and entrepreneurs.” Ronald Reagan needed a few years to shift the U.S. to the Right, but it has only taken Obama this long to “lurch” the country toward a ruinous “command-and-control” political economy.

Given the huge economic crisis, said Alan Brinkley in The New Republic, it makes more sense to compare Obama’s first 100 days to FDR’s. And he doesn’t stack up unfavorably. Roosevelt was more “frenetic,” enacting more legislation, but Obama’s programs should have a better success ratio, and his enormous stimulus package make’s FDR’s efforts look “trivial.” But like all presidents at 100 days, “the real work is still to come.” (Watch some disastrous presidential first 100 days)

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