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Lecture Analysis

Lecture Analysis

The Restoration of the American Economy: The One Needful Thing

Despite some signs of improvement in the U.S. it will still take years to recover. This opinion was expressed by U.S. President Barack Obama in an interview with U.S. television, which will be broadcast December 11, 2011. According to the President, to solve the structural problems brewing for the past 20 years, will take a long time. “This will require more than the remaining two years, more than one presidential term would allow, and perhaps more than able to make a President”, Obama said.

Stagnant economy and high unemployment are the major moments that may affect the outcome of presidential elections in November 2012, according to political analysts. Responding to a question about whether U.S. authorities will be able to lower that time the unemployment rate to 8% from the current 8.6%, Obama said “It is possible, but it's not my job to make predictions about the state of the economy.”

Many observers believe that Obama has a chance to be reelected for a second term in the case of solving the problem of unemployment, which, until recently, still remained at around 9%. Moreover, even in the unemployment rate of 8% is considered high, the level of 4-5% - normal. Some analysts believe that unemployment will remain at 8-9% for a long time, which can significantly reduce the chances of Obama's re-reelection in 2012. Recent opinion polls conducted by television channel CBS, indicate that only 33% of Americans approve of Obama's economic policies, 44% are in favor of Obama's election for a second term and 54% against (George, 2010). According to the mathematical model of the Yale University professor Ray Fair, reworked by specialists IHS Global Insight, the Democratic candidate will be able to obtain U.S. support of only 43.5% of voters, which is not enough for a second term.

Recall, November 22, the international rating agency Standard & Poor's has left long-term sovereign credit rating of the U.S. level of AA + with a “negative” outlook, despite the fact that a special inter-party committee of the U.S. Congress failed to agree on a plan to cut budget spending by 1.2 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. In turn, the international rating agency Fitch Ratings reported that it plans to conduct a review of long-term credit rating of the U.S., which currently assigns the highest mark of ...