The economy was the number-one issue in the presidential race won by Democrat Barack Obama. So, what happens now? Can a president do anything? Let's find out.
Prez can't fix it. Gerald Ford famously exhorted Americans to "Whip Inflation Now," partly by wearing "WIN" buttons. This preelection Newsweek article contests the notion that a president - any president - can "fix" the economy. It does, however, say that some presidential decisions over the years have managed to hurt the economy, at least temporarily.
Nobel opinions. Newsweek also sampled seven Nobel laureates on the subject of fixing the economy. First on the list was Paul Krugman, who won the Nobel prize for economics last month. Krugman says that in these "wild times" there should be "a blizzard of activity" of spending, financial regulation, and health-care reform by the new president. Other luminaries with opinions here include A. Michael Spence of the Hoover Institute and Edward C. Prescott of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
