This is rather strange. One would have expected things would look definitely more positive and people in a better mood on the very day of the inauguration of a new president of the US.
Sadly, that is not the exact scenario. The world stock markets dip into the negative territory, and unbelievably Dow falls more than 300 points (4%) to close below the 8k mark. This does not augur well for the global economy, reflecting badly on the dire state-of-affairs of the US economy in particular.
One explanation for the lackluster performance could be because consumers may not have that much confidence in the new administration team in bringing the bashed financial institutions back to normal that soon. If that is the case, there is no need to talk big about CHANGE and end up offering false promises.
In short, just quietly and diligently do the necessary work to bring about the correct result via right actions. Show the world Washington CAN and will.
(Tan Boon Tee, btt1943@yahoo.com)
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National-Security Adviser | Persuasion, Not Compulsion
By Sandy Berger
I'll always remember the night in January 1995 when, as usual, we were working late in the White House and Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin came into my office. Bob was not in a mood for small talk. Mexico—its economy in meltdown—had 48 hours to live, and there was no public or congressional support for a rescue loan. Nonetheless, President Clinton quickly approved it, and it prevented a massive hemorrhage south of our border.
Today, as Barack Obama prepares to enter the Oval Office, the entire global financial system faces a far more serious meltdown. It poses an early test of the new president—not only of where he will lead the international community but, just as importantly, how. The stakes are huge. When what happens in the Tokyo market overnight affects our markets in the morning, when falling growth in China immediately drives down commodity prices in Brazil, every nation, however rich or poor, is vulnerable.
The world knows that the economic crisis can't be solved without America. They will respect a president who leads as Obama has promised to lead—by persuasion, not compulsion. They will respond to a president who recognizes the need for new global arrangements that give new global players a greater say. If President Obama is the principal architect of this new, more-inclusive system, he will be recognized as its leader, just as his predecessors FDR, Dwight Eisenhower and Harry Truman were the leaders of the post-World War II era.
The financial crisis presents dangers, but it also presents opportunity for a new president who understands the forces of change in the world and seeks to marshal them. President Obama's ability to advance a broader agenda, from energy to nonproliferation, will be empowered if he succeeds in meeting this challenge. It will be imperiled if he fails.
— Sandy Berger was national-security adviser under President Bill Clinton
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