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| Yes | 34% | 22 votes | Total: 65 votes | |
| No | 66% | 43 votes |
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Add to FavoritesPresident Obama is not really the only one who is responsible for the decline in the stock market, but as the greatest leader of the free world, he should be held responsible for placing fear in the stock market and not coming out strong and optimistically about the financial future, not only of the United States, but of the entire free world. News organizations, mainly those of the middle of the road political positions as well as those of the far right/conservative positions are going to report that President Obama is truly and single handedly responsible for the decline in the stock market. Because of the inability to state that everything is going to be alright, yet, things are going to take time, has placed increased fear in the market and more selling than buying is occurring.
More companies are playing off this fear and for some reason their stocks are falling and practically making them close their doors. As the doors of corporate America continue to close, so does the flow of money into the economy as people who worked in corporate America are losing their jobs. If jobs are going to be created, then fear has to be beaten and optimism has to be what replaces it. Small businesses have to be helped and a way has to be found to allow them to thrive in this period of economic turmoil. The American automakers have to be able to somehow survive so that jobs can be created and the threat of continued plant closings is brought to a halt. Manufacturers across the board have to be allowed to continue to thrive as well, but if the fear placed in the stock market continues and cannot be reversed, then this country, if not the world will see a depression worse than that of the 1930s and early 40s.
Fear is the main factor when it comes to the stock market. The most important thing is to release that fear. The United States has to pull together and to find a reason and then work off that reason and find solutions quickly to the problems. What really has to be done is stop placing blame on the Bush Administration, stop blaming the Obama Administration and work on the problems at hand. Continued blame adds fear and pessimism to the situation in the stock market and just in the general feeling of things and this will add to the continued decline in the stock market and in the world.
President Obama and his continued spending packages and pessimism is what is going to kill this country. What he has to do is turn it all around. He cannot do it alone. He has to be able to find a way to work in a bi-partisan atmosphere, yet, because of the likes of Pelosi, Reid and Frank, this is not going to be easy. If he could fire each of these so-called representatives and Senators, then he should do it. But, since it is up to the people to do so, they need to do it and they need to do it quickly.
In final, the blame is not just with President Obama. It is with Congress, the greediness of the corporate board members who continue to give themselves incredible and outrageous bonuses that they practically do not dserve and folks, it is our fault. We have to stop living above our means and truly know what it is that we can afford. If you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you cannot afford a home, do not buy one. If you cannot afford a fancy automobile, go with something less expensive. Look within your means.
Learn more about this author, David Brown.
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No
The stock market is a fickle beast that lives and dies with the news wire. The Dow and NASDAQ soar up or down based on the influence of news stories, or even non-stories such as 'Analysts anticipate 3rd quarter loss', whether or not the financial data eventually released does show an actual loss. Even if the end result is just a smaller profit than expected due to inflated expectations, the economic damage is done.
Given the stock market ebbs and flows for a variety of seemingly random reasons, it makes no sense to blame President Obama for those ebbs and flows. The U.S. recession that fueled our recent stock market plunge was a product of multiple events that preceded Obama's tenure. Blaming Obama for the stock market drop is akin to blaming the cop who arrives on a murder scene for the actual murder.
The wholesale decline in the economy resulted from the tightening in credit markets, due to banks losing vast amounts of equity in the mortgage crash. Having lost the capital to lend money while remaining stable, banks have tightened up even after receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus money. Many people and businesses spent beyond their means thanks to this artificially free flowing credit. Once the spigot was shut off, the economy fell back to Earth... and beyond, since many were awash in accumulated debt.
Also, businesses rely on loose flowing credit to stably run. Without it, they cannot ensure needed resources, including retention of employees, to continue running profitably or to stay afloat. This has produced mass layoffs and a jump in unemployment. Those who lose their jobs can't spend money and those who still have jobs are hoarding money, either worried that they may not have jobs in a few months or struggling with debt themselves that they can't control or consolidate due to the dried up credit market. People aren't spending and as a result, businesses are losing revenue. This lost revenue only exacerbates the stock market's decline, along with our other economic problems.
There is only so much President Obama can do to fight a problem that took root well before his election. The stimulus package he pushed through may help some Americans save a few dollars, but it won't save jobs and any ambitious public works plans that get going will only create a handful of niche jobs in construction and engineering. No stimulus bill will assuage Americans' fears of losing their jobs, nor will it help most unemployed Americans find new jobs that don't exist.
The only way the stock market will recover is if the economy recovers. The only way the economy will recover is if Americans spend money again. The only way Americans will spend money again is if they regain their personal security, regain control over their debt situation and have jobs they know they can keep for the long haul.
Until then, there is nothing President Obama can do to change the stock market, and blaming him for a larger, more fundamental economic problem makes little sense. He can't stop businesses from laying off employees. He can't force Americans to spend money. He can't create enough business to put unemployed Americans back to work and keep them working.
The stock market decline is the fault of American business and bad practices from banking interests. Blame them.
Learn more about this author, Steven Gomez.
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