The [D]evolution of Obamanomic Theory

In the 2008 presidential election, exit polls suggested that the economy was by far the dominant concern ... with 62% citing it as the most important issue facing the US.

 

Three months into office, Barack Obama gave his seminal speech on the economy at Georgetown University, known in retrospect as the "pile of sand" speech.

 

 

.... There is a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells the story of two men. The first built his house on a pile of sand, and it was destroyed as soon as the storm hit. But the second is known as the wise man, for when "...the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house...it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock."

We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock. We must lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity - a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest; where we consume less at home and send more exports abroad.

It's a foundation built upon five pillars [ * ]  that will grow our economy and make this new century another American century:

1. new rules for Wall Street that will reward drive and innovation;
2. new investments in education that will make our workforce more skilled and competitive;
3. new investments in renewable energy and technology that will create new jobs and industries;
4. new investments in health care that will cut costs for families and businesses; and
5. new savings in our federal budget that will bring down the debt for future generations.

That is the new foundation we must build. That must be our future - and my Administration's policies are designed to achieve that future."

 

Nearly three years later it is worth examining how his pillars have fared.

 

New Rules? 

 

 

 

New investments? 

 

 

 

New savings in our federal budget to bring down the debt? A foundation "that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest"?

Eh... not so much.

 

 

 

How far we have come! In just three years, the pile of sand has run out, the pillars have crumbled, the foundation has cracked.  

But not to worry, His Presidency has a blueprint.

 

 

 On Tuesday, in my State of the Union Address, I laid out a blueprint for an economy built to last – an economy built on - 

 

American manufacturing,

American energy,

skills for American workers and

a renewal of American values.