Economic Rapture

The great economic rapture, as I am calling it, did not start with the Great Recession but this moment in time marked a change from the conservative consensus to a government interventionist model. Obama was the facilitator in this change not only with policy but also with rhetoric. For example, during his campaign Obama highlighted how the government must have an active role in ending the recession (717). Markets were no longer the great savior as they were once hailed to be and the people responded. Obama got quick to work by providing more funding to infostructure and government research. His preference for government intervention provided an alternative to the market based conservative consensus of the past. For me the reason the US Treasury and Federal Reserve have so much power is to keep consistency in monetary policy despite change in administrations. The US dollar is the currency of the world and is quite powerful, if this were to change and these positions be more partisan in nature, we could see a great collapse and volatility that only harms the American people. Markets hate instability and these two places provide stability that otherwise would not be there.