Should Barack Obama Go Big or Go Cautious?

Main Topic

Should Barack Obama Go Big or Go Cautious? ()

Barack Obama made a lot of promises during the campaign, then came the crisis in the economy. Can Obama fix the economy and spend big money on healthcare, education, infrastructure and energy independence, all at the same time? One school of would-be advisors says, yes he can -- it's time for bold action, just like it was for Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression. But others counsel against what they call "over-reaching," until after the economy's back on track. As debate rages over available courses of action, does Obama have the luxury to think big? Can he afford not to?  

Guests:

• David Sirota: author, 'The Uprising', @davidsirota
• Nicholas von Hoffman: Political Columnist, The Nation
• Amity Shlaes: Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
• George Packer: Staff Writer, The New Yorker

Links:

• Paul Krugman's (New York Times) article on Obama and a 'New Deal'
• Bartels' 'Unequal Democracy'
• Kearns Goodwin's 'Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln'
• Sirota's 'The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington'
• Von Hoffman's 'A Devil's Dictionary of Business: Monkey Business; High Finance and Low; Money, the Making, Losing, and Printing Thereof'
• Shlaes' 'The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression'
• Packer's article on the economic crisis, Obama and the Democrats

Making News

Paulson Shifts Focus of Bailout Plan ()

When Congress passed the $700 billion bailout, the focus was on buying so-called "troubled assets" linked to sub-prime mortgages. Today, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that's not the best use of the money after all. Instead, he wants to buy stock in banks. Greg Robb writes for Marketwatch.com, part of the Dow Jones News Service.

Guests:

• Greg Robb: Senior Reporter, MarketWatch.com

Reporter's Notebook

Rwanda and the Strife in the Democratic Republic of Congo ()

After the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, world leaders said they'd never let it happen again. But another humanitarian disaster is taking shape in Rwanda's neighbor. The Democratic Republic of Congo, a country the size of Western Europe, is rich in minerals but desperately poor in infrastructure. More than a million people are already displaced, and 250,000 civilians have fled their homes during weeks of violence. Government forces, rebels, rival tribes and UN peace-keepers all are part of the story. The Financial Times' Matthew Green is in Goma in the eastern part of the country.

Guests:

• Matthew Green: West Africa Correspondent, Financial Times