Foreword
When President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, he faced widespread recession among global economies, a domestic housing and banking crisis, a $1.3 trillion budget deficit, and the highest U.S. jobless rate in a quarter of a century — with household wealth having plummeted 18 percent since 2008. The financial meltdown was generally thought to be the most critical the country had experienced since the Great Depression.In his February 24 address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama said that America was emerging from an era when "too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity" and "critical…
