Presidents don't "turn economies around. " They can only do harm. As can international crises, wars, drastic changes in domestic tax policy and anything that spooks investors and discourages commerce.

Somewhat doubtful, though it will be helpful to return to have New Deal-style assumptions get represented in the Cabinet. Even the New Dealers knew that government programs were not decisive in lifting the government up, but they also knew that further privatization and government inaction was disaster ... and that's what a McCain administration would have been. Everyone knows the Dems are good for the stock market.

Economic cycles are objective reality. Politics is intervenes to the economy for different reasons, and that makes it a real problem. Obama will not turn the economy, but it should go up in natural way. Just do not touch it...
Wall Street donated x3 amount of money to Obama than to McCaine, so financial circles needed the Democratic Government. They got what they wanted. We'll see, of they really GOT what they wanted...

sure hope so... too late to change anything now

I know that plenty of people believe that Obama can do anything, including walk on water! But I'm not convinced that immediately installing Obama will solve all our problems, including the economic ones, which unfortuately are significant.

In fact, I've said here before that I believe there is a distinct possibility that the US might have to declare bankruptcy sometime in the next year or two. Indeed, some European countries are already on the brink, including nations that were seen as financially strong, including Switzerland and Iceland.

Obama was a strong supporter of the financial bailout bill, which essentially offered guarantees to financial firms burdened with bad assets. I still believe that the bailout was a mistake--the losses are still there and someone has to bear them. There are two possibilities: one, banks go under and shareholders are left with nothing, as is the case with Lehman Brothers, or the government pumps liquidity into the financial system so that incompetent, negligent bankers in London and New York can continue to live in luxury on the public dime.

The consequences of state interventions in the markets are going to be massive budget deficits. To finance these, the government will either have to acquire money or print more of it. Either way, they will have to borrow money, which means that the National Debt, and the interest payments on that debt will continue to soar. Our debt is already at $11.5 trillion--and that's not adjusted for inflation! The deficit is forecasted to rise to $1 trillion in the near future for the first time ever. Now we should keep in mind that these numbers DO NOT take into account the cost of all the government economic stimulus programs that Obama wants to institute in his first year. The government will have no other choice but to print more money to finance these spending priorities, which in the long term will lead to inflation.

I really don't have a whole lot of confidence in Obama over economic matters. It will just be a new crowd making the same bad decisions. It looks like he will staffing his economic team with the same Goldman Sachs crowd that had a hand in creating this mess.

I do believe the economy will turn around in the next four years, but I don't think it will be because of Obama. President's get too much credit for the performance of the economy. While they make decisions that obviously effect it, the economy is too vast to be "fixed" by just one person or one administration.

Most economists I have listened to say that the economy was going to enter recovery mode by the summer-fall of 2009, regardless of the winner in this election. Personally, I believe that Obama's policies can only hamper economic recovery/ growth.  In other words, he will turn it around, upside down, and inside out before it all eventually comes crashing down.

Time will tell. I am not convinced either direction...

 Obama will do what his corporate owners tell him to do. If they tell him the right things, we'll see the economy improve.

I'm not holding my breath.

The damage done by globalization, deregulation and greed can't be undone all that quickly even if the oligarchy smartens up.

. . .one person doesn't 'turn' an economy around. . .some fiscal responsibility and good policing can (at a base level) help heal some wounds.

Yes, and should start with holding accountable before the justice system all those who have caused this once in a century crisis. I still have to hear something from Obama regarding any action to bring the perps before justice. You need a big group of corrupt people to bring down the financial system of America. And they must all end up behind bars. Anything less will encourage more corruption.

Highly unlikely and if you think things can't get worse you haven't looked very hard at history. Obama's policies, even without the specifics, are based on things that have already failed. Welcome to 1977.

Obama has 2 things going for him in this department.  One, the economy can't get much worse.  Two, he has a friend in Pelosi, who shares his belief that a healthy economy is impossible without breaking the strangle-hold foreign oil has on our balance sheet.  I'm optimistic.

presidents actually have little control over this.  The fed chairman has more power. It will eventually fix its self.