Can Obama save the world?

Barack Obama has walked himself into the history books by becoming the first black American President. Scores of people, Americans and non-Americans alike, celebrated the historical win of the charismatic leader. Have people celebrated too early?

I did not follow the US elections closely, but as far as I can recall, there wasn’t any announcement of concrete plans to tackle the current financial tsunami. The outgoing government seemed to be indicating that the major decisions be left to the new President. To be fair, the crisis has took a drastic turn for the worse near the election. This would not have left much time for the economic advisory team to come out with any feasible solutions.

According to this site, many of the top contributors to Obama’s election campign are individual members, employees or owners and their families of major financial institutions. Would this cause Obama to avoid decisions that may be detrimental to the institutions? Would he bite the hands that ‘fed’ him if needed?

On the positive side, the Democrats now not only control the Presidency, but also improved on their majority in the Senate and House of Representative. This would enable faster legislation to help combat the crisis.

Being a black African-American, it will be easier for him to unite not only Americans, but also to be more readily accepted and welcomed outside of the US. The great charisma that he possesses wouldn’t harm his chances of summoning followers. There is even talk of an easing of the tense situation between the US and fundamental Islamic countries. This would surely help unite the world towards an collective effort in combating what some called ‘the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression’.

While it there is no harm in having optimism and faith in the new President, it would be advisable not to exhibit ‘irrational exuberance’ in Obama’s unproven abilities. The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

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