The Nexus

Obama came into the presidency in a storm of disasters, none more evident or more resounding than the economic meltdown that hit just before he took office. Once he settled into the White House, one of the first things he chose to focus on was the financial disaster and its effects on the American people.

One of the clearest indicators of economic recovery would seem to be the stock market, and it also happens to be one of the easiest things to use to gauge the extent of the recovery.

The market has risen significantly since he came into office. In February of last year, the Dow Jones Industrial (DJI) average was at an abysmal 7,365. In only a year’s time it has risen more than 3,000 points.

And if the major indicator of the stock market showing an almost 50 percent increase in value wasn’t enough, we can look at an arguably even more important indicator within the stock market, and see how it has stabilized.

Now, the DJI has stabilized above 10,000 points, a stark contrast to the sporadic peak-and-valley pattern that was indicative of the initial months preceding his inauguration.

Taking the general public attitude towards the economy is yet another way to gauge that the economy is recovering.

If the economy has been able to recede to a position of less importance than other happenings in the political world, the issue is no longer as drastic as it used to be. And so while the economy might not have fully recovered, at least it has improved, which is all we can really ask from a president who is just getting into the rhythm of things in a year’s time.

This economic boost came despite Obama having to fight with Congress, mainly against the Blue Dog Democrats and the Republicans, both of which put up a sizeable amount of resistance.

Another major thing we can point to is the Auto industry. While the situation for them is still not looking to be in the best of condition, Obama has been able to help them out quite a bit. Through implementing the Cash for Clunkers program, Obama was able to increase the amount of cash flow seen by car dealerships across the country, thus significantly helping the industry. Also, though he was widely chastised for them, the money that he gave to the automobile industry as a bailout has helped to partially stabilize the automobile industry, a pillar of the American economic system.

Though some critics of Obama’s first year say that the job market is still in a deplorable condition, we must take the current state of employment in context. While the unemployment rate has worsened, from 8.9 percent to 9.7 percent, we cannot base our judgment of the success of the economic recovery off of these numbers alone.

An improvement in this area is more than we can expect from a single year’s time. It is next to impossible to have a full-swing recovery in such a short time frame, especially given the inherently time-intensive process of implementing federal programs such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

So though he has faced many obstacles, the economic recovery has had measured success. We can only wait for the next years of the Obama presidency to see if the current trend will continue, or if the obstacles he faces will become too much.