ÔÇ£Make no little plansÔÇØ

Quoting architect Daniel Hudson Burnham who helped rebuild Chicago after the great fire, ÔÇ£make no little plans,ÔÇØ is what Obama said on 16 April about tackling the economic crisis that has been the centerpiece of the US presidentÔÇÖs first 100 days in office.┬á It is not yet clear whether the $787 billion stimulus package or the $1 trillion bank bailout plan will succeed in stemming the sharp fall in the US economy, but it is very clear that President Obama has even bigger economic ambitions for transforming the US economy and ultimately rebuilding US power and prestige in the world. ┬á He wants to boldly reform the US healthcare system, improve access and standards in education, and introduce green technology; all expensive measures to accomplish while also reducing the huge budget deficit, estimated to reach $1.7 trillion this year, or 12 percent of GDP, which will also face additional pressures in the next decade as the baby boomer generation rack up social security and Medicare costs as they begin to retire.┬á President Obama has mentioned bringing the 15 percent of the population which lacks any health insurance - around 45 million people - back into the system, a plan that could cost up to an estimated $200 billion per year.┬á Apart from the costly healthcare reforms, President Obama also has potentially expensive plans to improve access to education, and there is an urgent need to rebuild broken physical infrastructure. ┬á The Obama administrationÔÇÖs ace in the hole to funding its ambitious agenda is carbon tradingÔÇö charging companies who pollute, but allowing them to trade permits for carbon emissionsÔÇö through which the administration hopes to raise hundreds of billions of dollars in additional revenue. But, the experience of the EU carbon trading scheme suggests that there is a great deal of uncertainty in their design. ┬á "Success depends as well on Obama's ability to manage his agenda, as it does for every president determined to make more than incremental change," says Brookings Institution scholar William Galston. ┬á ObamaÔÇÖs biggest challenge may be the reluctance of the US public to trust government to solve their problems. Many observers believe that the new president is being too ambitious, and according to recent polls, despite the credit crunch the US electorate still seems to fear big government more than big business.┬á "The public disposition has always been to be skeptical about big government," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Centre.