Economist Gregg Mankiw, Ambassador Charles Dunbar and professor Stuart Altman gathered at Brandeis University last night to discuss President Obama's progress in the economy, international relations and health care reform during his first 100 days in office.
The discussion was moderated by Brandeis history professor Peniel Joseph, who explained to the crowd of over 180 community members that the tradition of discussing a president's first 100 days in office began with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, during which he began the New Deal.
Joseph mentioned that Obama, who will reach his 100th day on April 29, like Roosevelt, faces an extremely complex financial crisis in his first 100 days in office.
Mankiw, an economics professor at Harvard and former chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, said the Obama administration faces a crisis with four key elements: the housing bubble, securitization, bank failures and the leveraging and borrowing previously done by banks.
Mankiw said the nation was caught off guard by the financial crisis because "we hadn't thought to ask what happens if house prices fall."
"It hadn't happened in a long time, since the 1930s in America, and when it had happened globally it was far away, like Japan in the 1990s." he said.
Mankiw said Obama has been using three methods to fix the financial crisis, attempting to use financial, monetary and fiscal stimulation to alleviate the recession.
He continued to say that Obama's stimulus package has come under the most criticism because the public is worried it will raise spending.
While the Obama administration's forecast for how the nation will bounce back from the recession is "too rosy" for Mankiw's taste, he said "it's going to get worse before it gets better, but this is no 1930s."
Dunbar, who spoke about the nation's foreign policy, said while he realizes that "given our current financial crisis, economic policy comes first," he believes the Obama administration has taken many steps in the right direction in terms of foreign relations.
He continued to say that a lot of the steps Obama has taken have been purely rhetorical, but that they have still been meaningful, citing Obama giving his first television interview to the Arab network Al Arabia.
"That was very smart," he said. "It doesn't do anything policy-wise, but it creates a warm and fuzzy sort of atmosphere for future negotiations."
Obama's preliminary talks with Cuba, however, have signaled a "new beginning" that could manifest itself in substantial change, Dunbar said.
Dunbar also said that in the coming years, Obama would have to prove that "he's tough enough and can knock heads."
Altman, who helped write Obama's health care plan, said reform seeks to provide universal coverage while decreasing the growth in spending and increasing the quality of care by filling in the holes between private and public health insurance.
Altman said Obama's plan, for the most part, mimics the Massachusetts health care plan. He said he's worried about whether the plan can make it through Congress, because while Obama is advocating that the government "put off the debate on controlling spending until everyone has coverage, Washington wants him to reduce spending now."
All three panelists agreed that while Obama has made some changes, it is still too early to really define his presidency.
As Dunbar said at the beginning of his talk, "100 days does not a presidency make."
