The answer: All of the above to some extent.

"Conservatives" on talk radio blame Obama. It's "Obama's economy" ... it's "Obama's recession" ... and it's the coming "Obama depression." He owns it.

That's even though Obama's been in office only since Jan 20, which makes it about 6 months now.

Trade Deficit and Debt

Obama haters will be happy to know that Obama will fail. So rejoice.

But it won't be for the reasons they maintain. It won't be because of his "stimulus" package. It won't be because he's governing "from the left" and a "socialist".

It's because he's not doing anything about the "trade" deficit that has undermined the U.S. economy. It's undermined wages and purchasing power. No wonder the economy is collapsing due to lower demand and therefore lower investment in the absense of demand.

Fiscal Deficit and Debt

A New York Times article, America’s Sea of Red Ink Was Years in the Making By DAVID LEONHARDT, 7/9/09, analyzed Congressional Budget Office reports going back almost a decade, with the aim of understanding how the federal government came to be far deeper in debt than it hasbeen since the years just after World War II.