WHAT OBAMA SHOULD DO

Gallup’s chief economist points to the incoming president’s most pressing economic concerns and how to solve them. He explains why policymakers keep dropping the ball and how Barack Obama can avoid doing the same. And he discusses what Obama and business leaders should expect in 2009, some of which is actually good news -- though most of it isn’t.

The first day on the job is always difficult. You must learn new names and new faces, find where they keep the office supplies, then figure out how to do what you were hired for. But imagine doing all that while your organization's financial system is in a nosedive -- its debt increasing by $3.87 billion a day -- and not long ago, many of your highest ranking coworkers actively campaigned to keep you from getting the job.

And that's just the beginning of the situation President-Elect Barack Obama is facing. The list of challenges seems endless: two wars, the ever-present threat of terrorism, and a global economic meltdown, along with myriad other troubles both at home and abroad. By all reports, he's keenly aware that he must hit the ground running on January 20 and has been rapidly assembling his executive team. But, says Gallup Chief Economist Dennis Jacobe, Ph.D., -- and many other economists too -- President Obama's first priority when taking office should be shoring up the U.S. economy.

In the following interview, Dr. Jacobe outlines what he thinks are the incoming president's most pressing economic concerns and how to solve them. He explains why policymakers keep shooting themselves -- and by extension, the taxpayers -- in the foot and how Obama can avoid doing the same. And he discusses what Obama and business leaders should expect in 2009, some of which is actually good news, though the vast majority of it isn't.

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