I find part of my excitemet for an Obama economy is his willingness to not stop at the old "capitalism = good" right vs. "capitalism = bad" extreme left fight of the past. Capitalism and free markets are an extremely effective economic system, but unfettered free markets break down. Laissez faire fails because of the law of the commons, external effects of actions taken, it assumes infinite knowledge on the part of the consumer, assumes that individuals act in their own self interest, monopoly problems, etc. Obama's speech yesterday was from an individual who understood that the economy has gone wrong in a manner that could have been prevented through proper government oversight, but does not think that the government should be moving the economy in desired directions through sheer will. The fastest way to get the sheep down the mountain is not to walk each one down by leash, but it's laughably foolish that the shepherds didn't try to stop the flock from running off the side of the cliff until now.

I am really excited about his use of free markets to address things such as global climate change. I also have always thought his health care plan was vastly superior to Clinton's because it actually allows the market some breathing room. He's refusing to fall into either trap. He won't let it fall of a cliff, but won't put needless restrictions on it either. The right thinks the river god should be allowed to flow wherever it wants and will sacrifice the town to its flood if that's god's will. The extreme left thinks the river is evil and will only allow priests to bring water to the townspeople after they go through elaborate purification rituals. Obama wants to build an aqueduct system.