It is clear that one of the reasons that Barack Obama won the Presidency is his campaign utilized the Internet in all aspects and in new ways.  The Obama campaign of 2008 introduced and defined success with this latest transformative medium.  The campaign’s use of all aspects of interactivity will be the definition and measurement of success for the next 8-16 years.

Now that Obama is President and comes into office with a mandate for change in a time of incredible challenges it will be interesting to see how the campaign mastery of the Internet is deployed to the process of governing.  It is already clear that this administration is and will do things via Internet connectivity that have never been done before.

Over the years, how many of you ever listened to the “President’s weekly radio address”.  I always saw it reported on TV but never ever listened to it.  Well, since the Saturday after his election Obama has delivered a Saturday video message via first his Change website and now from the White House web site and of course simultaneously uploaded it to YouTube.  Within 48 hours, hundreds of thousands of people have taken the time to watch the video.  The Saturday evening local and network newscasts feature highlights from the video, bringing the message to millions more.  What used to be a rare event, the President of the United States speaking directly to the American people via video is now a weekly event.

What is even more intriguing …

What a day!  President Barack Obama is the 44^th President of the United States.  This will be a day that will go down in history as an inflection day.  Today is a day when the United States and the world changes course and move in a new direction.

Yes President Obama is the first African American to become President and that is a truly momentous event given the history of race in American.  There is no question that this is an event that not only moves America to the next stage of racial harmony but also signals that fact to the world.  It can not be overstated that this achievement opens a new chapter for a country whose democracy stands for equality under the law with freedom and justice for all.  The symmetry with Dr. King’s birthday cannot be overstated.

Expectations and optimism lead to new beginnings.  For those who think the world will change, it will.  Change can be profound and incremental.  Many think that the euphoria will wear off and things will return to partisanship and bureaucracy.  To some degree they will be right.  It is important to keep in mind how even small changes can move individuals and countries in totally new directions.

Motivational and self help gurus talk about how if someone just makes a 10% change in effort or direction each year, that in several years they will be in an entirely different place living an entirely different life.  Well it is quite clear that President Obama, his …

It is interesting that central to the U.S. view of the global economy is the inauguration of President Obama and the passage of a historic stimulus package by Congress.  Given that the world is awash in economic fear the potential for hope and a sense of direction has been hard to find.  Since the current economic meltdown is something we want to change, and since that word has been synonymous with Obama, there is a lot of hope for a good start to his Presidency, and in his stated desire for a $1 trillion dollar stimulus package over the next two years.

As all prognosticators look ahead to this new year, it is clear that the place to look for our financial future for the next couple of years is Washington, not New York .

Politicians of both parties and most U.S. citizens are so scared or nervous about the economy melting down even further that there seems to be wide support for the Federal Government to spend whatever is necessary to get us out of this mess before it becomes even more catastrophic.  I find it interesting that economists of all stripes have come together is a loose consensus that the way out of this dangerous economic situation is massive spending by the government.  I certainly don’t disagree, but I have significant reservations about what Congress will pass and President Obama will ultimately sign.

The position here is that if the U.S., and therefore to a great degree the global economy is …

In my last column I wrote that humanity is in transition from one Age to another and that the global financial collapse is a painful part of that transition.  This occurs during any major historical transition period.  In addition I wrote:

“There are four words that keep coming back to me as I view the landscape of what lies ahead in 2009 and beyond.  They are contraction, cleansing, reorganization and transformation.  It is these four words to keep in mind as you read the forecasts here and look around you”

I repeat that because most of the economic predictions below are about contraction and cleansing.  However I am not a pessimist as I believe that we are in a process of reorganization that can lead to transformation.  Please keep that in mind as you read on.

The U.S. economy has been in a recession for close to a year, with the fourth quarter being one of the worst quarters on record.  During this fourth quarter the global economy joined the U.S.  When all the numbers come in for this quarter they will show a major contraction probably in the range of 4-7%.  In a column in mid-October, I wrote:

“We will witness one of the worst holiday retail seasons in history on a year to year comparison basis.  People who feel that they have no control over the performance of their investments will realize that the only control they have is in the area of spending which they will …