US President Barack Obama Writes a Guest Essay in The Economist

Mr Obama sets an economic to-do list for his successor

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Oct 06, 2016, 06:00 ET

LONDON, Oct. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- President Barack Obama has written an essay for this week's edition of The Economist, in which he identifies the four economic challenges that he believes his successor must address. The essay will appear in print in the October 8th edition of The Economist and online today at Economist.com.

President Barack Obama writes a guest essay in the October 8th edition of The Economist and online at http://www.economist.com/ObamaEssay

"Wherever I go these days, at home or abroad, people ask me the same question," the president begins. "What is happening in America's political system? How has a country that has benefitted—perhaps more than any other—from immigration, trade and technological innovation suddenly developed a strain of anti-immigrant, anti-innovation protectionism? Why have some on the far-left and even more on the far right embraced a crude populism that promises a return to a past that is not possible to restore—and that for most Americans, never existed at all?"

In what is, in effect, an open letter to his successor on how to navigate a time of voter rage, Mr Obama argues that politicians calling to put up walls and trade barriers are forgetting an all-American principle—that when businesses remember the common good as well as profits, and free markets avoid unhealthy concentrations of power, "capitalism has been the greatest driver of prosperity and opportunity the world has ever known."

"It is unusual for us at The Economist to publish an article by invitation," said Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist's editor-in-chief. "We made an exception today because we think that Mr Obama's essay on the economic problems underpinning voter anger is something that will be of great interest to our readers around the world. The president also gives a fairly frank assessment of some things that his administration has left undone."

The full essay is available at http://www.economist.com/ObamaEssay and in the October 8 edition of The Economist.

About The Economist (www.economist.com)
With a growing global circulation and a reputation for insightful analysis and perspective on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognised and well-read current affairs publications. The paper covers politics, business, science and technology, and books and arts, concluding each week with the obituary. In addition to the web-only content such as blogs, debates and audio/video programmes available on the website, The Economist is available to download for reading on Android, Blackberry PlayBook, iPhone or iPad devices. The Economist Espresso, our daily briefing smartphone app, is also available for download via iTunes App Store or Google Play.

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SOURCE The Economist