“By no means are we out of the woods just yet,” Barack Obama

“We are beginning to see glimmers of hope,” said Barack Obama in his 45 minute speech at Georgetown University yesterday, on Tuesday April 14. The U.S. President was defending his economic strategy and talking about what has been achieved so far in fighting the U.S. economy downturn which is not in its 16th month. As there was nothing new in his speech White House spokesman Robert Gibbs explained that it was a progress report, telling Americans what had been achieved and what lay ahead.

Obama mentioned the reproaches of his critics who say that he is spending with “reckless abandon” and said that it would be the worst if he cut spending.

"I know there is criticism out there that my administration has somehow been spending with reckless abandon, pushing a liberal social agenda while mortgaging our children's future," Obama said.

"History has shown repeatedly that when nations do not take early and aggressive action to get credit flowing again, they have crises that last years and years instead of months and months -- years of low growth, years of low job creation, years of low investment, all of which cost these nations far more than a course of bold, upfront action," he declared.

"There is no doubt that times are still tough. But by no means are we out of the woods just yet. But from where we stand, for the very first time, we are beginning to see glimmers of hope," he added.

Obama said that the implemented measures to cope with the crisis are already bringing their fruits. Schools and police departments had canceled planned layoffs, clean energy companies and construction companies were rehiring workers, and home-owners were refinancing at lower interest rates. Yet he noted that there is still much to do and warned that more job cuts and home losses should be expected.

"This is all welcome and encouraging news, but it does not mean that hard times are over. 2009 will continue to be a difficult year for America's economy," Obama said.

Speaking about the banks’ nationalization Obama underlined that taking over troubled banks would end up costing taxpayers more money and undermine already shaky confidence. The most crucial task for them was that the banks had the capital to start lending again.