Looking ahead to Obama's economic initiatives

President Barack Obama
President Barack Obama spoke to reporters in San Jose, Calif., last month.
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

With struggles still underway in Washington over the Affordable Care Act and immigration reform, and after finally getting some of his Cabinet appointments through the Senate, President Barack Obama will be speaking at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., today. The speech is to be the first in a series he will give this week, all with the same focus: the economy.

Earlier this week, the New York Times wrote that "The nature of the economic debate has shifted in recent months, with the budget deficit shrinking rapidly while the economy, though firmly in recovery, struggles to build up a head of steam. But the president clearly expects to encounter the same resistance that has stymied him since Republicans seized control of the House in the 2010 election."

Nancy Cook covers the economy for The National Journal and has been following the president's efforts to help the country climb out of the recession. She joins the show to talk about the kinds of new policies that Obama might introduce.

Also joining the show is Harvard economist Nathaniel Hendren, whose recent research into the correlation of geography and inequality could figure in the coming debate over the nation's economy, and Doug Holtz-Eakin, who served as chief economic policy adviser to Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential bid and is former director of the Congressional Budget Office.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ECONOMIC LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES:

In Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters
Climbing the income ladder occurs less often in the Southeast and industrial Midwest, the data shows, with the odds notably low in Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Raleigh, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbus. By contrast, some of the highest rates occur in the Northeast, Great Plains and West, including in New York, Boston, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Seattle and large swaths of California and Minnesota. ... "Where you grow up matters," said Nathaniel Hendren, a Harvard economist and one of the study's authors. "There is tremendous variation across the U.S. in the extent to which kids can rise out of poverty."

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.