Harvard Faculty Grade Obama's First 100 Days

Asked to assess President Obama's first 100 days in office and look at challenges ahead, eleven Harvard University faculty interviewed by the Harvard Gazette generally supported the president's actions so far but pointed to daunting obstacles ahead.

These subject experts were asked to look at the Obama administration's actions in the areas of fiscal responsibility, education reform, energy, health care, public service, research funding, foreign policy, the environment, human rights, nuclear terrorism, and economic recovery. Read the complete interviews.

For BNET readers interested in how Obama was viewed on the business side of the ledger, here is what professors Edward Glaeser and David Scharfstein had to say about his performance on fiscal policy and economic recovery, respectively.

• Fiscal Policy Glaser, the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics, favored Obama's tax reduction plan and aid to states as sensible legs in a stimulus package. However, Glaser found fault with the plan's massive public spending ("Public projects are better judged on their own merits") and what he sees as moves against free trade, private ownership, and the rule of law. "The United States is going to leave this recession with a massive public debt, and it shouldn't also lose the basic ingredients of economic success," Glaeser said.
• Economic Recovery Scharfstein, the Edmund Cogswell Converse Professor of Finance and Banking, Harvard Business School, said the need for greater financial regulation is obvious, and that Obama's initial steps in this area are encouraging. Treasury is supporting stricter regulation of so-called significant financial institutions, more sophisticated measurement of systemic risk, and enhanced authority for regulators in dealing with failures. "However, comprehensive regulators reform will take time, particularly if there is to be international coordination, as there should be," Scharfstein said.