Resumption

After a long hiatus, I have decided to return to the blog world with a different focus.

But first, a recap:

The long pause in posts was actually due to a request from our local campaign office to stop unauthorized communication, as people tended to get carried away in their support for Obama.  We actually had an incident in which the Secret Service intervened because a supporter overzealously made a joke about our opponent that was taken the wrong way.  Personally, though, I was actually relieved to stop posting when I did, as the cult-like fanaticism surrounding the campaign was alarming.  Associated with this fanaticism was a self-indulgence on par with the exhibitionist football fan who paints his whole body blue before the tailgate party and spends the day screaming shirtless at other fans in his own team's section (in the campaign, we called that guy "Aaron").  I was pleased to have the opportunity to prove I was not a self-publicist, even if it meant a cease to the post I doubted anyone even read.  

In the interim, Obama won the nomination, with the help of south-west Indiana, which went to Hillary by an absurdly thin margin, but held the overall margin for a victory.  However, before the general election kicked off, I received notice that I had been accepted to Oxford for a two year masters in economics.  Therefore, I would not be able to relocate for the duration of the campaign.  Again, this was somewhat of a relief--we had won our race, and my motivation of a "progressive" political ideology would not carry me through a race that I could see would be more partisan and cultural than anything else.  Thus, I spent my summer with family, learning to row, refreshing my economic knowledge, and generally preparing for a period of hard work.

Obviously, Obama won the general election, and he will be sworn in next Tuesday.  My reaction to this news was caught on tape and posted on YouTube: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gv8fPNtSCS4 (bear in mind that this was recorded at 4 am)

However, Obama's election is not the only piece of news of recent.  In the interim, we have also had a financial crisis, which is shaking the economic foundations of our country.  The magnitude of this crisis is evident and widely reported--from the collapse of Fannie and Freddie to the 350 billion flushed down the toilet by Bush's unqualified Treasury secretary.  Nevertheless, the significance of this evidence is much more complex than the general population probably realizes, and is definitely too complex to write about tonight.

Instead, tonight I resume writing.  While I am no longer an Obama volunteer accounting my transition from Britain, the name still suits.  My focus now will be on explaining the global impact of Obama's decisions on the economy.  Obviously, I will often digress, to discuss the state of modern academics, the incompetence of those around me, and, since I'm writing in the UK, the weather.  As an American in Oxford, a combined perspective from my experience with American politics and an ever expanding economics repertoire shift my focus to the ways in which our new administration will have an impact reaching as far as this isolated island: a new meaning for a new administration.