143 © Te Author(s) 2018 V. Valli, Te American Economy from Roosevelt to Trump, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96953-4_10 10 Obanomics 10.1 Obama’s Ideas on Economics Te ideas of Obama in the feld of economics and economic policy can be evinced from his famous autobiographic books and, in particular, from the second one, Te Audacity of Hope, 1 but even more from his speeches and his concrete political actions. In Te Audacity of Hope, Obama illustrated the main points of his eco- nomic vision. On state-market relations Obama’s position was very clear. He did not deny the essential role of the market in the US economic development, but he also stressed the great importance of the state in the economic process. Not only had the state to build infrastructures, provide education to the labor force, contrast market failures but it had also to create the basis for economic development and help structuring industrial relations. 2 Te approach suggested by Obama was an intermediate way between the state and the market. He proposed some examples going in this direc- tion, such as large public investment in science, education, health, tech- nology, and those associated to energy independence, which could improve both welfare and international competitiveness. 3