President Obama, Friday afternoon:
Q. Speaking of the economy, what advice would you give ordinary Americans who are struggling through these times? You’ve asked people for their patience. What should people do now?
A. What I don’t think people should do is suddenly stuff money in their mattresses and pull back completely from spending. I don’t think that people should be fearful about our future. I don’t think that people should suddenly mistrust all of our financial institutions, because the overwhelming majority of them have managed things reasonably well.
In the events column of today’s Washington Post:
At 1:30 p.m., Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Christina Romer will explore “Lessons From the Great Depression for 2009” at the Brookings Institution.