'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself'

As Barack Obama inherits an economy in the most critical state since Roosevelt's time, inevitable comparisons were drawn. Fidelity's Trevor Greetham looks for signs of a recovery

President Barack Obama's inaugural speech last month drew inevitable comparisons with that of Franklin D Roosevelt in March 1933. Not since FDR said "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"1 has an incoming president faced such profound economic challenges or carried such a burden of expectation. There are certainly similarities. Both presidents have taken office in the aftermath of a massive expansion of consumer credit and against a backdrop of rising unemployment, bank failures and stock market crashes. Both presidents understood the scale of the problems they faced. Roosevelt...