Obama’s Nobel moment marked the last collective liberal-optimism peak

Evidence

Today his prize at least serves as a historical marker—a symbol of the last collective moment of liberal optimism, when Obama’s presidency seemed like the dawn of a new political era. He was young, charismatic, and progressive, promising to rebuild the economy and wind down the War on Terror. Yet his presidency unfolded alongside a full-blown crisis of capitalism. The global financial crash wiped out $19 trillion in household wealth, leaving millions without jobs or homes. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 206