Barack Obama invites bloggers to chat with the Treasury

At first glance, most observers might raise an eyebrow if they heard that the United States Treasury has invited the publishers of blogs entitled Naked Capitalism, Financial Armageddon and the Kid Dynamite’s World for a meeting with the most influential leaders in Washington, DC. But to the surprise of many, this is precisely what President Barack Obama’s administration did—he extended an invitation to key players in the financial blogging community to meet with Treasury officials and give their thoughts on the state of the American economy. A total of eight bloggers were offered this exclusive invitation, which served as perhaps the most obvious indication yet of how influential blogging has become. Bloggers played a major role in swaying and formulating public opinion during the 2008 election campaign, and it is no secret that while Republicans tended to enjoy the upper hand in talk radio, many blogs were strongly supportive of the Democratic campaign.

But this hardly means that bloggers today have checked their critical faculties at the door when it comes to the Obama Administration. In fact, one blogger described the meeting with Treasury officials as “curious” and several of them later wrote with concern that the White House has not yet devised an alternative economic plan, if the economy does not recover in 2010, as they now expect. Most bloggers also left with the impression that the administration’s plans for economic reform were being impeded by the influence that Wall Street and private interest groups still have over government.

Many bloggers were, however, fascinated by the candid comments made by top Treasury officials. In fact, several admitted to these emissaries of the Blogosphere their concern that the current signs of modest economic recovery may only be a blip and that this fear keeps them up at night.