It is likely that anyone with the technology needed to visit this site is already aware of the biggest news of the day, week, month and possibly year. It is also probably true that others are far better equipped than we are to analyze and discuss the impact of Osama bin Laden's death from a purely emotional perspective; we will leave the penning of more poignant words to them. However, we thought it might be useful to post President Obama's speech for those who may have already been in bed before the president hit the airwaves last night.
It feels slightly odd to make political or economic points at a time like this, but in honesty one of the first thoughts that came to mind after we heard the news was something along the lines of 'Obama just got himself reelected.' Whether or not that is true, and certainly other factors will play into Decision 2012, it is clear that the President hasn't hurt his chances with this historic news. Why might this be? People tend to rate others more highly overall on the basis of one or two particularly notable or outstanding qualities. Teenagers call this 'popularity'; economists prefer the term 'halo effect.' For more on the halo effect, visit the blog Freakonomics here.
NOTE: As is often the case, the White House's video file for Mr. Obama's speech is larger than our format can support. Those who want the full impact of the speech can visit YouTube directly here. Meanwhile, a transcript of the speech can be found here.
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