Opinion: Obama Must Focus on Fundamentals

Odysseas Papadimitriou is founder and chief executive officer of Evolution Finance, the parent company of Wallet Blog and Card Hub, an online marketplace for credit cards.

WASHINGTON (TheStreet) -- Our country's economy has been going from bubble to bubble.

From 1996 to 2000, we were in a tech bubble. Our faith in the financial potential of the dot-com industry was boundless, though it ultimately proved ill-placed. From 2000 to 2006, we were in a housing bubble which, when it burst, laid the foundation for the current recession.

During these periods, the country placed its economic hopes on seemingly plentiful frontiers that promised new ways to make money. Older values were made to seem outdated and out of touch. We, as a nation, allowed ourselves to slip further and further away from the fundamentals necessary for a healthy economy.

Now, we stand on a precipice. We could create another economic bubble to store our financial hopes -- an option that's as illusory as ever -- or we could find some way to return to the fundamentals that made our nation's economy strong in the past.

During the last decade, the U.S. economy became deeply reliant on imports and allowed exports to slip. We let the trade deficit grow too wide without finding new products or technologies to export. We lack a significant industry to insure our future success in the global economy.

Our politicians are failing to recognize our fundamental breakdown. As Americans, we are usually offered two solutions: Democrats say we should boost spending while Republicans call for tax cuts. These strategies led us to our current crisis. They do nothing to transform our economy or reverse our trade deficit.