While President Obama has modeled his economic policy after FDR, Forbes pointed to a more recent president as having the right economic blueprint — Ronald Reagan. From the post-World War II era until the rapid inflation of the late ’70s, the U.S. economy grew 3.3 percent a year, he said. When Reagan took office, that growth had come to a halt. Unemployment exceeded current levels, the stock market was down 70 percent, and mortgage rates were 18 percent. Reagan instituted tax cuts and deregulation policies that restored economic growth.

“We have the power to recover from setbacks and surge ahead,” Forbes said. “Get a few things right and the United States will again be the innovator and leader in the world.”

Forbes’ advice is sound. It may not be the road operators hoped to travel, but it may ultimately lead to the right destination.