Barack and Michelle Obama set off this morning for Great Britain, the first stop in an ambitious European tour centered on the G-20 meeting Thursday. Obama will be pushing a hefty agenda on this trip, Reuters reports, championing proposals to bring greater international regulatory oversight to hedge funds and “too big to fail” institutions. He'll also be seeking support for more stimulus for the global economy, and more troops and resources for his new Afghanistan strategy.
Obama is hoping to ride a wave of good will by breaking sharply from his predecessor’s stance and style. “It should be the case that he can walk in there and say, none of this was my fault and I'm cleaning up as fast as I can,” says a former IMF chief economist. (More Barack Obama stories.)