THE RESET: Debt, stocks both up in 1st Obama term

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 7,949 on Inauguration Day 2009. On Friday, it closed nearly 72 percent higher at 13,649 for a five-year high.

Both increases are products of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Stocks have posted big gains, for sure, but they're still down from the Dow's all-time high of 14,164 on Oct. 9, 2007.

And the surge in the national debt reflects higher government spending on stimulus and safety-net programs and two wars as well as lower tax revenues due to weaker corporate and personal earnings, job losses and Bush-era tax cuts.

For most of the past four years, Obama has emphasized that he inherited the bad times from President George W. Bush.

But as he moves this weekend into his second term, it will become harder and harder to blame his predecessor's policies for present woes.

The recession began in December 2007 and technically ended in mid-2009. But the economy remains troubled, recovery excruciatingly slow.