showed more than 600,000 jobs created. strength in the private sector acro across. momentum. families. we avoided a budget catastrophe with a potential default in august. the president absolutely insisted that the payroll tax cut be extended for these twos months and that helped get the economy going. we look forward to it being extended again.

so i don't think there is any ground at all for complacency. there is nothing to feel like we're done or feel like the recovery is all there. these numbers are a favorable indicator in quite a murky economic story. >> let's talk the fed for a second. bernanke testified this week saying interest rates can sour quickly if investors lose confidence in the ability of a government to manage its fiscal policy. mr. bernanke was warning about the long-term fiscal issues but saying congress should not cut expenditures too sharply in the short run. are you at all optimistic about a grand plan to get a handle on the long term debt and deficit or should that not be the priority, larry? >> the biggest priority for the united states right now is getting recovery going at a rate that is rapid enough to produce

sustained increases in the economy relative to its potential to produce. economic growth over the next five to ten years is the single most important determinant of what our national debt will be five or ten years from now. we have to focus. it has to be a focus for monetary policy, for fiscal policy. it has to be a focus as we concentrate on exporting more on getting this economy more rapidly. we absolutely are going to have to put in place a set of measures that bring our revenues and bring our expenditures closer into balance. the deficit projections, even assuming the economy recovers are not ultimately sustainable. and so that's an issue that has to be addressed as well. >> let me ask you what's going

on in europe. because it seems everyone i speak to feels like that's really the wild card. and could be the one game changer in terms of the improvement in the u.s. we seem to be inching toward a resolution of the greek debt crisis. greece and its creditors talking as we speak. how do you think that plays out? >> maria, it's too early to know. europe is smouldering in many ways. and the european central bank under maria drage's leadership took a very important step with its new so-called ltso facility, a program that lent a lot of money to banks on various generous terms. and all that moisture, all that liquidity, if you like, has

doused the immediate flames and so if you look at the risks of a crash or a collapse in europe in the next six to nine months, i think the risks have been brought down very substantially by what mario drage has been able to do. if you look at the deeper tensions in the euro system. the fact that you have areas that become depressed and because of the common currency they can't devalue. because there's one currency that they can't cut their interest rate because of the way europe is people don't move in and out. those structural tensions haven't really fully been resolved. and so the europeans have a lot of work before them. and there's a lesson of economic history which is you can't simply cut your way to

greatness. short run, i feel much better. risks that in this key year for the united states europe will lock us off track. i think the risks have receded significantly. but for the medium term, they are very deep issue it is european union faces. >> for sure. i guess the banking sector still in a capital raising mode. do you worry if we were to see a default in greece that it will impact the united states? europe is the biggest trading partner, right? >> europe is the largest trading partner, maria. of course i worry. you can't not worry. on the other hand, greek debt has been selling at 25, 30 cents less below the dollar for -- relative -- on the dollar for a very long time now. i think markets have recognized that if you put money into

greece it's not all coming back. that recognition has been there for a long time. >> larry, good to have you on the program. we appreciate your time today. >> good to be with you, maria. >> larry summers from harvard. up next, going for growth. michael dell says to the next billion computer users around the globe, you're getting a dell. my conversation about the new opportunities for personal computers with the company's founder. later from the audacity of hope to life in a bubble. the author of "the obamas" joins me to discuss marriage and management inside the white house. look how the stock market ended the week. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you

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welcome back. chances are the computer in your office, your post office and even your local hospital is made by dell. the company that michael dell started at age 19 years old turned into one of the world's largest makers of computer hardware and is looking for new business. he hopes to boldly bring dell where it hasn't been before. >> customers are interested in the new solutions that are helping them transform their businesses. they want cloud. they want virtualzation. they want the things that will enable them to stay productive and competitive. and obviously you need technology to build it. >> which coincides with what you are doing at dell, a transformation of the business. more services? tell me how you are changing the company. >> it's a different business than it was five years ago. we are really expanded into end to end solutions. we have a much larger capability around i.t. services. that really means understanding

the vertical needs of our customers. health care is a big segment for us. certainly financial services, manufacturing, education. understanding those sectors and being able to provide a broad range of services that really help those customers, that's expanded the opportunities for dell and over the past year our earnings per share have grown 60% on a year over year basis. we are seeing a lot of success with the strat i guess we have been employing. >> do you worry the trend like devices, ipads and et cetera is going to move forward and dell is not necessarily there? what are you going to do about mobility? >> one thing that happens when people buy great mobile devices is they consume enormous amounts of data that we are actually serving up. we provide the infrastructure to the companies that provide the data. that's a huge business for us.

certainly the p.c. is still here. there are 350, 400 million p.c.s still sold a year. it's a very core productivity device. many other devices as well. we're excited about windows 8. we think it will be a powerful force as that comes out. toward the latter part of the year. >> you're not worried people will forego a p.c. for a blackberry or iphone? >> we are in a $3 trillion industry. about $250 billion of it is consumer and $2.75 trillion is the commercial and small and medium business and public. we focus on the $2.75 trillion. you can't ignore what's going on with devices, but remember when people connect devices they consume the data. the data comes from servers and storage and has to be secured, managed, protected. the other thing that's happening is as the amount of data being

stored is doubling every 18 months. that in itself is a huge business. and then companies and organizations want to not just store the data. they want to make better decisions and have better outcomes for patients, students, shareholders. and that's an enormous business. >> let me ask you about health care. i feel like we talk about consumer applications when we talk about only ttechnology. but there are other applications in areas like health care. what's the opportunity for dell? >> we are doing a full range of services around health care. we're number one in the health care i.t. segment. that really means everything from hospital information systems to electronic medical records to evidence-based medicine systems to affiliated position systems and all the systems to basically bring health care into the 21st century with all the tools and

technology that's available today this is one of the things that makes health care much more efficient and productive. >> what's your take on social networking now? i mean, you look at social networking. fundamentally it's extraordinary what's gone on. you look at valuations and some people are saying, wow, is this a bubble? what's your take? >> it's an incredibly powerful force. the markets have to sort out the valuation. there is no question when you can connect hundreds of millions of people together quickly it can change elections, governments and we saw that even in the united states with sopa. it's interesting to see how we have the social democracy now and how the tools are enabling change, engagement with customers and causing this sort of cocreation of products and services and, you know, we have a social command center at dell where we are listening to

billions of conversations engaging with customers all over the world and it really helps us build better products and services by listening to our customers. >> my thanks to michael dell. up next on "the wall street journal report," a look at the first family and first couple's life inside the white house with the author of a new book on the obamas' marriage. find us on facebook. look for wsjrwithmaria.

so does happily ever after include living at america's most famous address? since moving into 1600 pennsylvania avenue, barack and michelle obama's marriage has attracted attention and controversy. jodie cantor, author of "the obamas" joins us now. great to see you. >> great to be here. >> you set out to tell the story of two normal people who ended up in the white house. have the obamas stayed normal? >> they tried to. when they came to the white house that was part of the vow. it has not been easy. normal in the white house doesn't really exist. for example three weeks after inauguration they tried to go home to chicago. they thought they could step back into their regular lives every couple of weeks. the trip almost a disaster. it turned out that going home for them is like the invasion of normandy. >> why? people want to talk with them and be with them? >> they're city people. they live in an urban

environment. it's hard for the secret service to protect their house. the secret service dropped black kour tans by the house to prevent snipers. even the question of what they would eat was confusing because the secret service has to vet everything. caused huge traffic in chicago. there is no such thing as a quiet restful weekend at home for them. >> makes sense. they were not wealthy prior to the election to senate. let's talk about that. much has been made of their consumer choices, interior decorators, clothes, vacations, michelle's dresses. tell me about the relationship between them and the average middle class family? the election and inauguration happened at a fragile time for the economy. >> it's a fascinating debate. i'm not even sure who's right. but there was one camp in the white house led by michelle obama who said, our personal choices are our personal choices. second of all, we are the first

african-americans in the white house. michelle obama knew exactly what the negative stereo types were. she wants everything to look beautiful and sophisticated and chic to counteract those. on the other hand, you had robert gibbs who was very cautious in his approach, dealing with the public resentment over job loss, over foreclosures. his position was we do not want any john edwards, $400 hair cut moments. the obamas have to reflect a much more sort of regular american lifestyle. >> is that why they clashed? >> it caused tension. >> tell me about it. >> over small things. one thing about the white house is how tiny things become magnified. even the question of whether they would announce a new florist that had come to the whouchl white house. could michelle obama take a makeup and hair artist on trips? these were matters of quiet contention between the east and west wing? >> how effective is michelle

obama's, let's move initiative which the campaign that could have some really commercial policy implications. >> absolutely. well, we have to stipulate the comparison is unfair, right? the problems that the president has to deal with are so much more complex than the ones the first lady does, but the first lady had arguably more management experience than the president coming into the white house. her east wing is and always has been a hyper organized strategic place. one of her criticisms of the west wing was that it wasn't strategic enough. they weren't looking far ahead. they weren't sending a clear enough message to the american people. >> oh you have gotten some push-back as a result of of the book and the familiarity with which it probes the obama marriage. some from the first lady herself, right? >> it's funny. she said she hadn't read the book so it's hard to say what

she was reacting to. the book is carefully reported. i fact-checked the book. nobody i interviewed has taken issue in saying that anecdote didn't happen. i never said that. white house aides are saying she may have been reacting to some of the coverage of the book in first week. the book definitely blew up in a way i didn't expect. it was strange for me to see what i had uncover used out of context. >> congratulations on the book. "the obamas." up next, a look at the news this week that will impact your money. and how much how many of us are winging it this weekend? clucking over the second biggest food day in the united states. it is game time. stay with us. is it safe to get it? but what, so we should go broke with imports? look, i'm just saying. well, energy creates jobs. [announcer:] at conocophillips, we're helping power america's economy with cleaner, affordable natural gas. more jobs, less emissions.

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for more on our show and guests check out ws is jr.cnbc.com. follow me on twitter and google plus. find me @mariabartiromo. snow stories coming up that may impact your money this week. we are getting earnings reports from coca-cola, disney, cisco, berkshire hathaway, linkedin and groupon which just went public in november. friday we get the u.s. report on imports and exports. we'll see if the u.s. is importing or exporting more goods in the international trade balance report. finally something to cluck about today. americans are expected to eat

1.25 billion chicken wings this super bowl weekend says the usda's national chicken council. enough to circle the earth twice if each wing was laid end to end. of that's 100 million bounds of the spicy snacks that peak at $2 a pound wholesale this time of year. hungry football fans can't beat the heat. that will do it for us today. thanks for joining me. next week, one of the richest individuals, saudi prince alwaleed bin talau. i'll see you next weekend. i have actually put in over my career. and it's 168,000 hours. so just think, if you had an 8-hour job, i'm like a man of 100 and something years old. i've worked very hard to support my family. and i finally reached that point where i'm going to retire. ♪

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