President-elect Barack Obama warned that without immediate steps by the government to revive the economy, family incomes will drop, the unemployment rate could reach "double digits" and the US risks losing a "generation of potential and promise".

In excerpts of a speech he's scheduled to give today at 11 am New York time in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, Virginia, Obama says that while the cost of his economic recovery plan will add to a deficit already projected to exceed $1 trillion, he "won't just throw money at our problems".

"It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or long-term growth," Obama will say. "But at this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe."