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G20 summit risks accomplishing little
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
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TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner joins other finance leaders in Britain today. He is looking to set a course for the big G20 summit happening next month. But as Marketplace's Stephen Beard tells us, there are serious splits over how best to tackle this economic fallout.
Stephen Beard: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has drawn up a daunting agenda for the summit. Here's a taste: he wants to stimulate the world's economy, renounce protectionism, beef up the IMF, overhaul regulations and rescue the poor.
Critics say the summit is in danger of achieving none of these aims. They say the problem is a split between the U.S. and continental Europe. The Americans are calling for much more government spending to stave off economic collapse. But much of Europe isn't keen, says Nariman Bahrevesh of Global Insight:
Nariman Bahrevesh: I think the line will be, number one, we've done a fair amount, we need to wait and see what the effect is. Secondly, they will talk about the need to sort of keep their deficits sort of under control.
The French and the Germans want much tougher regulation, which doesn't seem to appeal to U.S. or the Brits. There may be common ground on the issue of tax havens. But, say the skeptics, closing down the Cayman Islands won't stop the recession.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
I agree with the French and the Germans. We need more REGULATIONS. I believe one stimulus package should be enough. We have TOXIC DERIVATIVES in the amount of a low of $7 trillion to as high as $600 trillion. The higher amount would bankrupt the world and I don't blame the Chinese for being concerned about the seriousness of the issue because they have loaned our country a lot of money. We have also borrowed a lot of money from SOCIAL SECURITY, which has to be paid back. I hope, when the G-20 meets in April, the media thoroughly discusses this issue and not push it under the rug like JON STEWART was accusing Jim Cramer of doing.
Public Citizen and AARP Member, LaVern Isely
