Geithner will try to get G7 on board
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: Well this weekend, Tim Geithner is taking his show on the road, to Rome. The new Treasury Secretary is attending an international meeting of the G7 conference. Here’s Marketplace’s Steve Henn
Steve Henn: Tim Geithner message to G7 finance ministers: the current economic mess is just to big for any country to tackle on it’s own — even the U.S.
Tim Geithner We will start the process of working together to help strengthen the global economy and to help repair the global financial system.
But Ted Truman, from the economic think-tank the Peterson Institute, says Geithner is likely to face a barrage of questions about the stimulus plan.
Ted Truman: When do expect results? Is it enough? Is it too much?
Eswar Prasad from the Brookings Institution says Geithner not only has to win finance ministers’ confidence, he also needs to convince them to follow his lead.
Eswar Prasad: The U.S. has introduced its own stimulus bill, but some other countries, like Germany, simply haven’t bought into the program yet. And I think much more decisive fiscal stimulus is needed.
Prasad says if the stimulus package in the U.S. works and Americans start buying more, some of the money will flow overseas. If other countries don’t take similar actions, our stimulus will spur on growth in their economies. While that’s good, it also means that the affect at home is diluted.
But if all developed nations act together, the effect of a combined stimulus will be magnified. And Prasad says making that case should be Tim Geithner’s top priority.
In Washington, I’m Steve Henn for Marketplace.
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