G20 summit risks accomplishing little
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.
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