Summit Heavy On Promises, Light On Details

G-20 Leaders Vow Economic Reforms, But Offer Few Concrete Steps

(CBS/AP)  World leaders battling a dire and deepening economic crisis vowed Saturday to cooperate more closely, keep a sharper eye out for red-flag problems and give bigger roles to fast-rising nations - but kicked many hard details down the road for their next summit after President-elect Barack Obama takes office.

Perhaps as important as the modest concrete steps they took, the leaders of the planet's richest nations - and some of the fastest-developing - made clear their recognition of the world's increasingly interconnected financial architecture and the responsibilities that go along with it.

"There shall be no blind spots," German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared. "There is here a great common will to ensure that such a crisis is not repeated."

Underscoring how bad things have gotten this time, President George W. Bush, the summit host, said he had agreed to the recent $700 billion rescue plan for U.S. financial institutions only after being told the nation was at risk of falling into "a depression greater than the Great Depression."

Also significant at the summit: the inclusion of a far broader range of countries than the elite, old-guard group that usually holds such summit meetings.

"Emerging market countries were not the cause of this crisis, but they are amongst its worst affected victims," declared Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Leaders from 21 nations and four international organizations attended the emergency summit that was held as Washington was blanketed in a gray mist and which took on a workaday feel appropriate to the grim crisis that drew them together. At the conclusion of talks that took place over two days, they released a joint communique that was modest in scope but high in hopes.

Covering eight pages and 47 action items, the document's overarching focus is to establish a series of new safeguards for the fragile and opaque global financial system. Nearly all the efforts are aimed in some way at better flagging risky investment patterns and regulatory weak spots before they bring down companies and then ripple dangerously through entire economies, as has happened in recent months.

To that end, the leaders called for such mundane things as "supervisory colleges" where financial regulators can compare market notes across countries, better cooperation between nations on regulations, the eventual standardization of accounting rules governing how companies can value potentially tricky assets, and new attention to credit-rating agencies.

The leaders also supported expanding the membership of the Financial Stability Forum, a group that has been examining the causes of the financial crisis and crafting ways to prevent future problems. And the group called for broadening the financial police work of the 63-year-old International Monetary Fund as well as modernizing the institution to better keep pace with the changing economic environment.

None of the items was splashy, and most would be understandable to few outside of financial experts, but officials argued they have far-reaching potential.

"It's not glamour," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

More than two dozen items were slated for some level of action by the end of March, around the time the leaders expect to gather again, with the rest left for later. Concrete proposals were few, however, with most details slated to be worked out by finance ministers in the coming months and beyond.

The leaders also discussed the shorter-term problem of how to bring their nations' economies back from the brink. Some had pushed ahead of time for a pledge of coordinated new government stimulus spending by each nation.

But with Bush cool to such action in the U.S., the communique only endorsed taking such action "as appropriate."

In Europe, the timing of the summit coincides with gloomy economic forecasts, as the financial crisis has morphed into a recession, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer.

There's certainly alarm in the United Kingdom, where 140,000 people have recently lost their jobs and unemployment figures have risen for nine straight months.

And Germany and Italy have reached official recession levels, as unemployment across Europe, which makes up the world's second largest economy, continues to climb. It currently sits at 7.5 percent, reports Palmer.

But that may be just the tip of the iceberg.

"Basically, we're in for a worldwide stagnation and or recession," Gilles Moec, an economist at Bank of America, told CBS News. "There is no single big country [or]big area, which is faring really any better than the others."

A handful of the hundreds of protesters that flocked to the U.S. capital city succinctly summed up skepticism about their benefit to the families around the world who are increasingly worried about mortgages, retirement savings and jobs. "Money for people's needs, not bankers' greed," said their bright yellow signs.

The talks were undoubtedly remarkable, however, for drawing together such a vast number and array of nations and bringing them to agreement on a set of actions, however limited, in less than a month's time. Leaders from major powers including Britain, Germany, France and Japan were there, alongside rulers from developing countries such as China, India, Brazil and South Korea as well as from the oil-rich Gulf state of Saudi Arabia. The summit was just announced on Oct. 22, and the urgency of the downward-spiraling global economic situation led to much faster action than is typical in the usually glacial diplomatic arena.

With fears high that signs of discord among the world's most powerful politicians could send markets plunging again come Monday, the presidents and prime ministers appeared uncharacteristically determined to hold their tongues about any disagreement over either the cause of the current crisis or their compromise agreement. This despite the fact that the action plan seemed to leaning in most areas far more toward the U.S. preference for boosting oversight and free-market incentives than the European desire for increased regulation and requirements.

Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso emerged with praise for the meeting as a sign of historic cooperation.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said after the summit that "despite the great diversity of countries in the room for those two days of the summit, there was a practically unanimous agreement on all major topics."

With Bush on his way out of office, the next meeting will include a newly sworn-in U.S. president, Barack Obama, which is probably why this summit started late Saturdady and wrapped up early - and why world leaders focused as much on side meetings with Obama's representatives, as on the summit itself, reports CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier.

"They are auditioning for the role of special partner with Mr. Obama," Simon Johnson of the Peterson Institute for International Economics told CBS News. "The role is up for grabs."

Still, Bush made sure he kept an iron grip on the proceedings. His was the only voice heard in any official setting - during the toast at Friday's dinner and before and after the closed summit meetings. All the other leaders had to scramble to set up briefings or news conferences at alternative sites in order to express their thoughts.

The inclusion of the developing nations was demanded by Bush, in part in hopes they would act as a brake on European desires for tough new regulations of financial firms or products. But the decision also was hailed as necessary to the effectiveness of such a meeting, because the financial crisis that began in the U.S. had spread to the poorer nations.

Indeed, one goal of the meeting was to boost the effort to help such struggling nations weather the financial crisis largely caused by their bigger, more developed counterparts. Japan's prime minister, Taro Aso, urged China and others to contribute to the International Monetary Fund's $250 billion bailout pool, aimed mostly at poorer countries. Japan on Friday said it was ready to put in as much as $100 billion.

Talk of blame was kept to a minimum, though many still hold the belief that the primary fault for the cascade of ruinous events lies with a U.S., where it has become the norm to offer easy credit, outsize rewards for high-risk investing, and lax oversight to the whole process.

For more information on the G-20 Summit visit the White House Web site.

[dirtydog55]

"Goodnight George."

"Goodnight Laura..."

[intheshade-2009]

The real economic summit was held in Sao Paulo last week. Countries like China, Russia, India and Brazil laid out their plans for economic recovery and set the stage for a new world order. In that meeting China announced that they would be selling 650 billion in US treasury bills, and investing the money in their own info structure and stimulating their own economy. On the way home from the economic summit, most ministers stopped by Washington DC where George Bush gave them advise on how to run an economy. They all agreed something had to be done.

[down-ndirty]

Obama had all the answers for the economic crisis during his campaign. He was invited to the summit, but declined. Maybe if the messiah had shown up, more would have been accomplished.
Posted by rohink at 04:26 PM : Nov 16, 2008
_____________________

Obama has made it very clear that the country only needs one president. Bush only has a few weeks left to "man up" to his responsibilities...but I doubt it will happen.

You should also "man up" to the fact that the majority of the voters chose Obama as the next POTUS. Whether, or not, you are on the short end of the stick does not make him the messiah.

[galloglaigh]

Talk of blame was kept to a minimum, though many still hold the belief that the primary fault for the cascade of ruinous events lies with a U.S., where it has become the norm to offer easy credit, outsize rewards for high-risk investing, and lax oversight to the whole process.

Yup, thank you democraps for offering credit to anybody with a pulse whether they had the ability to pay or NOT! Your wish to garner votes from the only place you can get them just subjucated the US in world financial markets.

And thank you republicans for making sure that $700 BILLION dollars was not put in the democraps Housing Trust Slush Fund for more of the same, but was returned to the people where it belongs.

Posted by FromTexwLove at 07:58 AM : Nov 16, 2008
- - - - - - - - - - -

Ummmmmmm... During the past decade we''ve had a rethuglican idiot in the White House for 80% of the time and a rethuglican congress for 60% of the time.

And now we have a lame-duck president who has "retired" from doing business as the POTUS.

It suddenly occurred to me that Bush is the anti-christ intent on sending this country into turmoil and chaos in his last few weeks in office.

[torocaca]

NO WORLD LEADER IS PAYING ATTENTION TO W !! He is a lame duck and they know it !
Posted by rebelscout at 12:21 AM : Nov 16, 2008
___________________________

Not only is he a lame-duck, he has also "resigned" from the presidency and is simply taking a two-month vacation in the White House.

Even Putin doesn''t want to end up like Bush.

[rohink-2009]

Obama had all the answers for the economic crisis during his campaign. He was invited to the summit, but declined. Maybe if the messiah had shown up, more would have been accomplished.

[torocaca]

Just when I thought George W. Bush couldn''t possibly be a positive, productive role model on the international stage. LOL!!!

-------

Nicolas Sarkozy saved the President of Georgia from being hanged "by the balls" -- a threat made last summer by Russian Prime Minister Putin, according to an account that emerged from the Elysee Palace.

Putin had revealed his plans for disposing of Saakashvili when Sarkozy was in Moscow in August to broker a ceasefire in Georgia.

Jean-David Levitte, Sarkozy''s chief diplomatic adviser, reported the exchange in a news magazine before an EU-Russia summit today. The meeting was to be chaired by the French leader and President Medvedev.

With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Sarkozy told Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia''s Government. According to Levitte, the Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction.

"I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls," Putin declared.

Sarkozy thought he had misheard. "Hang him?" -- he asked.

"Why not?" Putin replied. "The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein."

Sarkozy tried to reason with Putin: "Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?"

Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: "Ah -- you have scored a point there."

[totebag3]

Why is the BBC reporting that "tax cuts and increased spending" was the agreed solution but there''s no mention of tax cuts in the article?

[mrc45]

this reminds me of a $700,000,000.00 dollar not tapayer bailout I heard about recently.

[martin9p2]

"Heavy on Promises, Light on Details".
No problem.
Leaders'' job is to make the promises, and then they send in the little people to do the details. Don''t be disappointed until you hear "failed to reach agreement".

[tostep3]

Here comes the biblical 666, the mark of the Beast. Without it, no one can buy or sell.

Consider:

1) Worldwide banks collapsing.
2) Identity theft worldwide increasing
3) System already in place to access your bank accounts
4) Technology in place to "bar code" your forehead/hand for "hacker safe" monetary protection.
5) People worldwide losing homes/savings/jobs begging for an economic "savior".

Time to go to church, folks and learn the dire implications of accepting this new mark.

[petro49l]

Why waste money on George W. Bush''s cheap imports? America should produce automobiles, steel, oil, coal, corn, computers, televisions, and radios for domestic use. This country could export aerospace technology, nuclear power plants, and technical software. The inflated price for petroleum caused economic crisis. The United States must purchase the right to drill oil in Central and South America to avoid the O.P.E.C. cartel.

[tincup356]

Its hard to believe ...all the stories that have arisen as to how we got to where we are.Looks like they just got to tied up in GREED,everyone at the top just wanted more and more till it just started sucking everyone at the bottom till they were broke.We don''t have anyone in either party to be thankful for, they both failed us miserably and betrayed the people of this country.A lot of the worlds problems can be linked to the wars on terror and the costs contributed to them.Many of the problems here in the US can be directly linked to no oversight and just plain old GREED.

[BeyondGreen]

I think we best be getting on with the promise of making America energy independent.Iran just asked OPEC to reduce production by yet another 1.5 million barrels per day.This past year and the record gas prices played a huge part in our economic meltdown and seriously damaged our society.We keep planning to spend BILLIONS on bailouts and stimulus plans.Bail us out of our dependence on foreign oil. Make electric plug in car technology more affordable. It cost the equivalent of 60 cents a gallon to drive an electric plug in car. The electric could be generated from wind or solar. Get with it! Utilize free sources such as wind and solar. Jeff Wilson''s new book The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW outlines a plan for America to wean itself off oil. We need a plan and we need it now! We can''t take another year like we had last year.

[scottyusa]

Summit Heavy On Promises, Light On Details

Sounds like my ex-wife....


Posted by earache4

HAHAHA Thanks for making my day earache4!

[scottyusa]

"Summit Heavy On Promises, Light On Details"

Poo on us for expecting anything else. They could have done this by phone and agreed to have a summit when they could all get together and hash out each''s plan. This was no more than a party with some really good food.

[pirmin3]

"Summit Heavy On Promises, Light On Details"

What else can you expect from a bunch of hot air artists? They haven''t a clue.

[tommygun083]

The real economic summit was held in Sao Paulo last week. Countries like China and Brazil laid out their plans for economic recovery and set the stage for a new world order. The new G20 is replacing the defunct G7, and the dollar is being replaced by a new basket of world currencies which isolates international commerce from the frailties of the US and G7 economies. At the meeting in Washington, George Bush and his cronies were flapping in the wind as if they had some relevance in the matter. Those days are over. What George Bush had to say was for the most part, ignored. They came late and left early and nothing was discussed in between. Like the British before them, the US must adjust to being just one of the 20 principal economies in the world. The new rules and governance are being laid down by the major powers in the G20. This trend was established, years ago, but the incompetence of the Bush administration has brought it to a head.

[whitemale08]

Hank the Snake Paulson in Wonderland...

November 15, 2008 (LPAC)--HENRY PAULSON, apparently convinced he was appearing at a casting call for Alice in Wonderland, told NPR Nov. 13: "I believe the banking system has been stabilized. No one is asking themselves anymore, `Is there some major institution that might fail''... I gotta tell you, I believe our major institutions have been stabilized. I believe that very strongly."

Remember this is the same IDIOT that said: "I believe the sub-prime crisis has been contained".

larouchepac.com

[miamiderick]

Nobody went to hear Bush anyway. They only went to meet with Obama representative Jim Leach and to network amongst themselves.