Bush Cites Progress At Economic Summit

World leaders edged closer to an agreement Saturday that would flag risky investing and regulatory weak spots, with President George W. Bush welcoming the progress at an emergency economic summit.

Nearly two dozen foreign leaders got down to work at the largest gathering of its kind in nearly a decade. A chief goal was charting a map to avoid future financial meltdowns like the one now imperiling the global economy.

Before this morning's meeting, President Bush told reporters that progress was being made.

"I am pleased that we're discussing a way forward to make sure that such a crisis is unlikely to occur again," he said. "And I am pleased that the leaders reaffirmed the principles behind open markets and free trade. One of the dangers during a crisis such as this is that people will start implementing protectionist policies.

"Obviously, you know, this crisis has not ended. There's some progress being made, but there's still a lot of more work to be done. And so we had a good, good, frank discussion last night. I look forward to the discussions today."

CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier reported on The Early Show that the meeting - pulled together with about three weeks' notice - is aimed at presenting a unified attack on the fiscal crisis at the time when the U.S. presidential transition might give the market jitters.

Friday's economic data certainly isn't helping: The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 338 points after reports that U.S. retail sales fell 2.8% in October, the largest drop on record.

Sales were almost as dire in Europe. With consumers worldwide shutting their wallets - a key ingredient to a worldwide recession - the summit has to win back consumers' confidence and get them spending.

Dozier said ideas at the summit will include ways to put money back into people's wallets, like coordinating worldwide tax cuts and economic stimulus packages.

Some leaders will also call for more regulation. Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants to form a cross-border college of supervisors, to watchdog the top 20 global conglomerates (like CitiBank), monitoring everything they do worldwide.

More regulations won't be popular with the sitting president, but are more aimed at President-elect Barack Obama, who is not present but did send observers, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, to listen and be seen.

"I think people are vying for attention," economist Simon Johnson told CBS News. "They're raising their hands in the classroom hoping to be called upon and hoping that some of their ideas will get some attraction with Mr. Obama and his team."

"There may be some awkward moments and maybe outright criticism of President Bush for failing to head off the U.S. mortgage meltdown and banking crisis before it went global," said Dozier, "so don't look for specific promises out of this. But expect to see a series of rolling actions afterwards as in previous summits. For instance, Britain is hinting that next week it's going to announce its own economic stimulus package."

(CBS)

Perino also noted that the summit includes leaders not only from leading industrial nations but also emerging markets: "Countries like Brazil and China that are coming on board where their economies are interconnected with ours," she said.

U.K. Leader Predicts Progress

Britain's Gordon Brown said today that world leaders are making progress, and predicted progress on coordinating fiscal policy, setting deadlines for financial sector reforms and brokering a long stalled world trade deal.

But he acknowledged that the talks are tricky.

"These are difficult talks," Brown said, speaking at the U.K. ambassador's residence in Washington. "I think it's obviously important to move people to decisions today about what can be done. There are a lot of countries with their own interests. We have to change some of the views they have."

Brown said most countries attending the talks appear to agree the need for coordinated tax cuts or new public spending aimed at boosting national economies - including in the U.S., where a second stimulus package is being considered.

"I just hope we can get a consensus in that today (Saturday)," Brown said.

The British chief acknowledged there are disputes over how, and how fast, to reform international financial institutions, like the IMF and World Bank.

"There are very different points of view about what should be done, different interests represented here, different policy positions," Brown said. "But I believe it is possible we will get a timetable for immediate reforms of the current financial and banking system."

European officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft agreement was still under negotiation, said a follow-up meeting was likely in April in London, Paris or Tokyo, after President-elect Barack Obama takes over in the White House.

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