LA Times - "G-20 leaders set economic action plan"

[TomCADem]

It seemed like only a short time ago George Bush was just shuffling along by himself with no one shaking his hand.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-g20-obama26-2009sep26,0,5752091.story

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G-20 leaders set economic action plan

Reporting from Pittsburgh - Acting in unison to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis, world leaders pledged Friday to undertake an ambitious and coordinated effort to overhaul banking practices and build a new global economic model.

The plan, unveiled at the conclusion of the Group of 20 summit here, would set constraints on executive pay at financial firms, impose tougher standards on banks and launch a process aimed at correcting economic imbalances, such as China's large trade surpluses and the United States' huge deficits.

The agreement is short on specific targets and dates, and analysts described some aspects as plainly utopian. But others said the action plan was a good starting point and, if followed through and properly enforced, could bring a significant change that would help avert the kind of deep financial crisis from which the world is now only emerging.

"We laid the groundwork today for long-term prosperity," President Obama said at a news conference at the conclusion of the summit. "Because our global economy is now fundamentally interconnected, we need to act together to make sure the recovery creates new jobs and industries while preventing the kind of imbalances and abuses that led us into this crisis."

Achieving one of his key objectives for the meeting, Obama won the support of the G-20 nations for a U.S. proposal dubbed a "Framework for Sustainable and Balanced Growth," which is intended to rectify distortions in the global economy.

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