World leaders brace for high-stakes economy summit

[babylonsister]

World leaders brace for high-stakes economy summit

By TOM RAUM
Associated Press Writer


LONDON (AP) -- A U.S.-British push for more stimulus spending and widespread European agitation for tougher financial rules amid a global economic crisis will likely get a cool greeting at a G20 summit of receding expectations.

For U.S. President Barack Obama, the stakes were high for his first time on the world stage, both in dealing with the economy and in face-to-face sessions with other leaders.

He was arriving in London on Tuesday night, and planned a round of meetings with leaders on Wednesday, including Queen Elizabeth II, summit host British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the presidents of Russia and China.

The world economy is in far worse shape than when the group of rich and developing countries last met in November and set lofty goals for international cooperation.

Trade is deteriorating, protectionism is on the march and joblessness is rising. Street demonstrations have increased and widespread protests in London were expected.

Brown, the host, had initially trumpeted the gathering as "a new Bretton Woods - a new financial architecture for the years ahead." But the meeting was shaping up as bearing little similarity to the 1944 conference in New Hampshire where the winners of World War II gathered to set postwar global monetary and financial order.

In their meeting in November, the G-20 members vowed to avoid protectionism that could stifle trade. But since then, 17 have acted to pass subsidies to protect their own industries or limit imports.

There's no clear consensus on a way forward - other than general vows of cooperation, more money for the International Monetary Fund, and a greater voice for rising powers like China and Saudi Arabia.

more...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/G20_SUMMIT?SITE=CONGRA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT