Global recession deepening, Geithner says

Global recession deepening, Geithner says

Jennifer Loven
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the global recession is deepening.
He called for strong actions by all major countries to combat the economic downturn.
His comments echoed those of President Barack Obama, who asked other countries to take more aggressive steps to jump-start their economies.

Mr. Geithner says the Obama administration believes it is essential for other major countries to commit to substantial and sustained efforts to bolster their economies.

His comments highlighted a growing rift with European countries that are balking at the U.S. call for increased stimulus efforts.

European officials argue they do not want to pile up more debt to fight the downturn.
After a meeting with Mr. Geithner at the Oval Office, Mr. Obama told reporters: “We can do a really good job here at home, with a whole host of policies, but if you continue to see deterioration in the world economy, that's going to set us back.”

Mr. Geithner is headed to Britain this week for talks with the finance ministers of 20 advanced and developing countries. Those meetings are a precursor to a leaders' summit on the global financial crisis that is taking place in London early next month.

Mr. Geithner said there have been many ideas passed among the nations, and good progress made, but that the time for talk is over.

“It's time now for us to move together and to begin to act,” he said. “Everything we do in the United States will be more effective if we have the world moving with us.”

Mr. Obama said the United States has two goals for the so-called Group of 20 summit: to make sure there is “concerted action around the globe to jump-start the economy” and to achieve consensus on regulatory reform to take place in each country.

He did not directly criticize other nations, such as in Europe, which have been reluctant to adopt the kind of expensive stimulus packages for their own economies that have been approved in the United States. But his message that allies are not doing enough compared with the United States was clear.

“The United States has actually taken a significant lead on a number of these steps that are required,” he said. “As aggressive as the actions we are taking have been so far, it's very important to make sure that other countries are moving in the same direction, because the global economy is all tied together.”

Mr. Obama has met with several G20 leaders already in the lead-up to the summit, hammering home the notion that they benefit from a strong U.S. economy. The president said those talks have made him “optimistic about the prospects” for a good agreement to come out of London.