U.S. President Barack Obama will be at center stage in London Thursday as the leaders of 20 major economies discuss how to deal with the world economic crisis.
After meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Wednesday, President Obama said there is enormous consensus among the G-20 leaders that they have to work together to revive the economy. Both say they reject protectionism.But while Mr. Obama and Mr. Brown call for more government spending to spawn economic growth, other major powers say tighter regulation of the financial industry is needed to prevent another crisis.Mr. Obama has said G-20 leaders can come up a with a plan that does both.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is urging the world leaders to produce firm agreements on market reform. She said she agrees with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's insistence that he will not accept what he calls a "false compromise" at the summit.
Mr. Sarkozy has threatened to walk out of the summit if the G-20 fails to agree on stricter regulation of global financial markets. The G-20 members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Britain, the United States and the European Union.