Some Leaders Angry That US Exported Financial Crisis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As world leaders headed to Washington for a weekend summit on the global financial crisis, the United States made a pitch for modest reforms instead of the stiffer regulation that some European countries favor.

"The crisis was not a failure of the free market system," President George W. Bush told a New York audience on Thursday ahead of a Friday night dinner and meeting on Saturday of the heads of the Group of 20 developed and emerging nations.

The greater threat to prosperity is "not too little government involvement, it is too much government involvement in the market," Bush said.

The message may ring hollow with some G20 countries that say under-regulated U.S. financial industries effectively exported to the global economy a crisis that originated in reckless U.S. mortgage lending.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[1manisland]

All I have to say is this. Why are they so angry we exported our financial problems on them ? They weren't complaining when many of our jobs, which continue today, got exported to their countries were they ? Stick their NWO agenda up their asses. We should start making our own products again. we have no friends anyway. To hell with them.

[rosiebond007]

In the big scheme of things - it's really amazing how few people were involved who brought about this mess.
Where are they now? The GREEDY, GRASPING companies and CEO's, COO's, looking for more money, more profits - it's really quite alarming as to how few people it took to bring about this GLOBAL CRISIS.

MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL.
MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL.

[luke150]

Money is not the root of any evil, people are. We all do good and bad all the time.

[bobbysgurl]

The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. This simple comment is why I don't understand why bible-thumpers want "IN GOD WE TRUST" to remain on our money, when we know that for the Greedy their money is their GOD.

[hapiday]

The picture for this article says a thousand words. Bush is not respected by any of these heads of state.
PE can't get elected soon enough.

[LOL123]

"The government will do everything to ensure there are more rules to prevent such a situation recurring," she pledged. Chancellor Merkel need to understand each country has it's own Govermental culture to contend with also. It's not just rules that need to implemented but oversight. Bush stopped making new appts. to the boards of GSEs in 2004 restricting the amount they could underwrite. Some Asian countries whom we do business with are nutorious for corruption within the Govermental system. So that statement needs to be revised to "each" country needs to have more rules and oversight to prevent such a situation and consequenses will be strickly enforced through out the "World " financial system. Lets start with getting rid of the monopolies if we really want to enforce "free trade and free market".

[luke150]

First of all, some previous crises started in Emerging markets (Russia and Argentina to name two). So pointing fingers is not the right approach to solving problems. Second, nobody made foreign banks, sovereign funds and other foreign entities buy risky assets. Third, resource-rich countries were happy when the commodity prices were high, but that undoubtedly contributed to the current mess. Forth, the world didn't complain when they increased their exports to US and the US consumer bought their stuff. Now the tide has turned so we are all in under.
So unless the world start acting more together, problems will stay.

[killpack]

Your second point is so true. "Nobody made foreign banks, sovereign funds and other foreign entities buy risky assets." It is IMPOSSIBLE to feel the effects of a subprime lending induced American recession if you had NO exposure to begin with. It is economically, statistically, mathematically IMPOSSIBLE! You made EASY money when times were good and that was okay, but now your mad at Pres. Bush? Get real!

[bobbysgurl]

Foreign countries were lied to just as the American people were. However, some of those foreign countries may not be so forgiving as we are. What if China calls in her loans?

A real look at the greed in this country is an old 2004 Frontline documentary: Tax Me If You Can. The wealthy thieves were willing to give money to small towns in Germany to aid their transportation system and their sewer system, while not paying taxes here at home.

[Lambpie]

In 2004 five bankers met with the chairman of the SEC to ask for a higher limit to the risk banks could carry. The chairman agreed. Paulsen was one of these. The subprime market was 10% of all loans and the market should have been able to withstand it going belly up. Because of things within the SEC fast forward to this mess. In 2005 Cox took over and immediately began to back off enforcement and they cut the fines to about a third of what they had been. In other words, things got entirely too reckless. So, these people accusing us of this have a point. Bush is in complete denial. He can not leave fast enough for me. I expect that we will eventually hear all sorts of things that will make our hair stand on end.

[munki]

domino affect...
sorry about that but it is done... now what can we all do to fix it?
finger pointing will not get us anywhere, sir or madam...

[gdaerin]

oh my god, Bush is in denial, we should've impeached him and kicked him out so that Obama could go in early.

How many of these leaders take Bush seriously now?

[rollingdivision]

So their economies are highly regulated and the high level of regulation did not stop their economies from fully participating in the credit bubble. So what good is all the regulation? And the answer is to give politicians even more power.

[munki]

regulation being enforced is good, but when one BIG shortfall...
domino affect... global market was saturated by failed Lehman and other investment brokers...
they bragged of their success... easy money... greed kicks in...
human nature... then... the bubble - virtue economy popped...

[CologneCitizen]

It is useless to point fingers. Nobody forced our European banks to engage in risky business. I refuse to believe these bankers were somehow "tricked" in buying bad credit loans. They were GREEDY same as your Wallstreet people. The current financial crisis just shows how fine the net is woven worldwide. And the efforts to end it have to be globally. Blaming the US is not very productive.

[Chaucea]

Thank you for saying that! I completely agree.

It's really boggling to see the indignation of other countries who invested in the US, get all bent out of shape. What exactly did they expect? All reward and no risk?

And its even more baffling to me to see how so many have been shocked and stunned to realize that yes, the economy is utterly and completely global. The economy so globally intertwined nowadays, that if anyone sneezes, everyone else gets a cold! Their reaction to this is as if this just sneaked up and suddenly happened and they've all been caught off guard.

[AlteSoldier]

When did the 2008 recession start?

Below are ECRI"s official recession calls in the past:
Feb. 6, 1990 by Geoffrey Moore. Lead-time = 6 months.
Mar. 26, 2001 by Anirvan Banerji. Lead-time = 0 months.
Mar. 21, 2008 by Lakshman Achuthan. Lead-time =?

My own speculation is that ECRI"s recession call is late this time around. There was solid evidence for a recession call in January 2008. Unfortunately, ECRI was hoping that rapid rate cuts by the Fed could help avert a recession. They did not realize that this particular recession, driven by a deflating credit bubble, would increase the time needed for monetary stimulus to work itself into the economy.

Hence, until NBER announces the official recession dates for this cycle, I will assume that it began in January 2008.

http://pickyinvestor.blogspot.com/2008/03/when-did-recession-start_28.html

[exdubyafan]

In 2003 when Bush invaded Iraq, the people of the world were asking what was wrong with the US President. In 2004 when Bush was elected, they asked what was wrong with the American people. Will Batman (Obama) arrive in time to save the world from further distruction from Joker?

[Zhonni]

Good question, I certainly hope so.

[Chaucea]

*turns on the Bat Signal, aiming it into the sky*

[Girl28]

This is a funny pic. I bet every world leader in the room is looking at Bush thinking, you idiot it wasn't enough for you to flush your own country down the toilet, you had to take us down with you. Thanks alot a**hole .

[georgebeckton]

Make no mistake. The world leaders are only there because they have to be there. Woe betide any nation invited not attend, the consequences for them would be devastating.

This is just a cynical fishing expedition by bush and his cronies to extract the very last morsel of intelligence to feed the halliburtons of this world prior to his departure...the last throes of his scorched earth policy.

Thank goodness President elect Obama saw it for what it was and decided to have nothing to do with it (oh and congratulations to him for appointing an honest figure in Madeleine Albright to advise him on the goings on).

But hasn't the "exquisite" timing of the latest bush calamity raised any eyebrows in the U.S.?

[fignozzle]

and, while this is all beyond my understanding, i think that anybody who has his anger on about it, kinda makes sense to me.

not palin anger, mind you, just pure i do NOT understand something, yet i feel sure it is not going well........

[HamletsMill]

fignozzle,

This is all you need to understand. Start listening more to "Joe Credit Default Swaps" and less to "Joe the Plumber." That goes for President Bush too who does not seem to understand how these things are financial WMD's now planted all around the world by the U.S. This meeting is just a dinner for fools on the Titanic. The gash is too wide. The so called "watertight doors" will not hold. All of them are going to drown in the icy water. Bush is already dead. It is too late.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWEesozWp3I