This will be interesting to watch, since it is conceivable that by the time of this meeting Bush's party may have lost the presidency and both Houses of Congress.
However it develops, for some reason it sends a chill to those who are not global unionists and who have an abiding distrust of statists.
This also spells potential volatility for the currency markets, since one thing these fellow do know how to accomplish is to 'fix' the currency markets if not the financial system.
NY Times
Bush Invites World Leaders to Economic Talks
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
October 22, 2008
WASHINGTON — President Bush has invited the leaders of 20 nations to come to Washington on Nov. 15 for an international meeting on the economy, the White House said Wednesday. The move could eventually lead to a far-reaching overhaul of the rules governing global financial markets.
The meeting, intended to be the first of several global economic meetings, will come less than two weeks after the presidential election, and its timing underscores the urgency the administration feels in addressing the financial crisis. The White House has said Mr. Bush would “welcome input” from the president-elect, although it is unclear if Mr. Bush’s successor would attend. (At this meeting Bush could be the lamest of lame ducks - Jesse)
The meeting will have a broad agenda, laying the groundwork for the leaders to “agree on a common set of principles for reform of the regulatory and institutional regimes for the world’s financial sectors,” Dana Perino, Mr. Bush’s press secretary, said in announcing the meeting.
Mr. Bush has been under intense pressure for several weeks from leaders in Europe, especially President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, to convene an international meeting of economic powers to address the financial crisis. Mr. Sarkozy has called for strengthening and rewriting the rules governing global financial institutions, fashioned after the 1944 meeting in Bretton Woods, N.H., in which 44 nations remade the global financial system after the Great Depression. (Is Sarkozy the new Tony Blair in Europe? - Jesse)
But the White House initially sounded skeptical of the idea; administration officials have said Mr. Bush is wary of any effort to allow other nations to exercise control over the United States banking system. Over the weekend, though, Mr. Bush; Mr. Sarkozy; and the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, had dinner at Camp David and apparently brokered an agreement.
While Mr. Sarkozy had been pressing for a meeting of the so-called Group of 8 world economic powers, Mr. Bush insisted that developing nations be included. After their dinner on Saturday night, the three men issued a joint statement saying they would reach out to world leaders with the intent of convening a series of economic meetings.
The venue also appears to have been an issue. Mr. Sarkozy said over the weekend that he hoped the first meeting would be held by the end of November, and suggested it be convened in New York. “Since the crisis started in New York, maybe we can find the solution in New York,” he said. “This is a worldwide crisis, and therefore we must find a worldwide solution.”
By convening the meeting in Washington, his home turf, and by insisting that leaders from developing as well as developed nations attend, Mr. Bush appeared to be putting himself firmly in charge. (The lame duck's swan song? Let's hope so - Jesse)
White House officials have said that the president is especially concerned that an effort to rewrite global financial rules could hurt capitalism and free trade; in her statement, Ms. Perino said the agenda would include “an opportunity for leaders to strengthen the underpinnings of capitalism by discussing how they can enhance their commitment to open, competitive economies, as well as trade and investment liberalization.”
The White House drew the list of invitees from the so-called G20, a forum of rich and emerging nations that was convened in 1999 after an earlier international crisis. Its members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Other international officials, including the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, the president of the World Bank and the United Nations secretary-general have also been invited to attend, the White House said.
