Obama and Soros hail plan but others say actions fall ‘critically short’ in key areas
Reuters 4 April 2009
LONDON: An initial surge of optimism over a Group of 20 recovery plan to lift the world economy out of recession was tempered yesterday, as markets digested the details.
US President Barack Obama hailed the deal struck at a key summit in London on Thursday as a ‘turning point’, and US and Asian stock markets rose sharply after the leaders produced their agreement to the waiting world.
The G-20 developed and emerging economies agreed to commit US$1 trillion (S$1.5 trillion) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other global bodies to help struggling economies.
Billionaire investor George Soros also called the deal a turning point, saying that G-20 leaders had taken decisive action to combat the crisis.
‘This could well be a turning point because the authorities got together and they have taken the steps,’ he said in an interview on BBC television.
But London’s FTSE index failed to share the positive assessment of Mr. Obama and Mr. Soros.
After surging more than 4 per cent on Thursday, stocks in London opened down 0.35 per cent yesterday, although analysts said concerns about imminent US jobs data could be depressing the market.
In New York, the Dow Jones closed up 2.79 per cent on Thursday and Tokyo ended yesterday up 0.34 per cent, approaching a three-month high.
Newspapers around the world yesterday saw the G-20 summit as a first step in putting the battered global economy back on track, but warned that the US$1 trillion war chest was not a panacea in itself.
‘Some useful progress, but still a way to go,’ said an editorial in Britain’s Financial Times, echoing the view of most newspapers here that the G-20 meeting was broadly a success.
The business daily said the plan included some ‘real achievements’, particularly the promise of increased resources for the IMF, which it described as ‘extremely cheering’. But it said that summit host Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, had sounded ‘disappointingly thin’ on the key area of cleaning up banks’ toxic assets.
The American media focused on President Obama’s debut on the world stage.
‘After years of watching former President George W. Bush hector and alienate this country’s closest friends, we were relieved to see Mr. Obama in full diplomatic mode,’ said The New York Times in an editorial.
The newspaper said the leaders ‘fell dangerously short’ by failing to commit to new stimulus packages, an approach initially advocated by Mr. Obama but opposed by Germany and France.
France and Germany were upbeat about the results of the G-20 summit, with French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde saying the leaders’ compromise would help ‘profoundly change some of the dysfunctions of the financial system’.
Sumitomo Trust and Banking foreign exchange strategist Saburo Matsumoto said: ‘While the summit was not perfect, at least leaders agreed to cooperate on turning around their economies, and investors are anticipating more measures in the future.’
But Morgan Stanley’s Stephen Roach said the leaders’ plans for the economy have little ‘substance’ as they fail to address savings imbalances. ‘They were very good at congratulating themselves for having taken terrific actions but I think the agenda falls critically short in this important area.’
Mr. Roach, the bank’s Asia chairman, said: ‘The American consumer is overextended, savings-short, has spent out of bubbles for years, and is finished.
Did you know that George Soros would not be a multi-billionaire if it were not for the international language Esperanto?
Born in Hungary in 1930 as Gyorgy Schwartz, the family changed its name in 1936 to Soros, which in Esperanto means "to soar."
The Soros name-change was an effort to protect the Jewish family from the rise of fascist rulers and the whole family spoke Esperanto at home.
As a native Esperanto speaker, (someone who has spoken Esperanto from birth), George Soros defected to the West in 1946, while attending an Esperanto youth meeting in Switzerland.
Esperanto enabled Soros both to defect, and to become the 28th most wealthy man in the World, according to the Forbes rich list.
2 comments:
G-20 deal ‘a turning point’ but not all convinced
Obama and Soros hail plan but others say actions fall ‘critically short’ in key areas
Reuters
4 April 2009
LONDON: An initial surge of optimism over a Group of 20 recovery plan to lift the world economy out of recession was tempered yesterday, as markets digested the details.
US President Barack Obama hailed the deal struck at a key summit in London on Thursday as a ‘turning point’, and US and Asian stock markets rose sharply after the leaders produced their agreement to the waiting world.
The G-20 developed and emerging economies agreed to commit US$1 trillion (S$1.5 trillion) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other global bodies to help struggling economies.
Billionaire investor George Soros also called the deal a turning point, saying that G-20 leaders had taken decisive action to combat the crisis.
‘This could well be a turning point because the authorities got together and they have taken the steps,’ he said in an interview on BBC television.
But London’s FTSE index failed to share the positive assessment of Mr. Obama and Mr. Soros.
After surging more than 4 per cent on Thursday, stocks in London opened down 0.35 per cent yesterday, although analysts said concerns about imminent US jobs data could be depressing the market.
In New York, the Dow Jones closed up 2.79 per cent on Thursday and Tokyo ended yesterday up 0.34 per cent, approaching a three-month high.
Newspapers around the world yesterday saw the G-20 summit as a first step in putting the battered global economy back on track, but warned that the US$1 trillion war chest was not a panacea in itself.
‘Some useful progress, but still a way to go,’ said an editorial in Britain’s Financial Times, echoing the view of most newspapers here that the G-20 meeting was broadly a success.
The business daily said the plan included some ‘real achievements’, particularly the promise of increased resources for the IMF, which it described as ‘extremely cheering’. But it said that summit host Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, had sounded ‘disappointingly thin’ on the key area of cleaning up banks’ toxic assets.
The American media focused on President Obama’s debut on the world stage.
‘After years of watching former President George W. Bush hector and alienate this country’s closest friends, we were relieved to see Mr. Obama in full diplomatic mode,’ said The New York Times in an editorial.
The newspaper said the leaders ‘fell dangerously short’ by failing to commit to new stimulus packages, an approach initially advocated by Mr. Obama but opposed by Germany and France.
France and Germany were upbeat about the results of the G-20 summit, with French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde saying the leaders’ compromise would help ‘profoundly change some of the dysfunctions of the financial system’.
Sumitomo Trust and Banking foreign exchange strategist Saburo Matsumoto said: ‘While the summit was not perfect, at least leaders agreed to cooperate on turning around their economies, and investors are anticipating more measures in the future.’
But Morgan Stanley’s Stephen Roach said the leaders’ plans for the economy have little ‘substance’ as they fail to address savings imbalances. ‘They were very good at congratulating themselves for having taken terrific actions but I think the agenda falls critically short in this important area.’
Mr. Roach, the bank’s Asia chairman, said: ‘The American consumer is overextended, savings-short, has spent out of bubbles for years, and is finished.
‘Done. As we say in America: Toast.’
Did you know that George Soros would not be a multi-billionaire if it were not for the international language Esperanto?
Born in Hungary in 1930 as Gyorgy Schwartz, the family changed its name in 1936 to Soros, which in Esperanto means "to soar."
The Soros name-change was an effort to protect the Jewish family from the rise of fascist rulers and the whole family spoke Esperanto at home.
As a native Esperanto speaker, (someone who has spoken Esperanto from birth), George Soros defected to the West in 1946, while attending an Esperanto youth meeting in Switzerland.
Esperanto enabled Soros both to defect, and to become the 28th most wealthy man in the World, according to the Forbes rich list.
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