Why on earth does Bush want to do this? Does he really want to ruin the global financial system before he leaves? Thank god we are done with the con-servative president on 1/20/09. We are going to have a liberal president next year no matter who wins, then this country/ world will have a strong leader. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aJc5o4EyGZgU&refer=home By Roger Runningen and Gregory Viscusi Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush will host a summit on the global financial crisis, an administration official said, adding that a formal announcement will be made later today. The conference will be held soon, and the agenda will include ideas on how to prevent future crises in a way that preserves the free-market system, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Participants will include leaders of developed and developing nations, he said. Bush is scheduled to make remarks today when he welcomes French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Barroso to Camp David for dinner and three hours of talks. European leaders want to convene an emergency meeting of the world's richest nations, known as the Group of Eight, joined by others such as India and China, to overhaul the world's financial regulatory systems. ``We must reform capitalism so that the most efficient system ever created doesn't destroy its own foundations,'' Sarkozy, 53, said yesterday in a speech to Quebec's National Assembly. Sarkozy, who represents all 27 nations of the European Union, has been pushing for a conference as soon as next month. Sarkozy and Barraso are pressing Bush for a G8 agenda that includes stiffer regulation and supervision for cross-border banks, a global ``early warning'' system and an overhaul of the International Monetary Fund. Talks may also encompass tougher regulations on hedge funds, new rules for credit-rating companies, limits on executive pay and changing the treatment of tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and Monaco. Regulation, Stability ``There is no liberty without some regulation and stability,'' Sarkozy said yesterday in Quebec at a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. EU members on Oct. 16 backed Sarkozy's proposal for a conference, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today offered to host a summit at UN headquarters in New York City by early December. The U.S. hasn't committed itself to the sweeping terms of Europe's agenda, saying only that ideas ``have been brought forward by individual countries,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said at a briefing for reporters yesterday. ``There are other countries that are going to have ideas, as well.'' Bush, 62, supports an emergency G8 meeting, but has cautioned that any revamping must not restrict the flow of trade and investment or set a path toward protectionism. The G8 nations are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. `Stop the Bleeding' The U.S. is concerned with ``the situation at hand right now,'' Perino said. ``The most important thing we can do is make sure that we stop the bleeding here before we move onto the next project.'' Sarkozy wants the G8 to consider re-anchoring their currencies, the hallmark of the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement that also gave birth to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. ``We want another monetary system,'' Sarkozy said in a speech yesterday in Quebec. ``The role and functioning of the IMF should be rethought.'' British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is also pushing for greater cross-border oversight of the global financial system. He has said each of the world's top 30 banks should be under the supervision of a panel of regulators from the countries where those institutions do business. ``The reform of the international financial system is not only necessary to prevent a crisis happening again, it is essential to end the current crisis,'' Brown said on Oct. 16. To contact the reporter on this story: Roger Runningen at Camp David rrunningen@bloomberg.net Last Updated: October 18, 2008 15:16 EDT
Almost without exception a Presidency runs quietly towards the end of the final second term. But this is the exception, big time. There has been a huge amount for Federal Government to do and to lead on. I suspect President Bush is enjoying it. He is naturally laid back. He has stood up front for getting the job of repair done. The Iraq quagmire in this term has made him unpopular with the electorate and by connection put the Republicans out of favor. The US domestic housing bubble bust badly puntured the US (and European) financial system but the President has been solid. He can and probably will stand at front of this effort to the last days of his Presidency. It is ironic that the Big Job (the financial repair initiatives and policy) will have been essentially done before the new President enters the White House.