For Immediate Release April 2, 2009
ExCel Center
London, United Kingdom
6:44 P.M. (Local)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Earlier today, we
finished a very productive summit that will be, I believe, a turning
point in our pursuit of global economic recovery.
By any measure, the London summit was historic. It was historic
because of the size and the scope of the challenges that we face, and
because of the timeliness and magnitude of our response.
The challenge is clear. The global economy is contracting. Trade is
shrinking. Unemployment is rising. The international finance system
is nearly frozen. Even these facts can't fully capture the crisis that
we're confronting, because behind them is the pain and uncertainty that
so many people are facing. We see it back in the United States. We
see it here in London. We see it around the world: families losing
their homes, workers losing their jobs and their savings, students who
are deferring their dreams. So many have lost so much. Just to
underscore this point, back in the United States, jobless claims
released today were the highest in 26 years. We owe it to all of our
citizens to act, and to act with a sense of urgency.
In an age where our economies are linked more closely than ever before,
the whole world has been touched by this devastating downturn. And
today, the world's leaders have responded with an unprecedented set of
comprehensive and coordinated actions.
Now, just keep in mind some historical context. Faced with similar
global challenges in the past, the world was slow to act, and people
paid an enormous price. That was true in the Great Depression, when
nations prolonged and worsened the crisis by turning inward, waiting
for more than a decade to meet the challenge together. Even as
recently as the 1980s, the slow global response deepened and widened a
debt crisis in Latin America that pushed millions into poverty.
Today, we've learned the lessons of history. I know that in the days
leading up to the summit, some of you in the press, some commentators,
confused honest and open debate with irreconcilable differences. But
after weeks of preparation, and two days of careful negotiation, we
have agreed on a series of unprecedented steps to restore growth and
prevent a crisis like this from happening again.
Let me outline what I think has been most significant.
Number one, we are committed to growth and job creation. All G20
nations have acted to stimulate demand, which will total well over $2
trillion in global fiscal expansion. The United States is also
partnering with the private sector to clean out the troubled assets,
the legacy assets that are crippling some banks, and using the full
force of the government to ensure that our action leads directly to
loans to businesses large and small, as well as individuals who depend
on credit. And these efforts will be amplified by our G20 partners,
who are pursuing similarly comprehensive programs.
And we also agreed on bold action to support developing countries, so
that we aren't faced with declining markets that the global economy
depends on. Together, the G20 is tripling the IMF's lending capacity
and promoting lending by multilateral development banks to increase the
purchasing power and expand markets in every country.
We've also rejected the protectionism that could deepen this crisis.
History tells us that turning inward can help turn a downturn into a
depression. And this cooperation between the world's leading economies
signals our support for open markets, as does our multilateral
commitment to trade finance that will grow our exports and create new
jobs.
That's all on the growth front.
And next we made enormous strides in committing ourselves to
comprehensive reform of a failed regulatory system. And together, I
believe that we must put an end to the bubble-and-bust economy that has
stood in the way of sustained growth and enabled abusive risk-taking
that endangers our prosperity.
At home, back in the States, our efforts began with the approach that
Secretary Geithner proposed last week, the strongest regulatory reforms
any nation has contemplated so far to prevent the massive failure of
responsibility that we have already seen. Today, these principles have
informed and enabled the coordinated action that we will take with our
G20 partners.
To prevent future crises, we agreed to increased transparency and
capital protections for financial institutions. We're extending
supervision to all systemically important institutions, markets and
products, including hedge funds. We'll identify jurisdictions that
fail to cooperate, including tax havens, and take action to defend our
financial system. We will reestablish the Financial Stability Forum
with a stronger mandate. And we will reform and expand the IMF and
World Bank so they are more efficient, effective and representative.
Finally, we are protecting those who don't always have a voice at the
G20, but who have suffered greatly in this crisis. And the United
States is ready to lead in this endeavor. In the coming days, I intend
to work with Congress to provide $448 million in immediate assistance
to vulnerable populations -- from Africa to Latin America -- and to
double support for food safety to over $1 billion so that we are giving
people the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty. We will
also support the United Nations and World Bank as they coordinate the
rapid assistance necessary to prevent humanitarian catastrophe.
I have to say, though, that this is not just charity. These are all
future markets for all countries, and future drivers of world economic
growth.
Let me also underscore my appreciation to Prime Minister Brown, his
entire team, and all my colleagues from around the world who
contributed to the summit's success. You know, it's hard for 20 heads
of state to bridge their differences. We've all got our own national
policies; we all have our own assumptions, our own political cultures.
But our citizens are all hurting. They all need us to come together.
So I'm pleased that the G20 has agreed to meet again this fall, because
I believe that this is just the beginning. Our problems are not going
to be solved in one meeting; they're not going to be solved in two
meetings. We're going to have to be proactive in shaping events and
persistent in monitoring our progress to determine whether further
action is needed.
I also want to just make a few remarks about additional meetings I had
outside of the G20 context. While here in London I had the opportunity
to hold bilateral meetings with leaders of Russia, China, South Korea,
Saudi Arabia and India, as well as Great Britain. And these
discussions were extraordinarily valuable and productive. Of course,
we spoke about additional steps to promote economic recovery and
growth. But we also discussed coordinated actions on a range of
issues: how we could reduce the nuclear threat; how we could forge a
coordinated response to North Korea's planned missile launch; how we
can turn back terrorism and stabilize Afghanistan; how we can protect
our planet from the scourge of climate change. I'm encouraged that we
laid the groundwork for real and lasting progress on a host of these
issues.
Ultimately, the challenges of the 21st century can't be met without
collective action. Agreement will almost never be easy, and results
won't always come quickly. But I am committed to respecting different
points of view, and to forging a consensus instead of dictating our
terms. That's how we made progress in the last few days. And that's
how we will advance and uphold our ideals in the months and years to
come.
You know, at home, I've often spoken about a new era of
responsibility. And I believe strongly that this era must not end at
our borders. In a world that's more and more interconnected, we all
have responsibilities to work together to solve common challenges. And
although it will take time, I am confident that we will rebuild global
prosperity if we act with a common sense of purpose, persistence, and
the optimism that the moment demands.
So I appreciate your attention, and I'm going to take a few questions.
I've got a list of a few people I'm going to call on and then I will
intersperse some folks I'm calling on randomly.
Helene Cooper.
Q Mr. President, -- (inaudible) --
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I think we did okay. You know, when I
came here, it was with the intention of listening and learning, but
also providing American leadership. And I think that the document that
has been produced as well as the concrete actions that will follow
reflect a range of our priorities.
We wanted to make sure that we had a strong, coordinated response to
growth -- and that's reflected in the document and in the actions that
will be taken. We thought it was important to make sure that we had a
strong, coordinated regulatory response -- and many of the details of
the regulatory response draw from principles that we had developed
prior to coming here.
We felt that it was very important to strengthen our international
financial institutions because developing countries, emerging markets
are threatened -- even though they may not have been the cause of this
crisis -- they are threatened by capital flight; they're threatened by
reduced trade finance; drops in consumer demand in developed countries
that were their export markets, and so we knew that it was going to be
important to provide those countries with assistance. And we have
created as fundamental a reworking of the resources available to these
international financial institutions as anything we've done in the last
several decades.
So, overall, I'm pleased with the product. And I'll leave it to others
to determine whether me and my team had anything to do with that. All
right?
Chuck Todd. Chuck.
Q What concrete items that you got out of this G20 can you tell the
American people back home who are hurting, the family struggling,
seeing their retirement go down, or worrying about losing their job --
what happened here today that helps that family back home in the
heartland?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, as I said before, we've got a global economy,
and if we're taking actions in isolation in the United States, but
those actions are contradicted overseas, then we're only going to be
halfway effective -- maybe not even half.
You've seen, for example, a drastic decline in U.S. exports over the
last several months. You look at a company like Caterpillar, in my
home state of Illinois, which up until last year was doing
extraordinarily well; in fact, export growth was what had sustained it
even after the recession had begun. As a consequence of the world
recession, as a consequence of the contagion from the financial markets
debilitating the economies elsewhere, Caterpillar is now in very bad
shape. So if we want to get Caterpillar back on its feet, if we want
to get all those export companies back on their feet, so that they are
hiring, putting people back to work, putting money in people's pockets,
we've got to make sure that the global economy as a whole is
successful.
And this document, which affirms the need for all countries to take
fiscal responses that increase demand, that encourages the openness of
markets, those are all going to be helpful in us being able to fix what
ails the economy back home.
Let me mix in a -- Justin Webb, BBC. Where's Justin? There he is. Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, in the spirit of openness, with which you say you're --
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Why don't you get a microphone? See, everybody is
complaining. (Laughter.) I'm sure that's all your fellow British
journalists. (Laughter.)
Q They're extraordinarily well behaved, Mr. President. (Laughter.)
In the spirit of openness, with which you say you're going to run your
administration, could you give us an insight into an area or areas
where you came to London wanting something and you didn't get it; where
you compromised, where you gave something away to achieve the wider
breakthrough agreement?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I think that if you look at the language of the
document, there are probably some areas where it wasn't so much of a
sacrifice as it might not have been our number-one priority, but it
became clear that it was very important to certain other actors.
I'd rather not specify what those precise items would be, because this
is a collective document. But there's no doubt that each country has
its own quirks and own particular issues that a leader may decide is
really, really important; something that is non-negotiable for them.
And what we tried to do as much as possible was to accommodate those
issues in a way that didn't -- did not hamper the effectiveness of the
overall document to address what I think are the core issues related to
this crisis.
Now, keep in mind -- I think that this kind of coordination really is
historic. I said in the meeting that if you had imagined 10 years ago,
or 20 years ago, or 30 years ago, that you'd have the leaders of
Germany, France, China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, a President of
the United States named Obama -- (laughter) -- former adversaries, in
some cases former mortal enemies, negotiating this swiftly on behalf of
fixing the global economy, you would have said, that's crazy. And yet
it was happening, and it happened with relatively little -- relatively
few hiccups. And I think that's a testimony to the great work that
Gordon Brown did, and his team, in organizing the summit, the
collective work in our teams in doing some good preparation, some good
ground work. So I'm very proud of what's been done.
This alone is not enough. And obviously the actions that each of us
take in our individual countries are still absolutely vital. So we
have a set of principles, for example, around dealing with systemic
risk that I think will be very important in preventing the kinds of
financial crises that we've seen.
That does not entirely solve the problem of toxic assets that are still
in U.S. banks and certain British banks and certain European banks.
And how each individual nation acts to deal with that is still going to
be vitally important. How well we execute the respective stimulus
programs around the world is going to be very important. The quicker
they are, the more effective they are at actually boosting demand, the
more all of us will benefit. The more encumbered they are by
bureaucracy and mismanagement and corruption, that will hamper our
development efforts as a whole.
So this is not a panacea, but it is a critical step, and I think
it lays the foundation so that, should the actions that we've taken
individually and collectively so far not succeed in boosting global
demand and growth, should you continue to see a freezing of credit or a
hemorrhaging of jobs around the world, I think we've created a good
foundation for this leadership to come back together again and take
additional steps until we get it right.
Okay, Michael Shear. Where's Michael?
Q Thank you, Mr. President. I wonder if you view this trip
that you're on and the actions that you've taken here at the G20 and
with the bilateral meetings that you've had as representing a break
from the foreign policy of your predecessor. And if so, could you
describe where you see and how you see the principles that guide a
different view of the world?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, you know, I didn't accompany President
Bush on his various summits, so I don't know how he was operating. And
I won't -- I won't warrant a guess on that.
I can tell you that what I've tried to do since I started running
for President and since I was sworn in as President, is to communicate
the notion that America is a critical actor and leader on the world
stage, and that we shouldn't be embarrassed about that, but that we
exercise our leadership best when we are listening; when we recognize
that the world is a complicated place and that we are going to have to
act in partnership with other countries; when we lead by example; when
we show some element of humility and recognize that we may not always
have the best answer, but we can always encourage the best answer and
support the best answer.
So I think that's the -- that's the approach that we've tried to
take in our foreign policy since my administration came in. Now, we
come in at extraordinarily challenging times, and yet I actually think
that that calls for this type of leadership even more. But,
ultimately, we won't know how effective we are until we look back a
year from now, or two years from now, or three years from now and see
if it worked.
And what the American people care about I suspect are the same thing
that the British people care about, and that is, are you putting people
back to work? Are businesses growing again? Is business -- is credit
flowing again? And, you know -- and that's just true with respect to
this summit. But when it comes to our Afghanistan policy, the question
is going to be, have we made ourselves safer; have we reduced the risks
and incidents of terrorism?
And so the proof of the pudding is in the eating. But hopefully,
I think at least we've set a tone internationally where people don't --
where they give us the benefit of the doubt. They're still going to
have their interests, and we're going to have ours. There are going to
be tough negotiations, and sometimes we're going to have to walk away
from those negotiations if we can't arrive at a common accord. There
are going to be real dangers that can't always be talked through and
have to be addressed. But at least we can start with the notion that
we're prepared to listen and to work cooperatively with countries
around the world.
All right, let me sprinkle in another -- it's got to be an international person. All right, this young lady right there.
Q Mr. President, Emma Alberici from the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation. At the moment, in the U.S., the U.K., and in Australia,
executive salaries and bonuses are decided in the boardrooms of major
publicly listed companies. Who will be making those decisions on
salaries and bonuses as a result of the agreement you've made here
today? And if it is still the boards, will they be guided by
principles or legislation?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: The principles that we outlined I think put in
place or move us in the direction of what I consider to be best
practices, which is that there is some accountability with respect to
executive compensation.
Now, theoretically, that should be the shareholders. But the way
that too many corporations have operated for too long is that you have
a CEO who basically selects his board; the board, in a fairly cozy
relationship oftentimes with the executive, hires a executive
compensation firm, which, surprisingly, tends to think that it's
necessary to retain the best talent to pay people $20 or $30 million a
year; and we get into the kinds of habits and practices that I think
have not been -- have not served shareholders well, I think ultimately
distort the decision-making of many CEOs.
When I was in the United States Senate, I actually worked on a
piece of legislation that would -- made the simple proposition that
executive compensation should be subject to a shareholder vote, even if
it was nonbinding, so that there was transparency and accountability
and perhaps a shame function that would take place. And that
principle, I think, is reflected in these guidelines.
What it says is, is that if you get shareholders involved and
those shareholders are given a set of principles and best practices by
which they can judge executive compensation, then you can still have
outsized rewards and success for successful business people, but it
will be based on not short-term performance, not three-month
performance, not your ability to flip quick profits off products like
derivatives that don't turn out to be particularly productive to the
company, but based on sustained, effective growth. And that's what's
embodied in these documents, and I think that you're going to see a lot
of countries try to encourage that kind of transparency and
accountability.
It doesn't mean the state micromanaging -- ( sneezes) -- excuse me
-- I've been fighting this all week -- it doesn't mean that we want the
state dictating salaries; we don't. We -- I strongly believe in a
free-market system, and as I -- as I think people understand in
America, at least, people don't resent the rich; they want to be rich.
And that's good. But we want to make sure that there's mechanisms in
place that holds people accountable and produces results. Okay?
Got to go back to my crew. Jake Tapper.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Two questions. One, can you say
with confidence that the steps the G20 nations are taking today --
committing to today will help the world, or will prevent the world to
avoid a depression or a deeper recession?
And two, your friend and ally, Prime Minister Brown, said that
"The old Washington consensus is over; today we have reached a new
consensus." Is he right? And what do you think he meant by that?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: In life there are no guarantees; in economics
there are no guarantees. The people who thought they could provide
guarantees, many of them worked at AIG and it didn't work out so well.
So there are always risks involved.
I have no doubt, though, that the steps that have been taken are
critical to preventing us sliding into a depression. They are bolder
and more rapid than any international response that we've seen to a
financial crisis in memory. And I think that they will have a concrete
effect in our ability, individually, in each nation, to create jobs,
save jobs that exist, grow the economy, loosen up credit, restore trust
and confidence in the financial markets.
So these steps -- another way of putting it is I think the steps
in the communiqué were necessary. Whether they're sufficient, we've
got to -- we've got to wait and see. I'm actually confident, though,
that given the common commitment in the United States and in the other
G20 countries to act rapidly and boldly, that if we see other inklings
of panic in the marketplace, or things unwinding, that this group, once
again, will respond as needed.
So I guess maybe just to use an analogy that was used several
times in this meeting, an analogy that I've used in the past: You got
a sick patient; I think we applied the right medicine; I think the
patient is stabilized; there's still wounds that have to heal and
there's still emergencies that could arise, but I think that you've got
some pretty good care being applied.
You had a second, follow-up question?
Q Prime Minister Brown saying --
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Oh, the Washington consensus. Well, the
Washington consensus, as I'm sure you're aware, Jake, is sort of a term
of art about a certain set of policies surrounding globalization and
the application of a cookie-cutter model to economic growth, trade
liberalization, deregulation that was popular and did help globalize
and grow the economy, and was led by some of our leading economists and
policymakers in Washington.
I think that there's always been a spectrum of opinion about how
unfettered the free market is. And along that spectrum, I think there
have been some who believe in very fierce regulation and are very
suspicious of globalization, and there are others who think that it's
always -- that the market is always king. And I think what we've
learned here, but if anybody had been studying history they would have
understood earlier, is that the market is the most effective mechanism
for creating wealth and distributing resources to produce goods and
services that history has ever known, but that it goes off the rail
sometimes; that if it's completely unregulated, that if there are no
thoughtful frameworks to channel the creative energy of the market,
that it can end up in a very bad place.
And so, in that sense, I think that we just went through a couple
of decades where there was an artificial complacency about the dangers
of markets going off the rails. And a crisis like this reminds us that
we just have to put in some common-sense rules of the road, without
throwing out the enormous benefits that globalization have brought in
terms of improving living standards, reducing the cost of goods, and
bringing the world closer together.
All right, I've got time for just a couple more questions. I'm going to find a journalist here --
Q -- (inaudible) -- (Laughter.)
Q How about me?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: All right, I'm going to call on this gentleman right here. He's been very persistent.
Q Excuse me. China Central Television. Since the world
leaders have been talking about increasing the voice and voting rights
of developing countries, I would like to ask two questions instead of
just one. First of all, on behalf of China --
PRESIDENT OBAMA: I may choose which one I want to answer. (Laughter.)
Q Of course.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: That's always the danger of asking two questions. (Laughter.)
Q First of all, you've had a very fruitful meeting with our
President. And during the Clinton administration, U.S.-China
relationship were characterized, in Clinton's words, "strategic,
constructive partnership." During the Bush era, it was -- the
catchphrase was "stakeholder." The Bush administration expects China
to become a responsible stakeholder in international affairs. Have you
come up with a catchphrase of your own? And certainly it is not the
G2, is it?
My second question is, on behalf of the world, politics is very
local, even though we've been talking about global solution, as
indicated by your recent preference over American journalists and
British -- which is okay. (Laughter.) How can you make sure that you
will do whatever you can so that -- that local politics will not trump
or negatively affect good international economics? Thank you, Mr.
President.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, those are excellent questions. On the
first question, your American counterparts will tell you I'm terrible
with those little catchphrases and sound bites. So I haven't come up
with anything catchy yet, but if you have any suggestions, let me
know. (Laughter.) I'll be happy to use them.
In terms of local politics, look, I'm the President of the United
States. I'm not the President of China, I'm not the President of
Japan, I'm not the President of the other participants here. And so I
have a direct responsibility to my constituents to make their lives
better. That's why they put me in there. That accounts for some of
the questions here, about how concretely does me being here help them
find a job, pay for their home, send their kids to college, live what
we call the American Dream. And I will be judged by my effectiveness
in meeting their needs and concerns.
But in an era of integration and interdependence, it is also my
responsibility to lead America into recognizing that its interests, its
fate is tied up with the larger world; that if we neglect or abandon
those who are suffering in poverty, that not only are we depriving
ourselves of potential opportunities for markets and economic growth,
but ultimately that despair may turn to violence that turns on us; that
unless we are concerned about the education of all children and not
just our children, not only may we be depriving ourselves of the next
great scientist who's going to find the next new energy source that
saves the planet, but we also may make people around the world much
more vulnerable to anti-American propaganda.
So if I'm effective as America's President right now, part of that
effectiveness involves holding a -- providing Americans insight into
how their self-interest is tied up with yours. And that's an ongoing
project because it's not always obvious.
And there are going to be times where short-term interests are going to
differ; there's no doubt about it. And protectionism is the classic
example. You can make arguments that if you can get away with
protecting your markets, as long as the other folks don't protect
theirs, then in the short term you may benefit. And it then becomes
important not only for me to try to give people a sense of why, over
the long term, that's counterproductive, but also it becomes important
for me to put policies in place in the United States that provide a
cushion, provide support for those people who may suffer local
dislocations because of globalization. And that's something that I
think every government has to think about.
There are individuals who will be harmed by a trade deal. There are
businesses who will go out of business because of free trade. And to
the extent that a government is not there to help them reshape their
company or retrain for the new jobs that are being created, over time
you're going to get people who see -- who rightly see their personal
self-interest in very narrow terms. Okay?
Two more questions. Jonathan Weisman.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. During the campaign you often spoke of
a diminished power and authority of the United States over the last
decade. This is your first time in an international summit like this,
and I'm wondering what evidence you saw of what you spoke of during the
campaign. And specifically, is the declaration of the end of the
Washington consensus evidence of the diminished authority that you
feared was out there?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, first of all, during the campaign I did not say
that some of that loss of authority was inevitable. I said it was
traced to very specific decisions that the previous administration had
made that I believed had lowered our standing in the world. And that
wasn't simply my opinion; that was, it turns out, the opinion of many
people around the world.
I would like to think that with my election and the early decisions
that we've made, that you're starting to see some restoration of
America's standing in the world. And although, as you know, I always
mistrust polls, international polls seem to indicate that you're seeing
people more hopeful about America's leadership.
Now, we remain the largest economy in the world by a pretty significant
margin. We remain the most powerful military on Earth. Our production
of culture, our politics, our media still have -- I didn't mean to say
that with such scorn, guys -- (laughter) -- you know I'm teasing --
still has enormous influence. And so I do not buy into the notion that
America can't lead in the world. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think
that we had important things to contribute.
I just think in a world that is as complex as it is, that it is
very important for us to be able to forge partnerships as opposed to
simply dictating solutions. Just a -- just to try to crystallize the
example, there's been a lot of comparison here about Bretton Woods.
"Oh, well, last time you saw the entire international architecture
being remade." Well, if there's just Roosevelt and Churchill sitting
in a room with a brandy, that's a -- that's an easier negotiation.
(Laughter.) But that's not the world we live in, and it shouldn't be
the world that we live in.
And so that's not a loss for America; it's an appreciation that
Europe is now rebuilt and a powerhouse. Japan is rebuilt, is a
powerhouse. China, India -- these are all countries on the move. And
that's good. That means there are millions of people -- billions of
people -- who are working their way out of poverty. And over time,
that potentially makes this a much more peaceful world.
And that's the kind of leadership we need to show -- one that helps
guide that process of orderly integration without taking our eyes off
the fact that it's only as good as the benefits of individual families,
individual children: Is it giving them more opportunity; is it giving
them a better life? If we judge ourselves by those standards, then I
think America can continue to show leadership for a very long time.
I'm going to call one foreigner -- (laughter) -- actually, I'm the
foreigner. That's why I smiled. One correspondent not from America.
And then I will -- (loud commotion) -- we're not doing bidding here.
(Laughter.) But I also want to make sure that I'm not showing gender
bias. So this young lady right here -- not you, sir, I'm sorry.
Q Hi, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: How are you?
Q Thank you for choosing me. I'm very well. I'm from the Times of India.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Wonderful.
Q You met with our Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. What did
you -- what is America doing to help India tackle terrorism emanating
from Pakistan?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, first of all, your Prime Minister is a wonderful man.
Q Thank you. I agree. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well --
Q I agree.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Did you have something to do with that, or --
(laughter.) You seem to kind of take -- take credit for it a little
bit there. (Laughter.)
Q Really proud of him, sir.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Of course. You should be proud of him. I'm teasing you.
I think he's a very wise and decent man, and has done a wonderful
job in guiding India, even prior to being Prime Minister, along a path
of extraordinary economic growth that is a marvel, I think, for all the
world.
We did discuss the issue of terrorism. And we discussed it not
simply in terms of terrorism emanating from Pakistan, although
obviously we are very concerned about extremists and terrorists who
have made camp in the border regions of Pakistan as well as in
Afghanistan. But we spoke about it more broadly in terms of how we can
coordinate effectively on issues of counterterrorism.
We also spoke about the fact that in a nuclear age, at a time when
perhaps the greatest enemy of both India and Pakistan should be
poverty, that it may make sense to create a more effective dialogue
between India and Pakistan. But obviously we didn't go in depth into
those issues.
We talked about a whole range of other issues related to, for example,
energy, and how important it is for the United States to lead by
example in reducing our carbon footprint so that we can help to forge
agreements with countries like China and India that, on a per-capita
basis, have a much smaller footprint and so justifiably chafe at the
idea that they should have to sacrifice their development for our
efforts to control climate change; but also acknowledging that if China
and India, with their populations, had the same energy usage as the
average American, then we would have all melted by now.
And so that was a very interesting conversation that I will be pursuing
not just with India, but hopefully with China and with other countries
around the world. In some ways our European counterparts have moved
more quickly than we have on this issue. But I think even the Europeans
have recognized that it's not easy. It's even harder during times of
economic downturn.
And so we're going to have to combine the low-hanging fruit of energy
efficiency with rapid technological advances. And to the extent that
in some cases we can get international cooperation and pool our
scientific and technical knowledge around things like developing coal
sequestration, for example, that can be extremely helpful. Okay?
I'm going to call on my last American correspondent, Chip. And, Chip, my heart goes out to you.
Q Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I appreciate that.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: I just heard about that.
Q Certainly there is a lot of sentiment in G20 countries that the
United States was a major cause of the global economic meltdown. To
what degree did that topic come up in your discussions? Did it make it
difficult for some countries to accept advice from the United States
when they blame the United States and its economic system for causing
this in the first place? And how do you respond to people who do blame
America?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, you know, I don't think that -- I think my
colleagues in the G20 were extraordinarily gracious about my
participation. I think that they continue to express the desire to
work with America, admiration about many things American. There were
occasional comments, usually wedged into some other topic, that
indicated from their perspective that this started in America, or this
started on Wall Street, or this started with particular banks or
companies.
Perhaps what helped was my willingness to acknowledge that -- and
it's hard to deny -- that some of this contagion did start on Wall
Street. And as I've said back home, as I've said in public and as I
would say in private, we had a number of firms that took wild and
unjustified risks, we had regulators that were asleep at the switch,
and it has taken an enormous toll on the U.S. economy and has spread to
the world economy.
Now, I think that part of the reason people didn't give me too
hard a time is because if you look at European banks or Asian banks,
that they've had their own issues both in the past and in the future.
And I think there was a very constructive discussion about the fact
that, given global financial flows, that unless we've got much more
effective coordinated regulatory strategies, supervision, standards,
that these problems will appear again.
Money is -- can move around the globe in a second. And it will
seek out the highest returns, and if those highest returns end up being
built on a house of cards, then we're going to be seeing another threat
to the world financial system wherever that house of cards might be.
And so, overall, I think there was an extraordinarily constructive
approach among all the leaders. I was very impressed with them. I'm
very grateful to them. And I'm excited about the ability not just to
help heal this economy but also to make progress on a sustainable model
of economic growth that relies less on a cycle of bubble and bust --
something that I've spoken about back home.
All right? Thank you, everybody. Appreciate it. (Applause.)
END 7:36 P.M. (Local)
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