The G-20 Summit: Our World Working Together
Ashley Williams
March 13, 2009
Filed under National/International News, Top Stories
On April 2, 2009, the U.S. will come together with other world leaders in a united attempt to pick up the pieces of the battered and bruised global economy. This conference of global leaders, also known as the Group of 20 Summit, will meet in London. During this meeting, President Barack Obama is expected to urge worldwide leaders to pump more money into emergency government spending. However, many critics fear this plea will not go over well with European nations such as France and Germany who are seeking to revive financial regulation by rewriting financial market rules. On the other hand, US officials are hoping to keep the summit focused on stimulus spending and are hoping to gain support from countries with their own large stimulus programs such as China. They are insisting that this flow of government spending is vital to minimize the duration and depth of the downward spiraling world economies and the US isn’t prepared to tighten financial regulations until the crisis has subsided.
The Group of 20 (also known as G-20) is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 of the world’s largest economies, plus the European Union. These countries economies represent 90% of world gross domestic product and 80% of world trade. They meet in order to try to address global issues in a responsible and unified manner. As the next generation that will lead in this world, we need to better understand this powerful group of world leaders and the important decisions they make through the G-20.