Main focus of Friday, June 25, 2010

G20 dispute over growth

The G20 summit will begin in the Canadian city of Toronto on Saturday. In the run-up to the meeting the US has called on other states to make major investments to combat the economic crisis. The press believes, however, that austerity measures can also lead to more growth and urges governments to make a concerted effort in times of crisis.

De Telegraaf - Netherlands

Prior to the G20 summit Germany has defended itself against the US accusation that its austerity measures are endangering world economic recovery. The tabloid De Telegraaf, however, says that austerity measures would not put a brake on growth in Europe: "Criticism of this kinds threatens to derail the discussion completely. Germany is simply pursuing intelligent policies. The government cannot get away with further increasing public debt. And anyway sound savings measures do not in principle mean lower growth. Germany did not collapse under the pressure of the outrageous expense of reunification and despite international competition it is an engine of exports. The Spanish and the Greeks, by contrast, have let their economies get out of control in recent years. They have only themselves to blame." (25/06/2010)

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Jornal de Negócios - Portugal

The G20 meetings scheduled for this month will mark the moment when the major actors of the world economy switch from economic stimulation to austerity measures, French economist Jean Pisani-Ferry writes in the business newspaper Jornal de Negócios: "Not everyone agrees. Before the meeting in Busan [South Korea] US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warned against 'a general, undifferentiated move to pull forward consolidation plans' and emphasized that we should proceed 'in step with the strengthening of the private sector recovery.' But Geithner's warning fell on deaf ears among other finance ministers. ... Instead of overcoming challenges together like they did in 2009, the members of the G20 will have to tackle the problem of drifting apart. For an institution that showed that it could respond effectively in a crisis, but still has to prove that it can deal with this new phase in the world economy, this will be a major test of its ability to shoulder the burden. The Toronto summit offers a first opportunity to find out how well the G20 is able to adapt to new conditions." (24/06/2010)

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The Independent - United Kingdom

It's time heads of state and government recognised common interests at the G20 summit in Toronto, the daily The Independent writes: "There is a common global interest in a managed and sustainable fiscal adjustment by indebted sovereign borrowers. There is a common global interest in a rebalancing of trade and capital flows so that emerging countries do not find themselves lending vast sums to rich nations. And there is a common global interest in bringing the skills of the populations of poor states fully into the international economy. ... What world leaders need somehow to rediscover in Canada this weekend is the sense of common economic and financial interest that briefly prevailed in late 2008 and early 2009. But there is a big job to be done at home too. What leaders need to explain to their truculent domestic populations is that, whether people like it or not, in an open, global economy, we really are all in it together." (25/06/2010)

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Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

The US's relations with Europe have cooled down since Barack Obama became president, the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes commenting on the upcoming G20 summit in Toronto: "This policy takes no account of old alliances or outdated sentimentalities. Above all the Europeans, who as Nato allies have been privileged partners for years, are being made to feel this now. ... Obama may have inspired new sympathy for the US among Europe's peoples but gradually the complaints are beginning to swell in the state chancelleries of the old world: This president disdainfully measures Europe only by what it can do for him. Obama's negotiations have brazenly wiped from the table almost all the European ideas about regulating the financial markets. Germany is being condemned as a parasite of the global economy. ... Even on Afghanistan Obama acted without consulting his partners: the impertinent Stanley McChrystal was not just a US general but also a Nato commander." (25/06/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Europe, » U.S.
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