US President Barack Obama urged fellow leaders yesterday to agree swift action at next month’s G20 summit to spur global recovery.
His call came one day after Washington unveiled a plan to soak up toxic assets plaguing credit markets.
In an article for German newspaper Die Welt, Obama called for an agreement on stimulus measures at the April 2 meeting in London which he said could revive economic growth.
“First, we must take quick measures to stimulate growth,” Obama wrote, according to the German translation of his comments.
The US and Europe have been at odds over whether more spending was needed on top of what governments have already adopted, with many Europeans arguing the stress should now shift to strengthening market regulation.
But Obama suggested it was too early to close the taps with public funds.
“If the London summit contributes towards immediately initiating joint measures, we can smooth the path for a secure recovery and prevent future crises,” he wrote.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday detailed a raft of incentives for private investors to buy up to as much as US$1 trillion of troubled assets that have strangled global debt markets and pushed the world economy into its worst slump since the 1930s.
By bringing in private investors, the US government hopes finally to establish prices for the assets that have languished on banks’ books and constricted the flow of credit.
Relief that the details of a long-awaited scheme were finally out and hopes that it will attract enough buyers to unclog credit markets spurred a stock market rally. But analysts poring over the plan’s details wondered whether the scheme would reach a critical mass to spur economic recovery and some highlighted its lopsided nature — the potential for profits for private investors and the brunt of potential losses being borne by the taxpayer.
Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman slammed Geithner’s plan in his Monday column. He said it was a rehash of a “cash-for-trash” proposal the Bush administration floated last fall, and that the incentives meant investors could profit if asset values increase but “walk away” if they fall.
Meanwhile, Obama is urging a more tempered response to public furor over bonuses paid to executives of the publicly rescued insurance giant American International Group (AIG). He was virtually certain to use a televised news conference last night to continue an effort that began over the weekend: cooling the anti-AIG ferocity that threatens to undermine his efforts to bail out the financial sector.
Also See: AIG employees to return US$50 million
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College