Snap Fact #184

The G20 meetings were held on April 2009 in London. The meetings highlighted global economic problems, with a focus on addressing and proposing solutions to these problems. With a backdrop of major street protests, the leaders of the world’s most powerful countries discussed the serious economic crises facing the world. President Obama participated personally in this process. He met with various world leaders from Russia, China, France, England, etc. (see participant list below) to further the interests of the United States. Although a newcomer to the Presidency, and a newcomer to this group, President Obama was treated with deference and he immediately became the de facto leader of the pack.

The G-20 addressed the worldwide economic recession. President Obama negotiated with other world leaders and helped forge an historic response to the magnitude of the problems. Among other things, there was a pledge of 1.1 trillion dollars, in pursuit of global economic recovery. Prior to this meeting, there had not been such a coming together of the nations of the world to address these worldwide problems. 

Some of the solutions offered were attempts to revive the world economy, restore lending, impose tougher rules on banks, have a bigger role for the International Monetary Fund (by tripling it's capacity), provide more help for developing countries, and avoid protectionism.

President Obama underscored the need for growth and job creation, as well as loans by banks. The President stressed reforming the regulatory system that had failed to curb the recession. While he stressed helping developing countries, he pointed out that these were parts of the markets that would be able to purchase goods, thus highlighting the interconnectedness of these endeavors.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_G-20_London_Summit