Obama tries to rally world to cope with downturn

[April 01, 2009]  LONDON (AP) -- President Barack Obama sought Wednesday to rally the world's top and emerging powers to help cope with a global economic downturn, saying, "We can only meet this challenge together."

The president also disputed criticism that the United States was feuding with other nations about the need to pump more money into economic stimulus policies, saying any differences are "vastly overstated."

"I am absolutely confident that this meeting will reflect enormous consensus about the need to work in concert to deal with these problems," Obama said before the G-20 economic crisis summit.

Obama prodded nations to spur growth and work together on regulatory reform, and not fall into the kind of protectionism and other mistakes that helped fuel the Great Depression.

"That is a mistake that we cannot afford to repeat," Obama said alongside British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Asked about whether the U.S. was to blame for causing the economic slide, Obama said he preferred to look ahead, not back. He said he had no worries about the stability of the U.S. economic system.

"I think that there is a vibrancy to our economic model, a durability to our political model, and a set of ideals that has sustained even through the most difficult times," Obama said.

Brown, too, sought to play up consensus. "As President Obama has said, never before has the world come together in this way to deal with an economic crisis," Brown said.

He added, "We are within a few hours, I think, of agreeing a global plan for economic recovery and reform."

Obama sought to put a human face on the suffering economy, often turning his exchange with reporters back to those who have lost their jobs and their homes. Pressed about whether consumers should be saving or spending during the crisis, Obama said that was a decision for families.

But he added that people should consider spending now to invest in their future.

"Basing decisions around fear is not the right way to go," Obama said. "We are going to get through this difficult time."

Obama is meeting separately later with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Officials in both countries have called for a new global currency to end the dollar's dominance.

Dramatic in itself, the suggestion is also a sign of broader questions about whether U.S. status in the world could be threatened by the rise of a competing power bloc. Still, it's not likely that the new currency idea will gain immediate traction.

Both meetings are being held at the U.S. ambassador's residence, with the news media only allowed into the room before the talks take place and without the ability to ask questions.

The G-20 meetings open with a working dinner Wednesday night and continue throughout Thursday.

Before then, Obama is squeezing in talks with Brown's main rival -- David Cameron, the leader of Britain's opposition Conservative Party. In the afternoon, Obama heads to Buckingham Palace for an audience with Queen Elizabeth II.

With U.S.-Russia relations having deteriorated in recent years to lowest point since the early 1980s, the Obama administration has announced its desire to "press the reset button." The Kremlin has made clear it believes it is up to Washington to open the effort with concessions.

Obama has indicated less enthusiasm than predecessor George W. Bush for a proposed new U.S. missile defense system based in Eastern Europe, an idea that has enraged Russia. Another key area of discussion is the possible replacement of the dying 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which limited the world's two largest nuclear arsenals. START expires Dec. 5. Obama and Medvedev are expected to announce talks on a new pact.

They would be the first major arms control negotiations since 1997. But a thicket of disputes makes meeting the deadline unlikely.

Obama's talks with Hu are sure to address Beijing's concerns about the safety of its position as Washington's biggest foreign creditor, with about $1 trillion in U.S. government debt. For the U.S., there are fears that any Chinese flight away from those investments would erode the U.S. ability to spend more on recession-fighting.

For China, unusually forthright of late in challenging the U.S.-led global order, its goal is a greater say in how international finance is regulated and managed.

Beijing and Washington also have sparred over military matters.

[Associated Press; By JENNIFER LOVEN]

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