World economic leaders to convene in Washington

World economic leaders have agreed to meet in Washington on Nov. 15 for the first of a series of meetings to plan a unified approach to the global financial crisis, the Reuters international news service is reporting. U.S. President George W. Bush will host the international summit, which he advocated to develop a consistent strategy to preclude a worldwide recession. Reuters said Bush agreed to host the summit after pressure for changes to the world economic system from members of the European Union, which includes some of the closest allies of the United States. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said leaders of G20 countries, which includes the largest industrial powers and emerging economies, will discuss the progress of efforts to address the crisis, analyze the cause of the credit crisis and collapse of housing markets, and begin to develop recommendations. The G20 includes the Group of Seven major industrialized nations and countries such as China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and India. Leaders of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations and the Financial Stability Forum also are invited. "Everybody will come with their ideas and the president recognizes that every country is going to have a responsibility but not every country is going to have the same solution," Perino said, according to Reuters."We don't know what that president will want or not want to do, and so we'll just leave that open for now." Plans for the summit were finalized just four days after Bush met with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. Sarkozy said the meeting would be the first in a series "aimed at rebuilding the international financial system and making sure the current crisis does not happen again thanks to better regulation and more efficient surveillance of all players." The White House said Washington was chosen as the site of the summit because foreign leaders would have their embassies nearby.