Mr Moderator. If you cant put my links on auto upload, I will unsubscribe imeediately. YOU ARE HAVING UNFAIR ADVANTAGE. THNX. HS
On 3/30/09, Haresh Soneji <[email protected]> wrote: > > Obama interview: Full text > > Published: March 30 2009 00:45 | Last updated: March 30 2009 00:45 > > *Lionel Barber, Chrystia Freeland and Edward Luce of the Financial Times > interviewed President Obama in Washington on March 27 2009. This is the > transcript of the interview. > > * > > *FT: Thank you for doing the interview Mr President.* > > Obama: My pleasure, I read the Financial Times before other people read the > Financial Times. Now it’s trendy and everybody carries around a Financial > Times. > > *FT: Let’s talk about the G-20. What will be your benchmarks for success?* > > Obama: The most important task for all of us is to deliver a strong message > of unity in the face of crisis. There’s some constituent parts to that. > Number one, all the participating countries recognise that in the face a > severe global contraction we have to each take steps to promote economic > growth and trade; that means a robust approach to stimulus, fighting off > protectionism. > > Next, we have to make sure that we are all taking serious steps to deal > with the problems in the banking sector and the financial markets and that > means having a series of steps to deal with toxic assets and to ensure > adequate capital in the banking sector. > > Third, a regulatory reform agenda that prevents these kinds of systemic > risks from occurring again and that requires each country to take initiative > but it also requires coordination across borders because we have a global, > we have global capital markets, and that will include a wide range of steps, > additional monitoring authority coordination of supervisors and various > countries dealing with offshore tax havens. Making sure that… > > *FT: Is that a problem? Offshore tax havens.* > > Obama: Well, its something that is going to be discussed. I know that in my > discussion I think there is a concern that we don’t want people to be able > to game the system or circumvent regulated capital markets and making sure > our regulations are targeting not just banks but any institution that could > pose a potential systemic risk to the system. > > A final area of concerted action involves international financial > institutions and their capacity to assist emerging markets in developing > countries at a time when those markets could be under even more severe > strain then some of the more wealthy nations and I think making sure that > institutions like the IMF have the resources to provide such assistance that > world food supplies are not imperilled as a consequence of the break down in > global trade, those are all issues that I think have to be addressed. > > Now, I’m confident based on conversations that I have this week with Angela > Merkel, Sarkozy, as well as with Kevin Rudd as well as conversations that I > have had previously with Gordon Brown and others, that there is already a > rough consensus there that by the time we arrive in London we will have > taken, we will have made significant progress in moving in the right > direction. > > *FT: Let’s just talk about the stimulus for a moment. At the moment there > has been a 1.8 per cent GDP boost in 2009 by the G20 nations. There are > concerns among economists that you need a sustainable stimulus and therefore > 2010 is key. Will you get secure commitments from say, the Europeans, for > action if necessary in 2010?* > > Obama: Two points I want to make on this, Number one: The press has tended > to frame this as an “either or approach”. There are some G20 participants > that are arguing fiercely for stimulus, others for regulation. What I have > consistently argued is that what is needed is a “both and approach”. We need > stimulus and we need regulation. We need to deal with the problems right in > front of us and we also need to make sure we’re taking steps to prevent > these types of breakdowns from happening again. > > With respect to the stimulus, there is going to be an accord that G20 > countries will do what is necessary to promote growth and trade. I think > there is a legitimate concern that, would most countries already having > initiated significant stimulus packages that we need to see how they work. > Obviously I admire economists. I have a bunch of them on my staff. But to > start making a whole host of plans about next year, without having better > information on how the current stimulus efforts are working, is something > that I think is of concern. > > So what we are going to see is what the United States has led on this. We > have been very aggressive in terms of our recovery package. The way our > recovery package is structured, money is going out both in 2009 and 2010. > But each country has its own constraints, its own political rhythms and what > we want to just make sure is that everybody is doing something, everybody > recognises the need to make progress on this front and that we are prepared > to step into the breech should current efforts prove to be inadequate. > > *FT: I mean that is really the great challenge, in managing this crisis - > bridging the gap between what is economically absolutely necessary and what > is politically possible. How do you bridge that?* > > Obama: That’s one gap. Then there’s a gap in ideas about how to approach a > crisis like this, especially among economists - although on the issue of the > stimulus there seems to be much broader consensus among both conservative > and liberal economists that stimulus is appropriate. > > You know, the financial crisis hit the United States first; it is now being > experienced around the world. Not surprisingly we took some very aggressive > action earlier than some other countries because its impact had been felt > most immediately on Wall Street. As other countries start experiencing these > drastic declines in GDP and in their exports I think that the sense of > urgency has grown and you are going to start seeing a convergence. In all > countries there is an understandable tension between the steps that are > needed to kick start the economy and the fact that many of these steps are > very expensive and tax payers have a healthy scepticism about spending too > much of their money, particularly when it is perceived that some of the > money is being spent not on them but on others who they perceive may have > helped precipitate the crisis. So that is always going to be a challenge and > what’s also difficult is the fact that the policies we initiate all take > time to take effect and by its very nature politics looks for more > instantaneous gratification. > > But I am confident that the American people, and I think people around the > world, are looking to its leaders to lead and that some of the steps we have > already taken are starting to bear fruit. We’re seeing glimmers of > stabilisation in the economies and we haven’t yet seen… > > *FT: Glimmers of stabilisation?* > > Obama: Here in the United States for example, you’re starting to see > pockets of stabilisation in the housing market. Our housing plan has led to > the lowest interest rates, mortgage rates in a very long time and you are > starting to see a huge number of refinancing in the banking sector. In > certain select markets, like the market for auto loans or the market for > student loans, Secretary Tim Geithner’s efforts to provide a market for > asset-backed securities has helped and so we still have a long way to go, > but I am confident that if we are persistent and we don’t approach this with > a thought that there is a silver bullet out there but instead are willing to > try a range of methods to deliver on the economic growth in jobs that we > will get out of this current crisis. > > *FT: You mentioned the risks and dangers of protectionism. 73 separate > measures have been identified by the World Bank since the last G20 summit so > what again in practical terms can your administration do at the G20 to stop > this - and I’m thinking to whether there are real risks that people worry in > Europe a lot about what is going on, on Capitol Hill, with “Buy American” > provisions.* > > Obama: Well first of all I think it’s important to note that here in the > United States, despite some protectionist rhetoric and very real economic > frustration growing out of the collapse of the financial markets and the > huge rise in unemployment that the “Buy American” provision that was in the > stimulus package was specifically written that had to be consistent with > WTO. That the Mexican trucking provision is now subject to negotiations to > ensure that we don’t see an escalating trade war. > > I have sent a very clear signal that now is not that time to offer hints of > protectionism and I will continue to discourage efforts to close off the US > market. I think that in a democracy, there are always going to be some loose > ends out there. That’s true here, that’s true around the world but overall I > don’t think that we’ve seen a huge rush to protectionism that that isn’t the > rhetoric that is emanating from the leaders that will be gathering in > London. > > And to the extent that the American people or Europeans or Asians, > Africans, Latin Americans all feel confident that their leaders are doing > everything that they can to encourage and promote economic [..] and that > they have their populations interests at heart, I think we are going to be > able to hold the line on any significant slippage. > > *FT: I wondered Mr President whether you’re concerned that, particularly > following the AIG bonus controversy, there’s some danger that confidence > that business has in the rule of law in the United States has been shaken > and that could hinder some of these recovery measures?* > > Obama: I think it is a source of concern in some quarters. To the extent > that the captains of industry recognise very legitimate frustrations that > the American people feel when they read about huge bonuses going to members > of firms that are receiving large tax payer bailouts. I think they can take > steps to lessen that danger and I met with some bankers today and it was a > constructive conversation but one of the points that I made is that a time > when everybody is needing to sacrifice there has to be a similar sense of > sacrifice on the part of those various sectors of the economy that helped to > precipitate this crisis and to the extent that they’re showing restraint > that compensation packages are structured so that there is some deferral > until money is returned to tax payers and the economy recovers that will be > good for everybody. That will put [...] in a stronger position to help them. > > > But you know, keep in mind that although there are going to be, I think, > emotional reactions to and legitimate grievances around some of these > issues, the United States has been the world’s most successful economy > precisely because of a long standing respect for legal contracts and orderly > transparent and open market operations and that’s not going to change. > > *FT: Mr President, given the rising tendency to populism on Capitol Hill > and elsewhere, do you feel confident that at a time like this you can go to > Congress and ask for the kind of backing of capitalisation that most > economists say will be required in the near future?* > > Obama: I think it is very important for us to show that the money that has > already been authorised is being well spent. That it is helping to result in > loans going to small business and large business that are in turn investing > and creating jobs. If voters perceive that it’s a one way street that we are > just pouring more and more money into institutions and seeing no return > other than avoiding catastrophe then it’s harder to make an argument for > further intervention. > > If on the other hand people start saying that they can refinance their > house, and their child can get a student loan and that small business is > able to retain its credit line, so that there is a tangible and meaningful > result from our measures, then I think we can win back the confidence of the > American public. > > Copyright <http://www.ft.com/servicestools/help/copyright> The Financial > Times Limited 2009 > > > -- > Best Regards, > Haresh Soneji > > +++++++++++++++++++++ > END PIECE - CRY PLEDGE > "Before anything else, I'm an Indian. And so is this little child. The > rights I enjoy as a citizen of this free country are hers too. She has a > right to be free. She has a right to be happy. But I'm going to fight for > her because she has the right to be a child. I'm going to fight for her > every single day, every single moment. With my skills. With my resources. > With my heart. I'm going to fight for her because I can. And she can't." > +++++++++++++++++++++ > > > > > -- Best Regards, Haresh Soneji +++++++++++++++++++++ END PIECE - CRY PLEDGE "Before anything else, I'm an Indian. And so is this little child. The rights I enjoy as a citizen of this free country are hers too. She has a right to be free. She has a right to be happy. But I'm going to fight for her because she has the right to be a child. I'm going to fight for her every single day, every single moment. With my skills. With my resources. With my heart. I'm going to fight for her because I can. And she can't." +++++++++++++++++++++ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. 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