Obama, Brown Strike Similar Notes On Economy

过去数十年国际社会对宽松监管的金融市场和不受约束的国际贸易的优点达成了共识，但这一观念在二十国集团(G20)伦敦峰会上遭受了批评。英国首相布朗(Gordon Brown)宣布，原先的“华盛顿共识”已经过时；以此支持了国际经济正在经历变革的观点。Getty Images英国首相布朗和美国总统奥巴马美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)较为委婉，但他也批评这一理论是“千篇一律的模式”，导致各国领导人忽视了相关风险。他在峰会结束后的新闻发布会上说，眼下这样的危机提醒我们，我们必须制定一些常识性的规则。与他们的行动相比，这些领导人的措辞倒是更加尖锐。G20决意加强一些领域的监管，尤其是对冲基金领域，也没有像过去那样，为国际货币基金组织(IMF)的援助附带调整财政或货币政策等条件。不过总的来说，此次峰会并没有从上世纪八十年代以来一直引导决策者的传统经济理论如自由贸易和开放资本市场等原则上大步后退；这些理论被统称为“华盛顿共识”。原先担任英国财政大臣的布朗就是这些理论多年的实践者。奥巴马在竞选期间曾感慨美国的全球影响力日益下降，他在周四不失时机地表示，自己的领导风格正在使这种影响力逐步恢复。奥巴马在一个新闻发布会上表示，我认为我当选总统后，我们正开始看到美国在世界的地位有所恢复。他表示，美国仍然是全球最大的经济体和最强大的军事力量。较之布朗宣布峰会成果的新闻发布会，奥巴马周四的发布会吸引了明显更多的关注。但布朗的助手似乎并不在意。他们说，只要有奥巴马参与，谈判就会变得对美国和英国更轻松。在周三的各国首脑晚宴上，奥巴马详细谈论了此类会议的失败历史以及达成共识的重要性。从布朗的角度来说，他在此次峰会上达成了许多目标：揭示全球经济面临风险的预警体系为国际货币基金组织注资5,000亿美元（他称之为全球刺激）以及规模2,500亿美元的贸易融资。布朗说，我认为随着一个国际合作不断进步的新时代的奠基，一个新世界秩序正在逐渐浮现。Jonathan Weisman / Alistair MacDonald相关阅读奥巴马承认美国对经济危机负有责任 2009-04-02美俄首脑同意重启核裁军谈判 2009-04-02


The decades-old agreement about the benefits of lightly regulated financial markets and unfettered international commerce came under attack at the Group of 20 summit.'The old Washington consensus is over,' declared U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, lending his voice to the idea that changes are coming to the international economy.President Barack Obama didn't go as far, but he did critique the concept as 'a cookie-cutter model' in which national leaders were complacent about the risks. 'A crisis like this reminds us that we just have to put in some common-sense rules of the road,' he said at a press conference bringing the summit to a close.Their words were more strident than their actions. The G-20 resolved to toughen regulation in some areas, notably on hedge funds, and didn't tie aid from the International Monetary Fund to changes in fiscal or monetary policy, as was past practice.But in general, the summit didn't retreat from much of the economic orthodoxy that has guided policy makers since the 1980s, such as free trade and open capital markets, a collection of ideas broadly known as the 'Washington consensus.' Mr. Brown, as the U.K.'s finance minister, was for years a practitioner.Mr. Obama, who lamented in his presidential campaign the U.S.'s diminished influence in the world, took to the stage on Thursday to say that his style of leadership is bringing that power back.'I would like to think that with my election, we're starting to see some restoration of America's standing in the world,' he said at a news conference, touting the U.S.'s continued status as the world's largest economy with the most powerful military.Mr. Obama's news conference Thursday attracted a much larger crowd than Mr. Brown's, intended to announce the summit's results. But aides to Mr. Brown seemed unconcerned. Once Mr. Obama got involved, they said, negotiations became easier for the U.S.-British position. At the leaders' dinner Wednesday night, Mr. Obama spoke at length on the history of failure at such gatherings and the importance of achieving consensus.Mr. Brown, for his part, got many of his G-20 wishes: An early-warning system to spot risks to the global economy, $500 billion for an IMF fund that he can call a global stimulus, and trade credits valued at $250 billion. 'I think a new world order is emerging with the foundation of a new progressive era of international cooperation,' he said.Jonathan Weisman / Alistair MacDonald