President Obama op-ed: A firewall to stop Europe’s crisis spreading [View All]

[ProSense]

A firewall to stop Europe’s crisis spreading

By Barack Obama

When leaders of the largest economies meet next week in France, our citizens will be watching for the same sense of common purpose that allowed us to rescue the global economy two years ago from a financial crisis that was sparked by years of irresponsibility.

Because of the co-ordinated action the G20 took then, the global economy began to grow again. Emerging economies rebounded. In the US, we’ve had 19 straight months of private sector job growth and added more than 2.5m private sector jobs.

Still, progress has not come fast enough and today the global recovery remains fragile. Around the world, hundreds of millions of people are unemployed. Disruptions in oil supplies, the tragic earthquake in Japan, and Europe’s financial crisis have contributed to the slowdown. Emerging economies have begun to slow. Global demand is weakening.

Our challenge is clear. We must stay focused on the strong, sustainable and balanced growth that boosts global demand and creates jobs and opportunity for our people. This requires action in several areas.

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