UK's Brown-G7 to Discuss U.S. Deficit Reduction

[Rose Siding]

LONDON (Reuters) - Group of Seven finance ministers meeting in London this weekend will examine what steps the United States is taking to reduce its deficits, British Chancellor of the Excheckr Gordon Brown said on Wednesday.

But he added that other rich nations also had a responsibility for fostering economic growth and stability.

"When the G7 Finance Ministers meet this weekend we will look at how each continent can contribute to that -- Europe by economic reform, the United States by tackling its deficits and Japan by financial sector change."

Many commentators are worried that the giant U.S. current account and budget deficits are a threat to overall economic stability and investor concern over them was a chief reason for the dollar's slide late last year.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7514233&src=rss/ElectionCoverage

Last week, Snow's demands sounded nutty:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Thursday the Bush administration backs a strong dollar and wants overseas trading partners to speed up their growth to help shrink a record U.S. trade deficit.

Barely a week ahead of a Group of Seven finance chiefs' meeting in London where the United States is expected to come under fire over its deficits, Snow said he will tell the G7 they have "a shared responsibility" for the U.S. trade gap.

"The current account deficit ... basically reflects differential growth rates between the United States and our trading partners," Snow said, and if Europe and Japan grew faster they would buy more U.S.-made goods.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1189830&mesg_id=1189830

[shrike]

1. So it's our responsibility to shrink our deficit?

Why am I not surprised?