Markets may have bounced back in Wednesday's session, but don't be fooled. Slowing economic growth, inflation and debt crises are still very much in focus and causing major volatility. The head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, is urging European countries, Japan and the United States to take action and avoid dragging down the global economy.
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The head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, is urging Europeancountries, Japan and the United States to take action and avoiddragging down the global economy.
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Robert Zoellick, said on Wednesday the world had entered a new economic danger zone. He said European nations, Japan and the United States all need to make hard decisions to avoid dragging down the global economy.
Zoellick said, "Europe, Japan, and the United States must be responsible stakeholders, too. They have procrastinated for too long on taking the difficult decisions, narrowing what choices are now left to a painful few."
Zoellick said European countries were resisting difficult truths about their common responsibilities, Japan had held off on much-needed economic and social reforms, and political differences in the U.S. were overshadowing efforts to cut record budget deficits.
He added that as those very countries had called on China to be a responsible global stakeholder as a rising economic power, so should they act responsibly to get a handle on their own economic problems.
Zoellick said, "If we do not get ahead of events; if we do not adapt to change; if we do not rise above short-term political tactics or recognize that with power comes responsibility, then we will drift in dangerous currents. That is the lesson of history for all of us, developed and emerging economies alike."
Zoellick made the speech at George Washington University, ahead of meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund next week.
The upcoming meetings of global finance and development leaders in Washington will focus on Europe's debt crisis and the risk of a Greek default, which has led to growing alarm in the financial markets.