Bush champions free market economics
Sunday, 26 Oct 2008 10:32
The US president has said the economic crisis must not result in the US losing its faith in the free market
US president George Bush has said the operations of free markets are still essential to long term economic prosperity.
In a radio address to the country, the US head of state explained the actions taken by the US government as well as efforts by international leaders to guarantee the health of the world economy.
His statement comes a week after US federal reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, the man credited with using low interest rates to boost the US' economic growth, said he was "very distressed" to find a flaw in the free markets ideology.
Mr Bush said the need to deal with the current economic crisis must not result in people losing their faith in the economic system on which US growth was based.
He said: "As we focus on responses to our short-term challenges, our nations must also recommit to the fundamentals of long-term economic growth -- free markets, free enterprise, and free trade. Open market policies have lifted standards of living and helped millions of people around the world escape the grip of poverty.
"These policies have shown themselves time and time again to be the surest path to creating jobs, increasing commerce, and fostering progress. And this moment of global economic uncertainty would be precisely the wrong time to reject such proven methods for creating prosperity and hope," he added.
The US president added that a summit of 20 of the world's developed and developing nations, the G20, will be held this week in which the heads of international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, United Nations and the Financial Stability Forum would coordinate efforts to deal with the economic turmoil in the markets.
Previously, the US congress has passed legislation setting aside $700 billion (£440 billion) to buy up the poor loans held by US banks and has also pumped $250 billion (£157 billion) in capital into troubled financial institutions.