But Bush also persuaded the leaders to sign off on one of his signature themes, that free markets are the engine of economic growth.
"We recognize that these reforms will only be successful if grounded in a commitment to free market principles," the statement said. "Recognizing the necessity to improve financial sector regulation, we must avoid over-regulation that would hamper economic growth."
Although firm deadlines were few, the leaders did agree to take actions before the spring in a number of areas.
One was a commitment to develop a global accounting standard to make it easier to assess risk across countries. And the leaders agreed to form a kind of "college" of regulators from different countries who would meet regularly with multinational financial institutions to better assess whether their practices pose a transnational risk.
But in the end, leaders insisted that most action would be taken by the countries themselves, not by international groupings such as the G-20. Whether that would be more or less reassuring to people around the world remained to be seen.
"We have to take account of diverse situations. . . . We cannot talk about one recipe across the board," said Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.
--
maura.reynolds@latimes.com
