2008 G20 Washington summit

G20 Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy 1st G20 summit
14–15 November 2008 2nd →
The G20 in Washington, D.C.
Host country	United States of America
Venue(s)	National Building Museum
Cities	Washington, D.C.
Participants	G20
Chair	George W. Bush
Key points
Common understanding of the root causes of the global economic crisis Review of countries' past and future actions addressing the immediate crisis and contributing to growth Agreement on common principles for reforming financial markets Action plan to implement those principles and to develop further specific recommendations for later review Reaffirmation of commitment to free market principles

The 2008 G20 Washington Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy was the first meeting, held in Washington, D.C., United States. It achieved general agreement amongst the G20 on how to cooperate in key areas so as to strengthen economic growth, deal with the 2007–2008 financial crisis, and lay the foundation for reform to avoid similar crises in the future.^[1][2] The Summit resulted from an initiative by the French and European Union President, Nicolas Sarkozy, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.^[3][4] In connection with the G7 finance ministers on October 11, 2008, United States President George W. Bush stated that the next meeting of the G20 would be important in finding solutions to the economic crisis. Since many economists and politicians called for a new Bretton Woods system (a monetary management which was instituted after World War II) to overhaul the world's financial structure, the meeting has sometimes been described by the media as Bretton Woods II.^[1]