World leaders gathered in Washington Saturday to discuss plans to combat the global economic crisis. Leaders of twenty countries acknowledged that a failure of market oversight in countries like the United States had precipitated the financial crisis, but the leaders put off most major decisions for another summit to be held after Barack Obama takes office.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown: “We are agreed on the need for major reform of the international financial system, and it’s necessary to give confidence that we are cleaning up the system, based on the principles of transparency and accountability, better regulation integrity and international cooperation. We will consider the detailed proposals in detail at our next meeting before the end of April. This includes proposals to establish colleges of regulators, improved accounting standards, better disclosure of toxic assets, and reform of the credit rating agencies.”