MEPs' diagnosis on economy ahead of Washington G20

The financial crisis has become a major threat to the economies, jobs and lives of millions worldwide. This weekend in Washington arguably the 20 most important countries in the world will meet to try and come up with a response. We asked leading MEPs on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee what the world should do.
 
The head of the committee Pervenche Berès wants the dealings of tax havens addressed. The French Socialist also wants a radical re-think of incentives that encourage short term investment and risk taking.
 
The Vice-chair of the committee, British Conservative John Purvis, would like to see the International Monetary Fund “revitalised” so it could be a last resort for countries.
 
Banning hedge funds, closure of tax havens and reversing the privatisation of pensions are 3 steps advocated by German MEP Sahra Wagenknecht of the left GUE/NGL group. She also wants the public ownership of shares if governments recapitalise banks. Bulgarian Liberal Mariela Baeva would like to see government-enforced transparency of financial markets.
 
For the Greens Heide Rühle said that “as long as a non-regulated market can co-exist with a regulated one, the objective of financial stability can't be effectively achieved!”
 
“An accountable, democratic, multilateral framework” is what is needed according to Dutch Socialist Ieke Van den Burg.
 
We asked MEPs whether “capitalism is dead, dying, or just in the operation theatre?”
 
For Ms Berès “what we are witnessing now is the end of capitalism in the Reagan-Thatcher model. Capitalism which is purely financial, speculative and disconnected from the real economy and the producer has shown that it was not viable.”
 
“It is not dead and must be revitalised. It is the only way to restore the level of economic growth which is necessary to avoid devastating conflict in the World,” said Mr Purvis.
 
For one MEP, capitalism is undergoing surgery - but it could survive. Zsolt Becsey of the EPP-ED group said capitalism “is in the operating theatre. The most important thing is to block those tendencies where extraordinary profit hunger can destroy whole economic sectors.”
 
According the Ms Wagenknecht the whole system is in the terminal ward. “The debate about a political and economic alternative to capitalism therefore needs to be put squarely on the European agenda.” 
 
A medical analogy for capitalism was also taken up by Ms Van den Burg. “It needs to live much more healthily and prevent the disease before it breaks out: with continuous exercise, healthy food, and so on.”
  
For Ms Rühle, “the financial crisis is the outcome of an excess of deregulation.  It remains to be seen now if there is enough political willingness to draw the lessons of the crisis. The danger is of course to go back to 'business as usual'.”
 
Ms Baeva made a historical observation that “the system, to be operative, has been changing and adjusting concepts, rules, and social relationships to try and survive in rough waters. In disturbing times, when the failures of the system are obvious - they must be remedied”.