France-Uk to hold "New capitalism" summit in Jan. Paris, Bush surprised not informed

WASHINGTON: President Nicolas Sarkozy of France left the summit meeting of 20 nations on the financial crisis last weekend in Washington declaring that it had changed the world. Then he went home and announced that he was holding another summit meeting in a few weeks on the same topic.

Sarkozy did not tell President George W. Bush or other leaders about his plans while he was here, according to European and American officials.

A senior European diplomat said that he found the whole exercise "amazing," while an American official said "amazing" was a charitable description.

French officials said the Paris meeting, which is scheduled for Jan. 8 and 9 is to be co-hosted by the former British prime minister Tony Blair, was merely a conference - one intended to bring together political leaders and prominent thinkers to discuss issues like globalization and the values of capitalism.

But the dispute epitomizes what has become an increasingly tense trans-Atlantic contest over summitry and the global economy. While much of this is posturing and preening by ambitious leaders, it also reflects an underlying debate about how to fix a fractured world economy.

Sarkozy's fervor for summit meetings raises hackles in Washington Hopes dim for quick bailout for U.S. automakersU.S. consumer prices and housing starts slump"Sarkozy claimed he put a bell on the American cat," said Simon Johnson, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. "He said the U.S. had agreed to a whole range of negotiations. But he didn't come in and negotiate these things. Then he went home and claimed victory."

Sarkozy has made clear that he is determined to keep the initiative on what the French regard as a long-overdue discussion of American-style capitalism and its excesses.

After the meeting concluded on Saturday, he was not shy about proclaiming that the era of American hegemony in world finance was over. "America is the No. 1 power in the world," he declared. "Is it the only power? No, it isn't. We are in a new world."