"An immoral system"
Opening the two-day conference, Mr. Sarkozy blamed financial speculators for encouraging a system fuelled on debt. He called financial capitalism based on speculation "an immoral system" that had "perverted the logic of capitalism."
"It's a system where wealth goes to the wealthy, where work is devalued, where production is devalued, where entrepreneurial spirit is devalued," he said.
Paris: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday challenged the U.S. economic model saying the world should examine the massive debt accumulated by that country and other economic imbalances instead of focussing only on problems caused by financial markets. She was speaking at a conference on the future of capitalism jointly organised here by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
The meet brought together economists, heads of government, and leading members of civil society. Nobel Prize winning economists Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz were among the speakers.
France's ambition
This conference is a reflection of France's ambition to create a new model for capitalism in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Initially billed as a summit, the Paris meeting titled "New World: Values, Development and Regulation" was downgraded to a conference with no decision-making powers after the Czech Republic, which took over the European Union's six-month rotating presidency on January 1, expressed some irritation at continued French grandstanding. Mr. Sarkozy wants to play a continued leadership role in the eurozone.
Opening the two-day conference, Mr. Sarkozy blamed financial speculators for encouraging a system fuelled on debt. He called financial capitalism based on speculation "an immoral system" that had "perverted the logic of capitalism."
"It's a system where wealth goes to the wealthy, where work is devalued, where production is devalued, where entrepreneurial spirit is devalued," he said.
Paris: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday challenged the U.S. economic model saying the world should examine the massive debt accumulated by that country and other economic imbalances instead of focussing only on problems caused by financial markets. She was speaking at a conference on the future of capitalism jointly organised here by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
The meet brought together economists, heads of government, and leading members of civil society. Nobel Prize winning economists Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz were among the speakers.
France's ambition
This conference is a reflection of France's ambition to create a new model for capitalism in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Initially billed as a summit, the Paris meeting titled "New World: Values, Development and Regulation" was downgraded to a conference with no decision-making powers after the Czech Republic, which took over the European Union's six-month rotating presidency on January 1, expressed some irritation at continued French grandstanding. Mr. Sarkozy wants to play a continued leadership role in the eurozone.
