DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel says a United Nations economic council may be needed to help tackle the sluggish global economy.
Merkel made her suggestion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Deutsche Welle reported Saturday.
She said Friday that cooperation among international financial bodies has failed to prevent the worst financial crisis in decades.
"This may even lead to a UN Economic Council, just as the Security Council was created after World War II," she told the World Economic Forum.
Merkel also called on government leaders from around the world to take responsibility for their economies and exert more control of the markets.
"The state is the guardian of the economic and social order so it has a very clear role. Competition is necessary but it is something that also needs a certain discipline and principles," she was quoted as saying. "Freedom is a necessary precondition for market forces to operate. But individual freedom needs to be limited if it takes freedom away from others."
