Bush: Preserve 'democratic capitalism'

CAMP DAVID, Md., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush said Saturday that any international financial plan must "preserve the foundations of democratic capitalism."

Bush, accompanied by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, announced that he would convene an international summit that would include developed and undeveloped countries, The New York Times reported. The European leaders had been pressing him to call for a meeting of the Group of Eight.

A White House official told the Times that the Bush proposal meant that a plan for a U.N. economic summit is now irrelevant. Sarkozy got agreement for the U.N. meeting from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier Saturday.

The meeting at Camp David suggested a fault line between Europe and the United States. Sarkozy said that the world economic crisis is a chance to regulate financial institutions.

"This may be a great opportunity if we do not fall back into the hateful practices of the past, practices that have led us exactly where we are right now," Sarkozy said.

But Bush appeared wary of increased regulation. He said that the summit should "preserve the foundations of democratic capitalism -- a commitment to free markets, free enterprise and free trade."

No date has been set for the meeting. An official told the Times it would be before the end of December and that Bush's successor would be invited to contribute if the summit takes place after the election.