French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde refuses to place blame but says
that the refusal of the U.S. Treasury to rescue investment bank Lehman
Brothers is the event that
led to the current economic crisis.

WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 10, 2008) REUTERS -
French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde on Friday (October 10)
refused to place blame on anyone for the global economic crisis, but did say
that the refusal of the U.S. Treasury to rescue investment bank Lehman
Brothers precipitated the crisis.
"I believe that decision precipitated a series of events that have
unfolded, that are unfolding that have precipitated further additional and
deeper financial crisis," Lagarde said on Friday speaking at the Council
on Foreign Relations in Washington.
Lagarde said on that the economies would need to establish better
rules and that actors operating outside the scope of regulations, in the
sub-prime sector for example, caused this crisis to happen.
She also said that the international community needed to better work
together to tackle this crisis acknowledging that it would be a tough
task.
"To achieve coordination and synchronization with the right
timing will require an enormous amount, how do I put it, a broad approach and
one that is not driven by self serving interests, and by self serving I mean
those interests that you see in your immediate jurisdictions that have to do
with your constituencies and that is a major effort. But in view of what we
are facing at the moment, it's absolutely necessary," Lagarde said.
Lagarde advocated the need to redesign global institutions like the
International Accounting Standard Board to achieve better coordination among
global economies.
She supported an economic summit proposed by French President Nicholas
Sarkozy but that they needed to be better prepared to get results.
On Saturday, Lagarde meets with U.S. President George W. Bush and
other G7 finance ministers to discuss the financial crisis.