Speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos, the PM has claimed that there is no precedent for the “first financial crisis of the global age” and that history has offered “no clear map” of how to deal with it.

He also warned about protectionism, which he claims is a rising threat, and  added that global operation was the only way forward.

What did he say exactly?

He said that: “this is not like the 1930’s. The world can come together.

“This is the first financial crisis of the global age. And there is no clear map that has been set out from past experience to deal with it.

“I’m reminded of the story of the Titian, who’s the great painter, who reached the age of 90, finished the last of his nearly 100 brilliant paintings, and he said at the end of it, ‘I’m finally beginning to learn how to paint’, and that is where we are.

“We are learning all the time about how to deal with what are real problems for which we have no historical analogies to fall back on, and because when the 1930’s problem hit them, they did not have the global financial markets that we have today.”

He also claimed that the “laissez faire” attitude was not possible due to the “implicit protectionism I’m afraid in what is happening at the moment.”

In addition, he called for co-operation from institutions such as International Monetary and the World Bank in order to rebuild them as they are “out-of-date”. Adding that: “this is a global banking crisis and you’ve got to deal with it for what it is, a global banking crisis.”

What needs to be done?

According to Mr Brown, the solutions don’t lie in just nationalising banks, but there is need of a “global regulatory system” to prevent such crisis’s happing again.

He also claimed that too many nations feared the Asian crisis and therefore were holding onto too many economic reserves.

French finance minister, Christine Lagarde said: “I think it’s a risk in Europe, it’s a risk elsewhere as well, which is why I believe that time is really of the essence and we’re working against the clock.”

Even after the fall of the value of the pound sterling, Mr Brown still claims the UK’s economy is built on “sound fundamentals.”

He told the Davos audience: “I think it is very clear that we are not going to build policies around self-interested speculators.”

He added that he: “[believes] we are making the right decisions for the future.”

What this means for the G20 summit…

The G20’s second meeting is on April 2nd, and the PM claims there will be a focus on global “interdependent” issues.

The UK are to chair this summit, and Mr Brown says nations that are not members will be consulted beforehand to add their views.

What do you think?

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