I have great, great confidence in our capital markets and in our financial institutions. Our financial institutions, banks and investment banks, are strong. Our capital markets are resilient. They're efficient. They're flexible.

In China, export lobbies have fought for policies that favor their interests and limit foreign competition.

The U.S. didn't save enough; we borrowed a lot. There were structural imbalances in Asia with exporters, with oil exporters for a whole variety of things.

I never once considered that it was appropriate to put taxpayer money on the line in resolving Lehman Brothers.

I've always said, 'I don't want to be irrelevant.'

Well, as you know, we're working through a difficult period in our financial markets right now, as we work off some of the past excesses. But the American people can remain confident in the soundness and the resilience of our financial system.

The most pressing and significant problems in the global economy are unsustainable structural issues with regard to the E.U. - fiscal deficits and the structure of the E.U. itself.