Wealthy countries pledge to help choke off money

WASHINGTON -- The world's major industrial powers searched Saturday for ways to bolster a global economy badly shaken by the Sept. 11 attacks while pledging full cooperation in a U.S.-led effort to choke off the flow of money to terrorist groups.

The Bush administration hoped its allies would offer additional economic stimulus measures to complement moves the United States is making to lower interest rates, provide new tax relief and boost government spending.

The discussions Saturday among the Group of Seven nations -- the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada -- were led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

The finance officials posed for their traditional group photo in front of a replica of the Liberty Bell on the west steps of the Treasury building, one of several government buildings that were hurriedly evacuated on Sept. 11 after a plane slammed into the Pentagon.

All the finance officials expressed resolve to intensify cooperation on the economic front, but it was unclear whether the group's final joint statement would lay out any fresh ideas on just how each country would go about boosting growth.

Bolstering confidence following attacks that sent stock markets plunging worldwide was the first priority for Saturday's discussions, with O'Neill meeting individually with many of the finance ministers to review developments on the economic front.

Following O'Neill's meeting with Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa, U.S. officials issued a statement that pledged cooperation between the world's two largest economies "to maintain sustainable growth and market confidence" as a way to restore global economic stability.

Many economists believe last month's attacks have pushed the U.S. economy into a full-blown recession, raising the risk of a global downturn if Europe and Japan don't find more ways to bolster their own economies. The Labor Department reported Friday that U.S. businesses cut their payrolls by 199,000 jobs in September, the biggest total in more than a decade and a figure that did not count the mass layoffs caused by the travel disruptions.