Bush says 'I'm sorry' economic crisis is occurring

President George W Bush expressed regret that the global financial crisis has cost jobs and shrinking retirement accounts and said he will support more government intervention if needed to ease the recession.

"I'm sorry it's happening, of course," Bush said yesterday in a wide-ranging interview with ABC's "World News," which was airing today. "Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s. On the other hand, the American people got to know that we will safeguard the system. I mean, we're in. And if we need to be in more, we will."

The retirement account known as 401(k) is a government-approved system that allows workers to save before-tax dollars in stock or other accounts, with tax to be paid only after retirement when the retiree can expect his income to be smaller and thus be taxed at a lower rate under the US progressive income tax system.

 

The US economy fell into a recession in December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research reported yesterday. Many economists believe the current downturn will last until the middle of 2009 and will be the most severe slump since the 1981-82 recession.

Bush said he felt responsible for the economic downturn because it is occurring on his watch, but he added: "I think when the history of this period is written, people will realise a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so" before he became president.

He said he would like to see "instant liquidity" in the markets given the extent of the financial rescue plan, yet he understands that fear has paralysed the markets.