Leaders from the world's largest wealthy and developing nations will gather on Thursday to discuss ways to support the economic recovery and establish measures to prevent future disasters. US President Barack Obama, hosting his first Group of 20 summit, has set an agenda that includes addressing the challenge of balancing trade imbalances between countries like China and the heavily indebted United States. Expectations for the summit were modest in the short term, as there was agreement on the need to create a more stable global economy and regulate risky banking practices, but disagreement on the specifics of how to achieve these goals. The two-day meeting in this Pennsylvania city, which has faced economic challenges due to the decline of its steel industry, will begin with bilateral discussions on Thursday. Obama is hosting a reception and working dinner in the evening, marking the third gathering of G20 leaders since a meeting held shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, which triggered a global recession. The impact of the recession was felt globally, even in countries that had not been directly affected by the banking crisis, underscoring the interconnectedness of the world economy. As the recession appears to be coming to an end in many countries, the G20 must maintain the same level of urgency seen in April when they agreed to collaborate on rescuing the global economy and pledged significant financial support to the International Monetary Fund. Despite various distractions, the focus remains on addressing economic challenges and fostering international cooperation. Obama is dealing with various domestic policy issues, including healthcare reform. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has an upcoming election. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner emphasized the need for the US to increase savings, indicating that countries relying on US consumption for their growth should seek alternative sources. However, some countries were hesitant about imposing strict limits on trading imbalances and were opposed to the G20 or International Monetary Fund interfering in domestic economic policies. Geithner clarified that this was not the intention, but due to these concerns, it was unlikely that the G20 would agree on anything more than basic ideas for rebalancing. To highlight the severity of the issue, China's private consumption only makes up a third of its economy, while in the US and Britain, consumption accounted for nearly three-quarters of the economy during prosperous times. In contrast, Chinese and Indian households saved around 40% and 32% of their disposable incomes last year, while the US savings rate was just 3.2%. Many European leaders were advocating for the G20 to place more emphasis on regulating high salaries and bonuses for bankers who made risky investments that later failed. They also wanted to see the United States make more progress on addressing climate change, but it was unlikely that significant progress would be made at the meeting. The United States needs to implement concrete policies before an international meeting on reducing global warming in Copenhagen in December. Emerging economies like Brazil, which were impacted by the financial crisis despite limited exposure to bad assets, were eager to establish stricter regulatory rules at the G20. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized economic models that lacked regulation as outdated and ineffective.