Leaders from the world's largest wealthy and developing nations will gather on Thursday to discuss strategies for supporting the economic recovery and creating protections against future disasters. US President Barack Obama, hosting his inaugural Group of 20 summit, has outlined an agenda that focuses on addressing the significant imbalances between major exporters like China and heavily indebted countries like the United States. Expectations for the summit's immediate impact are not high, as there is limited agreement on how to achieve goals such as establishing a more stable global economy and preventing risky banking practices that could lead to another financial crisis. The two-day meeting in Pittsburgh, a city that 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 the G20 leaders since a meeting held soon after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. This event was significant as it triggered a global recession, impacting even countries that had initially avoided the banking crisis. The world economy's interconnected nature was highlighted by the steep drop in global trade. As the recession seems to be coming to an end in many countries, the G20 must maintain the same level of urgency that was present in April when they agreed to collaborate in order to rescue the global economy. They also pledged a significant amount of money to support the International Monetary Fund's crisis-fighting efforts. Despite various distractions, it is vital for the G20 to stay focused on these important issues. Obama is dealing with challenges in domestic policy, particularly in reforming the U.S. healthcare system. Angela Merkel is also facing an upcoming election. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner emphasized the need for the United States to increase its savings, indicating that countries relying on US consumption for their growth will need to find alternative sources. This lesson should be learned from the current crisis. However, some countries were hesitant to impose strict limits on trading imbalances and were resistant to the idea of outside interference in their domestic economic policies by organizations like the G20 or the International Monetary Fund. Geithner clarified that this was not the intention, but due to these concerns, it was unlikely that the G20 would agree on more than basic concepts for rebalancing during the upcoming week. To illustrate the severity of the issue, China's private consumption only makes up a small portion of its economy, while in the US and UK, consumption played a much larger role during prosperous times. In contrast, Chinese and Indian households saved a significant portion of their disposable incomes last year, whereas the US savings rate was much lower. Many European leaders were advocating for the G20 to focus more on restricting excessive pay and bonuses for bankers who made risky investments that failed. They also wanted to see the United States make more progress on addressing climate change, although little was expected to be achieved at the meeting. The United States has limited time to implement concrete policies before an international conference on reducing global warming in Copenhagen in December. Emerging economies like Brazil, which were affected by the financial crisis despite having 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, calling them outdated and ineffective.