Road to recovery: the economists' view

Jeffrey Sachs - The Earth Institute: Governments believe that short, sharp stimulus packages will restore growth - but they are wrong. Instead they must overhaul the world economy by building an infrastructure for the 21st century ... Photograph: Lisa Carpenter/Guardian

Gerard Lyons, Standard Chartered: The west has lost the moral authority to tell others what to do and needs to put its own house in order. The danger is that this triggers excessive regulation and reduces the credit that drives trade and investment. Emerging economies were not the problem, yet they are part of the solution. Led by China they need to rise to the challenge and commit to saving less, spending more Photograph: Public Domain

UNCTAD's Heiner Flassbeck: In the short term, we need aggressive action. I'm with Ben Bernanke [the Federal Reserve chairman] on this, with his aggressive approach, because there is such a danger that we run into a deflationary situation. One should not forget the great depression, and that the way we got out of it was a world war. Germany, Japan and China have to do more. The overindebted countries cannot do it Photograph: Pierre Virot/UNCTAD

Alistair Milne - Cass Business School: What we need from the G20 is agreement to go on a credit buying spree, on behalf of taxpayers. Excessive pessimism has led to a fall in market prices for credit and equity far below any sensible valuation. Governments should take advantage of low market prices, make money buying banks and underpriced bank assets, and hence reverse the downward spiral of credit contraction Photograph: Public Domain

Nariman Behravesh, IHS Global Insight: The G20 should jump-start global growth. The US and China have done a lot. Europe and Japan need to do much more, especially in terms of fiscal stimulus. This ought to be the top priority of the G20. Without a sustained recovery, the other agenda items will be moot Photograph: Public domain