LONDON — A transatlantic rift is growing over the right medicine for Europe’s financial crisis, with Britain announcing its steepest cuts in decades Tuesday and Germany defending its own austerity measures after a warning by President Barack Obama that budget-slashing could threaten the global recovery.
As leaders of the Group of 20 economic powers prepare to assemble this week in Canada, that single-minded focus is worrying the United States. Obama wrote a letter to world leaders Friday warning against excessive spending cuts.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel fought back this week, defending her government’s $80 billion savings plan as British treasury chief George Osborne forged ahead with his own grim budget.
Many European analysts agree that taming deficits is more urgent than growth.
