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The current global financial crisis embodies a chance for a new economic order, argue German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. That idea should be the guiding principle for the upcoming G-20 summit in London.

Crisis. Perhaps no word is used more often to describe the current downturn of the global economy. The ancient Greeks used the word "krisis" to express the idea of a key moment, a turning point enabling people to take clear and unambiguous decisions. This implies that every crisis embodies a chance to change things for the better. That idea should guide us at the London summit on growth, jobs and stability on April 2.

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German chancellor Angela Merkel and the prime minister of the Netherlands Jan...