Wealthy west has little excuse after finally waking up to global debt crisis | Larry Elliott

As recent banking failures in US and Europe show, rich countries can act quickly when they want to

After a decade or more in which they have been obsessed with their own problems, countries in the wealthy west are starting to wake up to the risk of a looming debt crisis in poorer parts of the world.

This week's gathering of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington has been marked by a discussion about what to do about countries that are in debt distress or on the brink of it.