agreements with korea, and one of the things we discussed here is is there a way to reinvigorate the doha round, which has been stuck for a very long time? so i agree with the statement in the communique that trade can be a source of prosperity for everybody, but it has got to be a fair deal. and it is not just currency, by the way. their chinese partners about%- what they're doing with barriers, what are they doing with respect to international protection, state-owned enterprises, or state owned banks that are subsidizing industry, so there are a whole host of issues. now, and data become a they have got issues with us, and i think we can manage these trade issues. this is for a number of countries, including countries like canada. jackie? >> thank you, mr. president. one of the noneconomic issues to cover here was afghanistan, and i am curious whether you believe that the talks that pakistan is reportedly brokering between the taliban and president karzai of afghanistan all promise, or to the concern you, and a related question. a related question. do you agree with the new prime minist

[laughter] i have a question for you president abbas rom doha, from the brookings doha center. allow me to read it. mr. president you lieve in order fothe united states to have legitimacy to push iran to give up its nuclear program it must mke pgress on the palestinian sues first? >> that depends upon th palestinian issue. concerning our position, we hope that all ovethe world will free of nuclear weapons. if they would-- [inaudible] we will not ask for tanks. so, aother issue,his is our position but the americans are working on behalf of the-- it is the united nations, europe, the united nations and america. whenhey talk, when they exert any effort they are doing it on belf of the world. if the man who asked the question has another mediator to be no. >> yes, sir. >> mr. presint, some pople sethe conflict as it bigger one between the united states and i ron. you said-- is under the influence iran. how do you reconcile? [inaudible] the head of the political role of mas. he is the n. he is thhead of hamas, and we have to talk with him. we know his relations, but in spite of that

we talked about reinvigorating the doha round. trade can be a source of prosperity for everybody, but it has got to be a fair deal. and it is not just currency, by the way. we've had discussions with our chinese partners about what they are doing on non-tariff barriers and respect to intellectual property rights, and with respect to state-owned enterprises or state-owned banks that are subsidizing industries. there are a whole host of issues. that does not mean that they do not have issues with us. i think we can manage these, but it is important for china to take seriously not just what we're saying but what a number of countries, including countries like canada, are saying. jackie. where you that? >> i am back here. thank you, mr. president. one of the non-economic issues you've covered here was afghanistan. i was curious whether you believe that the talk that pakistan is reportedly brokering between president karzai and the taliban concern you. and do you agree with the new prime minister of great britain, david cameron, that w

and the white house and elsewhere when you make a mistake and overcollect and people say how did you doha? you asked us never to make one bad thing happen and when we make a mistake you say we collected too much. >> damned if you do, damned if you don't. that's important. i want to put a plug in for state and local intelligence, nypd, lapd. i think there are some mechanisms that can be spread elsewhere. you have a question? >> hi. i want to just follow up on this discussion that suzanne got started on. that is the issue of long-term perspective. as someone who has worked with senior executive branch officials, some who were apointed and others career folks. it is a huge challenge, our perspective in my view is very short-term. you mentioned how oured a very sares have taken decades or even a century. can you talk us through our approach how to shift that? >> no. i'm not sure i have an answer. i guess what i'm saying is for example, if you're red teaming another event and how quickly do you get the question of whether you need a congressional or presidential inquire to find out what went w

caller: thank you for taking my call her doha i do that think it'll make a difference for th. the problem is the lack of manufacturing. we have the attitude the board business, that it is bad. large companies employ people. when you say large companies are bad and you do things to run them out, if they will take their business to other parts of the world. the problem unless we get it together and start embracing the businesses, we will not have the economic engine to keep the country going in a way that the country can really survive and thrive. thrive. that is my basic opinion. i think it is a band-aid. until we solve the problem, we are going to have issues. host: the president says that we now san on the verge of victory. republicans say it ignores fannie mae and freddie mac. the bad loans helped trigger the melted down. your thoughts? caller: i do not believe that i agree with fannie mae and freddie mac. i think they were a big problem. i think they are largely responsible for the short term crisis. what i talking about is more long-term. over the years, we have had polici

also a source of materials as well, so i think generally speaking we have got to push forward on the doha round in the free trade agreements we are looking at. >> finally dr. bernanke, the last set of questions. you testified the federal budget appears to be on an unsustainable path. how will we know when it is on a sustainable path? what triggers what earmarks, benchmarks would you guide the congress on to know that we are on a sustainable path? is there a in an amount of a budget deficit, a percentage of gdp? >> one simplrule of thumb is that the primary deficit which is the deficit excluding interest payments should be about imbalance. if that is true, or put it another way, if the deficit equals interest paynt, so in practice that might be 2% of gdp deficit. if that is true then arithmetic way it turns out the ratio of the debt outstanding, the gdp remains constant so i think keeping our debt relative to our income, constant or declining, would be a good indicator of sustainable policy. >> for this coming fiscal year what number would that be for the budget? >> i don't think there is