Arun Kumar, speaking at Ahmedabad Management Association, warned the US financial crisis will worsen when President-elect Barack Obama assumes office in January. "150 billion $ tax cut package for the housing sector was too little and too late to stem the collapse of a much higher magnitude," Kumar said. He added, "Every aspect of financial sector got sucked into the financial turmoil." Kumar criticized two decades of deregulation led by Alan Greenspan, quoting Greenspan's recent admission: "he was wrong for 16 years." This deregulation triggered collapses of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and other firms. Kumar explained that government intervention has slowed the crisis but banks now face a "crisis of confidence." He said, "The financial and money markets work on certain degree of trust and confidence and this should not be shattered at any cost." The sharp US collapse was due to banks being "interlocked in deals" and risky financial instruments promising high returns. A slight fall in asset prices triggered the turmoil. The US economy was driven by borrowed funds, creating global trouble. Countries like Japan, China, Iceland, and Ukraine are now struggling. Kumar noted, "China is finding ways to delink from dollar, after corporate profits began falling showing early signs of heading into recession." He warned that rising economic protectionism from lack of confidence is dangerous. Kumar said Obama will focus on job creation in sectors like BPOs and call centers, after 1.5 billion job losses were reported in the US. He emphasized that the $600 trillion financial sector needs "out-of-box re-architecturing." In this crisis, Kumar stressed the importance of the G-20 initiative and said, "Extensive coordination between governments including India should be evolved to come over it."