Sarkozy and Blair to host economic crisis meeting

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former Prime Minister Tony Blair will host a meeting of international leaders and experts in January to discuss the global economic crisis, the president's office said Tuesday.

"We are living in a crucial period for our economies and our social organisations. More than ever, we must show that we can propose concrete solutions to the challenges confronting us," Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

The meeting, dubbed "New world: values, development and regulation" would include "international political leaders" as well as economists such as Nobel Prize winners Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, the Elysee Palace said.

"At a time when we are trying to define a new model of capitalism and reflect on the values that will help us adapt to globalisation, this even will make an essential contribution," Blair said in the statement.

(Reporting by Yan Le Guernigou, writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Matthew Jones)