You may not realize it, but the European debt crisis has an impact on every economy in the world, including our own.

Lehigh Valley business leaders got a chance Friday to talk with a member of British Parliament about the crisis.

"I was listening to the news in my hotel room this morning, and American GDP growth is 1.5%, and I said, 'Wow. That's good.' The congressman said, 'Oh no it's not,'" said Guto Bebb, from Wales, a member of British Parliament.

Bebb said the crisis in the Eurozone, which is made up of European countries that use the Euro, has had a significant impact on England, even though England uses the pound.

That's because half of England's exports are to European countries, he said.

Solving the crisis, Bebb said, must be done on a European level with financially stronger countries bailing out weaker ones.

As for England, Bebb said the current government must cut spending.

"We are both dealing with the same type of issues in terms of debt issues with our country, financial issues, lack of confidence and how the U.K. is dealing with it versus how we are dealing with it," said Don Cunningham, president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.

Cunningham said Europe, like the U.S., is also trying to find a balance among political parties that have differing ideas about how to fix financially crippled economies.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Berks Co./Lehigh Valley, said restoring confidence in the U.S. and Eurozone will not be easy.

"So to the extent that Europe is in an economic crisis or a greater recession, the worse it is for us," said Dent. "It will affect us. It will affect our people. It will affect workers here, so we have a vested interest to make sure that Europe solves its problems."

Part of the solution, Bebb said, may involve the use of a second currency in the Eurozone, although he said that would be extremely complicated.