Steven Dunaway. Council on Foreign Relations
Feb 17 2011
"There is general agreement among the G20 countries on the basic need for economic policies to boost global demand, foster stronger job growth, and raise the prospects for sustainable, stable growth of the world economy. Unfortunately, the G20 countries have failed to agree on the policy changes required to achieve these objectives. … And to make matters worse, the French chair's proposal to add the issue of reforming the international monetary system to the meeting's agenda is likely to bog down the G20 even more and lead it further astray.
G20 discussions have been dominated for the past year and a half by talk about processes for assessing needed changes in economic policies rather than progress in making policy changes. … don't expect much… the debate on process--not policy substance--will continue.
…
Instead, if the G20 wants to play a meaningful role, it has to step up and demonstrate that it can act. … it is going to have to find a way to come to grips with the issue of China's exchange rate policy. …
… the likelihood that the G20 will fail to act remains high. The consequence would be that countries will resort to bilateral actions to protect their perceived interests, and trade wars could erupt. The G20 process is still the best way to try to avoid this undesirable outcome, but relying on it becomes an increasingly risky bet for the world economy”.
EKAI Center:
We do not share this opinion on the G20 agenda priorities, but we do agree that, even if it may be strange to say, after three and half years of financial crisis, the G20 ... has not taken any significant decision.
Attached: Full text (english):
Feb 17 2011
"There is general agreement among the G20 countries on the basic need for economic policies to boost global demand, foster stronger job growth, and raise the prospects for sustainable, stable growth of the world economy. Unfortunately, the G20 countries have failed to agree on the policy changes required to achieve these objectives. … And to make matters worse, the French chair's proposal to add the issue of reforming the international monetary system to the meeting's agenda is likely to bog down the G20 even more and lead it further astray.
G20 discussions have been dominated for the past year and a half by talk about processes for assessing needed changes in economic policies rather than progress in making policy changes. … don't expect much… the debate on process--not policy substance--will continue.
…
Instead, if the G20 wants to play a meaningful role, it has to step up and demonstrate that it can act. … it is going to have to find a way to come to grips with the issue of China's exchange rate policy. …
… the likelihood that the G20 will fail to act remains high. The consequence would be that countries will resort to bilateral actions to protect their perceived interests, and trade wars could erupt. The G20 process is still the best way to try to avoid this undesirable outcome, but relying on it becomes an increasingly risky bet for the world economy”.
EKAI Center:
We do not share this opinion on the G20 agenda priorities, but we do agree that, even if it may be strange to say, after three and half years of financial crisis, the G20 ... has not taken any significant decision.
Attached: Full text (english):