In London they gave the IMF more money, now in Pittsburgh they’re giving more countries an influence over what it does. Add to that the confirmation that the G20 will replace the G8 as the lead body co-ordinating the world economy and that power shift we talked about on Wednesday seems to underway.
But are these measures enough to rejuvenate the world’s economy and prevent such a calamity happening again? Some of you are saying it’s all very well talking about the IMF monitoring deficits and surpluses, but what’s it going to do when it identifies a country going too far one way or another?
We’re also on the look out for a deal on bankers pay but no agreement yet (though that may change before we go on air).
Are you impressed with the results from the decisions taken in London? And does this latest summit give you faith in these leaders being able to take the right and necessary decisions?
And after the decisions we also have the issue of delivery. It’s one thing saying you’re going to do something, quite another doing. Are decisions becoming actions quickly enough for you?
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BBC World Have Your Say 
Not that we do not have answers; in fact, we have far too many of them from so many. But, it is a tough test which we cannot afford to fail at, and for that we need to be very careful in selecting the most appropriate/right answers. Thereafter, whatever actions we embark upon will have to be followed determinedly, discreetly and cooperatively by the G20 economies; the other economies too may like to follow-suit.
The conspiracy theorists might after all have it right after all, control by a central banking system. If you don’t do what we say you won’t get the money you need. Everything else seems like a subterfuge that never solves the world problems or for that matter any problems. Maybe I am a little cynical; I will try to be more positive next time around.
First and foremost I am very impressed that G7 has been repalced by G20 which is the true world economic force. Maybe they don’t have all the answers because every countires legislation works differently and it might be tough to live up to the promises they make but i think thats the best bet we have right now given the circumstances.
Of course the G20 have the answers and solutions! Unfortunately the questions on the table are not those that address the plight of the population at large. They are concerned with further feathering of the already over adorned nest of the G20.
G does stand for Grabbers doesn’t it?
Yes,I will have faith in their leadership. They live here also,they have to go home to their own people and explain. I was impressed by Alistair Darlings,”The Parties Over” statement. Whether decisions become actions quickly,is a wait and see affair. And once again rejuvenation is wait and see! Overall I am sure they will do the best they can. Having said that and havig read G20-20 vision comments they will get no standing ovations whatever they do.
its a shame that hese countires are blaming the west for taking care of its citizens- which responsible government wouldnt do what these western economies are doing for the people who they represent.
i believe they have answers biut are reluctant to take them especially when it has a potential negative effect on its own people.
i absolutely feel they should take action only when the interest of their people is furthered
The answers are clear. It is the will to buck this huge money printing machine that is lacking. This is both at a personal level as well as a political level…….political individuals share in the wealth personally and their governments depend on ratings from the various indices and general health of the markets. Political success is still too closley linked to out of control financial largese than how well they are doing in the trecnches where it really counts.
Moving away from a monetary system and more towards a resource based economy like the venus project should atleast be considered.
*This is voodoo economics with a vengeance.
*Markets represent the collective decisions of hundreds of millions of buyers & sellers. It’s socialist fantasy of the most delirious sort to imagine that a handful of politicians aided by a few bureaucrats can manage & direct markets with the same effectiveness & efficiency as freely interacting consumers and suppliers. Wouldn’t we be out of this economic crisis if government fiat was enough to set markets right?
*The market is infinitely flexible in allocating resources to where prices indicate they can best be deployed. Central planning, as the Soviet bloc economies should have taught us, is not only a guarantee of economic mismanagement, it also means that the mismanagement will be uniformly imposed across all sections of the economy. The more committed the G20 is to this course, the longer the recession will be.
*Govts: do as little as possible, abolish the IMF & World Bank, & leave market forces to resolve a problem that developed largely because of market distortions introduced by central government.
THIS GB GOVERNMENT STOOD BY AND LET A MADHOUSE OF BORROWING LENDING AND DEPT TAKE PLACE.IT IS NOW TELLING US THAT IT WILL TAME THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM.WHEN THEY WERE TELLING US THAT GREED WAS GOOD.WOULD THEY LISTEN TO COMMON SENSE OF COURSE NOT.OUR BEST EVER CHANCELLOR WAS CRANKING IT UP FOR ALL IT WAS WORTH.THE SO CALLED REGULATION SHOULD HAVE COME LONG AGO.THE PROBLEM WAS THAT WOULD HAVE DONE FOR HIS POLITICAL POSTURING.
Very little needs to be done. The interactive nature of capitalism and the global economy with take care of it. The world issues happened because of the dependence on the over-sized US impact. We went, the world followed. The countries coming back first (Germany, China) will close the gap and make things more stable.
As for the US, the little trigger was excessive debt based on housing. The bullet was derivatives. If derivatives are regulated under current insurance law, this will not happen again. As for debt, I would like see fools suffer. although making it illegal for anyone to give a loan to someone with a high percentage debt load could work.
Recession is in US and Western countries,which is of their own making;that is spending beyond means.They have to sort it by themselves.
G20 is a Talk shop, where statements and commitments are being with the intention of not honoring them.
the G20 countries should work harder to assist developing countries in enshrining democratic values. democracy is not all about conducting elections. it is about applying resources equitably so that the people reap the dividends of democracy. The government in Nigeria was “elected”…but the there’s so much corruption that our indices of development are crumbling. what is democracy when citizens are constantly under the grasp of poverty??
Now the Africa continent is been hit by double tragedy. You now have the credit/financial crisis added to the endemic corruption. To save Africa from it corrupt leaders, let the G20 set up a task force to monitor every bank transactions and sanction melted to any bank that assist or aid corruption.
We did not learn to implement the cash for clunkers program properly. We still have not done anything about “negative capitalism” measures like Credit default Swap” and Short selling. We did not learn to implement good stimulus packages like the Aussies did.
So what is the G20 really there for? It is nothing but a tea party in which nobody listens to anyone else’s ideas…
Not even: the focus, perspective, and goals of the G20 are wrong and warped.
Watching & listening this afternoon I was rather wondering if the Barack & Gordon show was to take over where the Tony & George one left off in 2007. This is supposed to be an economic summit not an auditorium for these 2 to play the world’s policemen behind a decorous monetary mantle
IF I were at the G20 I’d be saying that most of the voters who sent me here just want a simple and straightforward High Street banking system which administers our official State money and facililitates the real economy. They believe the manipulation of their money by bankers and financiers in money markets is a gross abuse of the system verging on legalised fraud and misappropriation. These people are economic terrorists with a destructive capability amply demon stared over the past year. …. My voters want the money genie back in the bottle. Can we please stop tinkering with bonuses and risk management and return to sanity. Search the net for ‘debt & deception’ – we cane put it right relatively easily – given the political will.
If they were really that smart or in control they would have heeded the warnings and kept this from happening in the first place.
“…add to that the confirmation that the G20 will replace the G8 as the lead body co-ordinating the world economy…”.
Every silly disciple of the “Free Market” ideology ought to print this out and tape it to their bathroom mirror to remind them every morning that there is no such thing as the “Free Market”, and that there really are people in the world who regularly manipulate the World markets.
The question is, Cui Bono, who benefits from that manipulation?
At least the G20 leaders are talking with each other and not shooting. Obama is proving to be a nicely unifying element. We should be grateful, at least, for that.
why are we still in denial,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,they can not ,,,,,,
I think the G20 has all the resources needed to prevent the fading disaster from happening again. They are even more representative of the world average earners and those living below a dollar a day. I think the policies they will pursue are most likely going to be pro poor. Unfortunately, members of the G8 still have a very big say in how the world economy is run. Hopefully, there’s gonna be level ground as far as setting trade terms’ concerned. Hopefully, even Zimbabwe will benefit from this initiative
No they don’t. One reason: none of these leaders will face the astronomical global debt that’s been run up in this massive predatory lending scam.
Instead, what does the MSM concentrate on/ Obama blows off Gordon Brown 5 times. Michelle Obama stays away from notorious playboy Silvio. What does THAT tell you?
Instead of 8 countries looking after their personal interests we now have 20 countries doing so now. I just know that very soon there would be more countries who would be capable of holding their own and so let nobody be surprised when we have a G40 or G80 by the end of this decade. Of course the world would be better off by the time we reach G120.
I think this is, for the most part, silly posturing by the politicians of the richer nations. The economies are slowly recovering on their own, and these (mostly) windbags will pretend that their eloquent phrases had something to do with it.
The fundamentals of what went wrong are quite obvious. It was a combination of the unintended consequences of ridiculous leftie policies, assisted by greed. The greed was on the part of your average joe out there, looking for a quick buck. As well as greedy lending insitutions, counting on government guarantees to take away risk.
Honestly, I’d say that the G20 have an easy job. The global economic crisis began in the US and then it spread, domino-like. If the US can enforce good laws and good judgment, to prevent reoccurrence of the greed spiral, the rest of the G20 can once again benefit from the US economy, and of course pretend it was their words that fixed everything.
The G-20 is taking the actions that it ‘thinks’ is correct, but like all other things, there are risks here too. We need well-accomplished economists, rather than world leaders, to tell us what to do. How can people, who do not know the ABC of economics bring solutions???? We need to give more focus on the IMF and the World Bank rather than the G-20. After all, short-term solutions are of no use.
BBC, are you covering the floodings in Manila, Philippines? It’s pretty chaotic over here. Quite terrible.
Given that some of this was precipitated by speculation in energy commodities particularly crude oil, which even some Arab states dabbled in I am not sure that all the usual warnings were there. There have been noises and scapegoating from SEC etc but no real apparent action.
G20 will have all the answers only if G8 nations within G20 take a back seat and not bulldoze their wild aspirations on the other developing nations within G20.
It’s like the story of the “Rabbit & the Tortoise” wherein the developing nations managed to make the G8 nations wake-up and realize – Globalization cannot be achieved without G20 and without equal rights to all Global partners. Today to expand G8 to G20 is to comfort the Western worries as a result the G8 Elite club lost its identity and purpose.
China & India are the biggest markets which account for 40% ever-growing young educated Global population, the demand for the Western goods are in the Eastern countries and cheap manufacturing hub for western technology is in the East. West has realized – always having a strong currency / high GDP has “0” value and is not sustainable without the support of the East.
An equal & regulated representation of all G20 countries is the only answer to all challenges. A joint decision taken by G20 will become a moral commitment which will move the Global economies together.
Nuke Power G20 leaders using 9/11 pretext invaded Iraq anyway for Oil
casting Evil Eye on Iran oil after Iraq Kuwait Mideast Oil which they possess after enriching 22000 Jews( now 6 million Holocaust) alive Jews. occupying 90% Palestine land using own allied soldiers own Nuke Plants and own WMD.It is not the G20 banks based Executives who determine oil currency pricing but oil which Iran has put Hinderances.Consequently G20 economy which needed Iran oil is closing in with WMD gimmick once again (including Obama stimulus Car based package).These Nuclear Iraq style Inspectors and tens of years Sanctions are all set for Iran too by these Oil Based Greedy economists and Car Culture Public. The worst criminals are at loose using G20 summit success and economic recovery Iran Nuke Electricity Plant gimmick. Bunch who would not take no for answer but for total Iraq style WMD pretext as if in Rush. Poor USA Obama Canada Harper UK Brown and Israeli Jewish and Indian Japanese Bankers.
The greedy powers are always wrangling about who is doing what and which countries are friends and which are not. Shifting powers otherwise known as participative management will not the solution the rampant poverty in Africa. Europe and American are causing problems they don’t know how to solve. Forgive my language; nothing will ever happen until as the Rasta man Bob Marley said: Babylon falls… Until the philosophy of one race superior than the other is abolished and discredited. We as African have no hope in any block of politicians G8, G20, IMF, World Bank etc but believe that it was from the backbones of our grand fathers that Europe and America was built… One day the table will turn and Europe and America will build Africa. When the oil wells run dry and fires burns all the timber forest in California and Athens the only source will be my little village in Sierra Lone. We will then ask you G8 for 24 hours electrify, good roads, water supply and all the goodies we lack.
This is my humble submission.
The G-20 twenty merely makes decisions that are beneficial to their countries so it is more like a show business of who has what to say.They are just a bunch of confused leaders confusing the world the more and finding political roots from their problems at home.
Wither it is the G-8 or the G-20, I am doubtful that they are looking for solutions to the most pressing global economic matters. Presidents and heads of state are not economists; they are merely figure heads of each state. It is a given that each country is representing their interests; that is the nature of international relations and diplomacy.
What boggles the mind here is the assumption that this meeting is some sort of economic trouble-shooting conference. The G-8 or G-20 is merely a show for the “winners” in this economic system while the ‘G- rest of the world’ lives with the consequences of their decisions without the free holiday to Pittsburgh.
Now I have to ask, how many times has this topic been moved to the to, and still, most people don’t care. I think people seem to know, the governments actually have little to do with the outcome.
I think Britain has put Great back before Britain after G20 meeting with upbeat labour conference messages are all indication of sucess in what was set out to do in terms of investment and curbing bank bonuses to a reasonable level.