The first-ever G-20 meeting of Heads of State was a relatively quiet event, without the presence of President-elect Obama. Two main areas seem to have been discussed:
• Regulatory reform, where finance ministers have been given until the end of March to work out new rules for the world’s financial markets
• Fiscal stimulus, where the International Money Fund (IMF) proposed countries should co-ordinate a stimulus of up to 2% of GDP via tax-cuts and spending
The scale of the current crisis means that it is going to take many months to put together a sensible and deliverable strategy for recovery. This will also require co-operation amongst all the major economic powers. The G-20 is certainly the right body to take this type of initiative, rather than the G8. The blog hopes that it is up to the task.
Helping you navigate the new normal