statism watch

While we must admire Mr. Corcoran’s optimism, there is reason to fear it may be dashed all too soon – there is always some new war, some new pretext for globalizing treaties waiting around the corner. COP 16 (Mexico) and the Seoul G20 are both scheduled for November this year. Certainly the globalist agenda ius on its heels, and reporting from the Bilderberg group this year affirms this – but as the saying goes, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. And though the gridlock of the $1.2 billion G20 summit deserves a cheer, our vigilance has been sorely lacking of late.

Related: How will democracy fare under the G20’s new world order? | Blame Canada: How Paul Martin, Larry Summers sketched out G20 new world order | G20 agenda named as “global government” by thinktank, Toronto summit set to sit on hands | Harper calls for global economic governance, lauds G20 as ruling forum | Terence Corcoran: The rise of global statism | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

Terence Corcoran, The Financial Post
June 27, 2010

Global governance, one of the drearier hallucinations of statist think tanks and back-room bureaucrats — and the phantasmagorial nightmare of anti-capitalist black-clad ideological crazies — crashed into the great wall of national realities at the G8 and G20 Toronto summits and went up in smoke. But that does not make the Toronto summits a failure. What still stands tall in the world economy and in global politics — as it should — is national sovereignty.

The governance camp will try to scrounge fragments of globalist achievement out of the official verbal and rhetorical shambles generated in the final communiqués and closing comments of the Toronto summit leaders. But there is little in the end that could be reassembled into a coherent statement of collective action. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, host of the summits, tried on Sunday to claim summit unity on the basis that the summits established a “framework” for common cause and policy convergence.

But in fact the Toronto summits represent a near total collapse of efforts to create some kind of overarching centre of global economic power. Despite repeated reference to strong collective commitments to international cooperation, sustainable development and macroeconomic co-ordination, the G8/G20 separately and jointly agreed to go their own ways and avoid collective action as much as possible.

On everything from deficit reduction to climate change, from financial regulation to trade, foreign aid, currencies and Afghanistan, the G20 ultimately marched off in 20 separate directions.

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The new rules are to be drafted by the Basel committee, the working group of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). It’s the sort of thing banks ought to be doing anyways in order to avoid some of the more dangerous and fraudulent corollaries of the system of fractional reserve banking. But two questions hang in the air – will this move then provide justification for the continued virtualization of monetary instruments? And what will the long-term consequences on the economic sovereignty of nations be of the unspoken precedent being set here – increased centralization of economic regulation power in the hands of the world’s central bank, the BIS? It’s just as Trichet said back in April at the CFR, when the G20 communique was actually being worked out (prior to this lavish coming out party we’ve just seen in Toronto): the Global Economy Meeting (GEM), which regularly meets at the BIS headquarters in Basel, “Has become the prime group for global governance among central banks”. But you’re not supposed to know about this. You’re not supposed to care while a new global economic architecture is built up around you. Well, you’d better figure out what it means that the same central bankers, the same casino system that brought you the global economic crisis in the first place are accruing more power and centralizing it under the rubric of ‘global governance’. You’d better figure out what that means to you and your family real fast. You might call it the real Secret of Oz (2 3 4) – what’s behind the curtain? Pull it aside and you begin to see that the contours of history are shaped by the battle over the ability to manipulate currency, the power to plunge economies into debt in the same way individuals have been controlled throughout history by countless sharecropping scams – it’s the company store, it’s your credit card, it’s the protection racket of income tax, it’s the inflation of paper dollars. You’re watching a financial coup in slow motion, and it must be resisted. The first place to begin is by looking at the difference between Keynesian and Austrian economic theory. One fun place to start is this short video: Fear the Boom and Bust.

Related: Obama calls for bank tax as next step in Wall Street reform | Europe debt crisis shows rifts in G20 | Expectations muted for economic, financial-reform breakthroughs at G20 | G20 Bank tax push gains momentum as UK, France, Germany introduce national legislation | EU to push for global bank tax at G20 | Tucker Bilderberg 2010 Wrapup: Attack on Iran discussed, World Treasury Dept delayed | G20 to delay tough bank tax regulations | Canada, EU at loggerheads over bank tax | European Central Bank chief: Bank of International Settlements to Rule the Global Economy | Harper calls for global economic governance, lauds G20 as ruling forum | US prepares to push for global capital rules | Flaherty wins delay in decision on global bank tax at interim G20 meeting | Bankers Prepare To Assault Americans With VAT, Transaction Taxes | Global bank tax urged by IMF | Flaherty stands firm against new bank tax | G20 sounds warning over lack of progress on global regulation | Banking reforms urgent, Harper says at G20 sherpas’ meeting | G20 ’sherpas’ meet with IMF, World Bank on Ottawa | Tories hand out $75 billion worth of ’spending restraint’ | Gordon Brown’s plan for global bank tax ‘a step closer’ | Global Bank Insurance Levy Wins Support over Transaction Tax at Davos | Harper urges G20 to follow economic accords | Bankers unite against Barack Obama and Gordon Brown in call for world regulation | IMF warns against retreat from stimulus spending | Banks find gaping loophole in Obama financial reforms | Obama talking tough with banks | EU urged to adopt bank supertax | Obama ponders bank transaction levy to recoup bailout shortfalls | No new stimulus, economy ’stabilized’: Harper | Explosive Leaked Emails Expose Treasury Secretary Geithner’s Deception in ‘Backdoor Bailout’ | Final Copenhagen Text Includes Global Transaction Tax | EU calls for tax on bank transactions | UK: Brown takes campaign for Tobin tax to Commonwealth | UK: Brown proposes global fund to kick-start Copenhagen climate change process | Flaherty, USA say no to global financial tax, yes to continued ’stimulus’ at G20 | Bernanke continues pressing for sweeping new powers for Fed | IMF chief wants global bank tax | G20 nations meet as protests flare on issue of international banking regulation | IMF approves $13bn gold sale to boost lending fund | China Set to Buy $50 Billion in IMF Notes | China calls anew for super-sovereign currency | No one talking about dumping dollar: China minister | China explores buying $50bn in IMF bonds | Chinese economists deem huge holding of US bonds “risky” as Geithner visits | A Bigger, Bolder Role Is Imagined For the IMF | UK PM reveals G20 plan to boost IMF by $1 trillion, hails new world order (again) | UN & IMF Back Agenda For Global Financial Dictatorship | IMF poised to print billions of dollars in ‘global quantitative easing’ | Gordon Brown seeks sweeping reforms to give IMF global ’surveillance role’ | IMF may need to “print money”, act as “world’s central bank” as crisis spreads | Globalists Exploit Financial Meltdown In Move Towards One World Currency | World needs new Bretton Woods, says Brown | IMF prescribes state regulation of ‘global financial order’ | Bilderberg Seeks Bank Centralization Agenda | Banks face “new world order,” consolidation: report

Larry Elliott, Patrick Wintour, The Guardian
June 27, 2010

Under a plan to be finalised for the next G20 meeting banks will have to improve both the quantity and quality of the capital they hold

Tough rules designed to ensure banks make themselves strong enough to withstand a crisis without taxpayer bailouts have been backed by the G20.

Under a plan to be finalised for the next G20 meeting in South Korea in November, banks will over the next few years have to improve both the quantity and quality of the capital they hold. But in a compromise insisted upon by European G20 members, the proposal to have a regime by the end of 2012 has been shelved and governments will be given time to ensure their banks meet the standards.

Britain and the US were pressing for urgent reform, but believe the trade-off is the best way of ensuring that standards are enforced globally. Chancellor George Osborne said G20 had made “a significant step forward”.

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What a sham. The majority of the famed G20 communiqué was worked out in advance and ‘leaked’ to the media in time, no doubt, for press runs. G20 leaders, for their part, were treated to a ‘working dinner’, gave their ceremonial blessing to the austerity plan, tweaked it slightly by bowing to China’s demands it not be singled out for currency manipulation, and went home. Price tag? $1.2 billion dollars, the erosion of your civil rights, and the militarization of the country’s financial capital. All of which (those new cameras, LRADs, water cannon etc.) will come in mighty handy once the austerity measures kick in. Hope we had good catering at least. Read the text of the communiqué here.

Related: IMF report advises G20 to make spending cuts top priority | G8 Summit: Leaders divided over tackling national deficits | The End of The Great Bailouts is Approaching | The Real Meaning of ‘Economic Austerity’: IMF/World Bank devastation | For G20 leaders, fiscal austerity is the new normal | IMF says Spain taking right steps towards stability | Harper urges austerity, Obama stimulus in urge for G20 to boost economic recovery | Carney warns of ‘age of austerity’, global outlook ‘getting worse’ | Spanish bailout readied as EU chief warns ‘democracy could disappear’ in debt ridden states | Europe embraces the cult of austerity – but at what cost? | | British face big spending cuts as coalition shows unity on austerity | Impact of $47B stimulus minimal: Fraser Institute | More stimulus spending coming | Federal budget watchdog disputes Flaherty’s forecasts | Hope keeps Flaherty’s balanced budget afloat | Tories hand out $75 billion worth of ’spending restraint’ | Stimulating our way into debt crises | IMF warns against retreat from stimulus spending | Flaherty’s economic plan blasted as leading to taxation or cuts | Idle job market hurting recovery, Flaherty warns | No new stimulus, economy ’stabilized’: Harper | Lower tax haul helps widen Ottawa deficit, $56.2B shortfall expected | Can’t say if federal stimulus is working: watchdog | Liberals call stimulus numbers ‘fiction’ | Ottawa on track for largest-ever deficit | Flaherty, USA say no to global financial tax, yes to continued ’stimulus’ at G20 | Economic picture still not very bright, and more layoffs are in store, manufacturers say | G20 to pledge continued ’stimulus’, examine international reserve fund | Aspiring government economists must reveal views on stimulus plan | Fund me or axe me, parliamentary budget officer says | Stephen Harper trumpets economic report card | Carney says G20 must stay the course on stimulus | Ottawa’s deficit plan would hike EI premiums | Canada’s $1-trillion debt baby | Flaherty sees deficit, debt, and timetable to return to surplus all expanding | G20 agrees to continue economic stimulus measures; Geithner shops international reserve accord | Federal deficit hits $7.5B in April-May | Budget officer ‘can’t tell’ if stimulus plan working | G8 leaders see no early end to stimulus | Flaherty looks for way to end stimulus | Stimulus cash is flowing – down a hole? | Harper lays out stimulus spending in progress report | ‘Reduced pace of deterioration’ indicates economy on the mend: Flaherty | Federal deficit to top $50B | Stimulus needed now, Bank of Canada says | US Congress reaches deal on economic stimulus package | $12B for infrastructure forms key pillar of stimulus package | Brace for a big, ‘comprehensive’ budget: Harper | Transport Minister Baird calls for dramatic action on stimulus package | Obama calls for ‘dramatic action’ on stimulus package | Flaherty vows short-lived deficit, consults corporate chiefs on spending initiatives | Harper government plans deficits as deep as $30 billion | Britain to introduce massive stimulus package | Deficits ‘essential,’ Harper says | Flaherty eyes sale of Canadian government assets | Flaherty lauds Keynesian global ‘economic stimulus’ strategies

Jeremy Torobin, Boyd Erman, The Globe and Mail
June 27, 2010

Communiqué says countries support Stephen Harper’s proposal for deficit targets, warns of risks

The Group of 20 will adopt deficit- and debt-cutting targets proposed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper but allow governments to attack their fiscal gaps as their own economic dynamics dictate.

G20 leaders pledge to “take all necessary steps … fully within agreed timelines,” according to a leaked draft of the summit communiqué.

“Measures will need to be implemented at the national level and will need to be tailored to individual country circumstances,” the document says. “We will each identify additional measures, as necessary, that we will take toward achieving strong, sustainable, and balanced growth.”

The communiqué adds that “advanced economies” commit to the targets urged by Mr. Harper, to cut deficits in half by 2013 and “stabilize or reduce” overall debt-to-GDP levels by 2016.

“We are committed to taking concerted actions to sustain the recovery, create jobs and to achieve stronger, more sustainable and more balanced growth,” it says. “These will be differentiated and tailored to national circumstances.”

The more immediate targets would be ambitious for many countries. For example, Japan’s current fiscal strategy seeks to halve the deficit relative to gross domestic product by fiscal 2015, and to achieve a surplus by 2020.

“Honestly, this is more than I expected, because it is quite specific,” said Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel. “It’s a success that industrialized countries as a group accepted this.”

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Related: Obama calls for bank tax as next step in Wall Street reform | IMF report advises G20 to make spending cuts top priority | G8 wraps with money for maternal NGOs and words for Iran, N. Korea | G8 Summit: Leaders divided over tackling national deficits

CBC News
June 26, 2010

‘Strong consensus’ for deficit cuts, Harper says ahead of summit

Prime Minister Stephen Harper officially greeted leaders of the G20 nations inside a heavily fortified enclave in downtown Toronto at the start of the organization’s summit.

The prime minister and his wife, Laureen, greeted the G20 leaders and their spouses at a reception at the famed Royal York Hotel on Saturday evening. A working dinner followed.

The event seemed far from the chaos just blocks away outside the barricaded security zone, where protesters earlier set fire to police vehicles and smashed storefront windows, despite a $1-billion security tab and thousands of police at the ready.

The fragile global economic recovery is expected to top the agenda of the G20 summit, with world leaders split on when to end stimulus funds and slash deficits.

Harper, as host of the summit, is expected to urge the more developed countries to commit to halving their deficits within three years as a way of restoring investor confidence after the recent turmoil caused by the Greek debt crisis.

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Olivia Ward, The Toronto Star
June 26, 2010

Ottawa’s plan aimed at quelling critics, NGOs suggest

Toronto has become used to G20 barriers, but prominent charities say that Ottawa has blocked them from reaching the international media with messages that criticize global governments.

“This is different from other summits that have opened up more and more,” says John Ruthrauff of Washington-based InterAction, a coalition of 150 relief and development groups, which cancelled its delegation out of frustration with lack of media access. “It’s taken a step backward.”

At most summits, Ruthrauff says, NGOs can mix and mingle easily with mainstream media, airing their critiques of the meeting’s progress. But in Toronto, they have been split into two camps, with the mainstream international media headquarters across the street from the non-traditional media and NGOs.

Both groups are exiled to the Exhibition grounds, far away from the action of the heavily guarded G20 summit downtown. But NGOs and alternative media can only enter the international media building in the Direct Energy Centre by invitation.

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Related: G8 Summit: Leaders divided over tackling national deficits | For more, see the G20 Coverage page feature

The Canadian Press
June 26, 2010

HUNTSVILLE, ONT.— G8 leaders wrapped up their cottage country summit today with some tough words for Iran and North Korea — and a commitment to work with the G20 to stave off another global financial crisis.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the heads of the world’s other top industrialized democracies emerged from a meeting room at a secluded resort with their remedy for the world’s woes.

The 43-point summit communique admonishes Iran and North Korea for their nuclear activities and holds North Korea responsible for the sinking of a South Korean warship last march.

“We cannot be complacent about the grave threat posed to the security of present and future generations by the proliferation of nuclear weapons,” the communique states.

Harper went a step further: “The world must see that what they spend on these weapons will not be the only costs they incur,” he told a closing news conference.

Iran and North Korea have become international pariahs for their nuclear ambitions, oppressive regimes and inflammatory rhetoric.

The communique also chides both countries for their human rights record and urges them to abide by international law, UN Security Council resolutions and International Atomic Energy Agency rules.

The unanimous statement is welcome news for the Harper government, which had been pushing hard for it. Sources say the deal came together at the last minute. That’s because Russia was reluctant to take a strong stand.

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It’s really quite painful and baffling to read this coverage, based as it is on so many utterly false premises. As certain as the sun will rise tomorrow, fundamental economic laws dictate that at some point in the not too distant future, the system must collapse. Macroeconomists can talk all they want about surfing that fine line between Keynesian stimulus and correction, but the economic dynamic that nobody really ever addresses at these talking shops is a lot like a hot air balloon. You can keep pumping it up and skirting the treetops only so long as there is real value to feed into the burner. Once you’ve fully indebted national populations by borrowing against their future and there’s nothing left to tax to hand over to the final creditors, you’re no longer facing a manageable correction. It’s an engineered cataclysm, and your balloon has become the Hindenberg, pregnant with sovereign debt. The world finds itself on the horns of a dilemma for which bad economic theory is primarily responsible. Small wonder it’s referred to as the dismal science.

Oh, and there’s just one more thing – Greenpeace reports it already has a draft copy of the final G8 communique. It seems unlikely a state head will entirely ignore their economic advisors. So if the agreement has been mostly worked out beforehand in broad stokes by (we gather) the bureaucracy and central bank staffers, and if there’s just a few details left to debate, then what’s the point of this whole charade?

Related: The End of The Great Bailouts is Approaching | The Real Meaning of ‘Economic Austerity’: IMF/World Bank devastation | For G20 leaders, fiscal austerity is the new normal | IMF says Spain taking right steps towards stability | Harper urges austerity, Obama stimulus in urge for G20 to boost economic recovery | Carney warns of ‘age of austerity’, global outlook ‘getting worse’ | Spanish bailout readied as EU chief warns ‘democracy could disappear’ in debt ridden states | Europe embraces the cult of austerity – but at what cost? | | British face big spending cuts as coalition shows unity on austerity | Impact of $47B stimulus minimal: Fraser Institute | More stimulus spending coming | Federal budget watchdog disputes Flaherty’s forecasts | Hope keeps Flaherty’s balanced budget afloat | Tories hand out $75 billion worth of ’spending restraint’ | Stimulating our way into debt crises | IMF warns against retreat from stimulus spending | Flaherty’s economic plan blasted as leading to taxation or cuts | Idle job market hurting recovery, Flaherty warns | No new stimulus, economy ’stabilized’: Harper | Lower tax haul helps widen Ottawa deficit, $56.2B shortfall expected | Can’t say if federal stimulus is working: watchdog | Liberals call stimulus numbers ‘fiction’ | Ottawa on track for largest-ever deficit | Flaherty, USA say no to global financial tax, yes to continued ’stimulus’ at G20 | Economic picture still not very bright, and more layoffs are in store, manufacturers say | G20 to pledge continued ’stimulus’, examine international reserve fund | Aspiring government economists must reveal views on stimulus plan | Fund me or axe me, parliamentary budget officer says | Stephen Harper trumpets economic report card | Carney says G20 must stay the course on stimulus | Ottawa’s deficit plan would hike EI premiums | Canada’s $1-trillion debt baby | Flaherty sees deficit, debt, and timetable to return to surplus all expanding | G20 agrees to continue economic stimulus measures; Geithner shops international reserve accord | Federal deficit hits $7.5B in April-May | Budget officer ‘can’t tell’ if stimulus plan working | G8 leaders see no early end to stimulus | Flaherty looks for way to end stimulus | Stimulus cash is flowing – down a hole? | Harper lays out stimulus spending in progress report | ‘Reduced pace of deterioration’ indicates economy on the mend: Flaherty | Federal deficit to top $50B | Stimulus needed now, Bank of Canada says | US Congress reaches deal on economic stimulus package | $12B for infrastructure forms key pillar of stimulus package | Brace for a big, ‘comprehensive’ budget: Harper | Transport Minister Baird calls for dramatic action on stimulus package | Obama calls for ‘dramatic action’ on stimulus package | Flaherty vows short-lived deficit, consults corporate chiefs on spending initiatives | Harper government plans deficits as deep as $30 billion | Britain to introduce massive stimulus package | Deficits ‘essential,’ Harper says | Flaherty eyes sale of Canadian government assets | Flaherty lauds Keynesian global ‘economic stimulus’ strategies

Patrick Wintour, Larry Elliott, The Guardian
June 25, 2010

Apparent rifts add to growing jitters over global stock markets, which have been falling for four days in a row

Signs of deep rifts over how quickly to cut national deficits were emerging as world leaders gathered in Toronto for summits of the G8 and G20 groups of rich nations today.

The divisions added to growing jitters over global stock markets, which have been falling for four days in a row.

The US, led by Treasury secretary Tim Geithner, is resisting moves to cut deficits early, with Geithner warning that growth and confidence are paramount.

There are increasing fears of the risk of a double-dip recession in the US, with house sales falling and a slow pick-up in employment.

But the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and her allies have been insisting that her plans to cut Germany’s deficit by €80bn (£65.8bn) over four years will not stall growth. Merkel has warned that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe requires urgent action.

Admitting that discussions at the summits would be controversial but stressing that deficit reductions needed to be in place now, she said: “I and the EU will argue this position. There are others who are not yet so convinced of this exit strategy.”

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Elena Moya, The Guardian
June 24, 2010

Desperate attempt to repay debts also driven by inability to find funds to develop infrastructure on islands

There’s little that shouts “seriously rich” as much as a little island in the sun to call your own. For Sir Richard Branson it is Neckar in the Caribbean, the billionaire Barclay brothers prefer Brecqhou in the Channel Islands, while Aristotle Onassis married Jackie Kennedy on Skorpios, his Greek hideway.

Now Greece is making it easier for the rich and famous to fulfill their dreams by preparing to sell, or offering long-term leases on, some of its 6,000 sunkissed islands in a desperate attempt to repay its mountainous debts.

The Guardian has learned that an area in Mykonos, one of Greece’s top tourist destinations, is one of the sites for sale. The area is one-third owned by the government, which is looking for a buyer willing to inject capital and develop a luxury tourism complex, according to a source close to the negotiations.

Potential investors also looking at property on the island of Rhodes, are mostly Russian and Chinese. Investors in both countries are looking for a little bit of the Mediterranean as holiday destinations for their increasingly affluent populations. Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea football club, is among those understood to be interested, although a spokesman denied he was about to invest.

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Related: Expectations muted for economic, financial-reform breakthroughs at G20 | G20 Bank tax push gains momentum as UK, France, Germany introduce national legislation | EU to push for global bank tax at G20 | Tucker Bilderberg 2010 Wrapup: Attack on Iran discussed, World Treasury Dept delayed | G20 to delay tough bank tax regulations | Canada, EU at loggerheads over bank tax | European Central Bank chief: Bank of International Settlements to Rule the Global Economy | Harper calls for global economic governance, lauds G20 as ruling forum | US prepares to push for global capital rules | Flaherty wins delay in decision on global bank tax at interim G20 meeting | Bankers Prepare To Assault Americans With VAT, Transaction Taxes | Global bank tax urged by IMF | Flaherty stands firm against new bank tax | G20 sounds warning over lack of progress on global regulation | Banking reforms urgent, Harper says at G20 sherpas’ meeting | G20 ’sherpas’ meet with IMF, World Bank on Ottawa | Tories hand out $75 billion worth of ’spending restraint’ | Gordon Brown’s plan for global bank tax ‘a step closer’ | Global Bank Insurance Levy Wins Support over Transaction Tax at Davos | Harper urges G20 to follow economic accords | Bankers unite against Barack Obama and Gordon Brown in call for world regulation | IMF warns against retreat from stimulus spending | Banks find gaping loophole in Obama financial reforms | Obama talking tough with banks | EU urged to adopt bank supertax | Obama ponders bank transaction levy to recoup bailout shortfalls | No new stimulus, economy ’stabilized’: Harper | Explosive Leaked Emails Expose Treasury Secretary Geithner’s Deception in ‘Backdoor Bailout’ | Final Copenhagen Text Includes Global Transaction Tax | EU calls for tax on bank transactions | UK: Brown takes campaign for Tobin tax to Commonwealth | UK: Brown proposes global fund to kick-start Copenhagen climate change process | Flaherty, USA say no to global financial tax, yes to continued ’stimulus’ at G20 | Bernanke continues pressing for sweeping new powers for Fed | IMF chief wants global bank tax | G20 nations meet as protests flare on issue of international banking regulation | IMF approves $13bn gold sale to boost lending fund | China Set to Buy $50 Billion in IMF Notes | China calls anew for super-sovereign currency | No one talking about dumping dollar: China minister | China explores buying $50bn in IMF bonds | Chinese economists deem huge holding of US bonds “risky” as Geithner visits | A Bigger, Bolder Role Is Imagined For the IMF | UK PM reveals G20 plan to boost IMF by $1 trillion, hails new world order (again) | UN & IMF Back Agenda For Global Financial Dictatorship | IMF poised to print billions of dollars in ‘global quantitative easing’ | Gordon Brown seeks sweeping reforms to give IMF global ’surveillance role’ | IMF may need to “print money”, act as “world’s central bank” as crisis spreads | Globalists Exploit Financial Meltdown In Move Towards One World Currency | World needs new Bretton Woods, says Brown | IMF prescribes state regulation of ‘global financial order’ | Bilderberg Seeks Bank Centralization Agenda | Banks face “new world order,” consolidation: report

Jeremy Tobin, The Globe and Mail
June 24, 2010

Leaders wrestle with choice of cutting deficits, or keeping stimulus flowing

The European debt crisis may not be having much effect on Canada’s economy, but it is creating chasms in the Group of 20 that could complicate Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s efforts to forge a united front on how to secure the global recovery.

Speaking in Toronto on Thursday as leaders from around the world were set to arrive in Canada, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty acknowledged the gulf that has emerged in recent days between countries such as Germany and Britain, which have pledged deeper budget cuts than what Canada is proposing, and countries such as the United States, where President Barack Obama is urging colleagues to be careful about withdrawing stimulus too quickly.

“That’s not a settled matter,” Mr. Flaherty told reporters in response to a question about whether the targets might end up being stricter than what Canada has proposed. However, he said, while “different countries are in different fiscal situations,” there are not, “at the end of the day, any divisions with respect to the need for fiscal consolidation.”

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Andrew Mayeda, Canwest News Service
June 24, 2010

OTTAWA — In the fall of 2008, the leaders of the world’s 20 richest countries convened in Washington to discuss their response to the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression.

For some leaders, most notably French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former British prime minister Gordon Brown, it was an opportunity to achieve no less than a complete overhaul of the global financial system and the way it is policed.

By the time the leaders met again in Pittsburgh last September, governments and central banks had set in motion the most extensive demonstration of co-ordinated economic triage the world had ever seen. When the dust settled, it was clear that the G20 had become the preeminent political forum for fixing the world’s economic problems — implicit recognition that without such emerging superpowers as China and India at the table, not much could be accomplished.

The expectations for this weekend’s G20 summit in Toronto are much more modest.

At the top of the agenda will be a debate whether member nations should continue pumping stimulus funds into their economies, or turn their attention in earnest to cutting the debts they rang up during the recession. But any serious talk of global financial reforms is likely to remain on the back burner.

“If you see the G20 as a crisis committee, it’s done really good work,” said Andrew Cooper, a distinguished research fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ont. “You’re going to have some stalling at some point, when they get into the real details about regulations and who’s to blame, and I think that’s what we’ve got now.”

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