BRASILIA, Brazil -- Optimism is the leitmotif surrounding the upcoming Pittsburgh Summit. Yet certain concerns remain. A year ago, as the dramatic recession unfolded around the world, many were convinced we were heading for a repeat of the Crash of 1929.
Due to measures adopted at the G-20 Summit in London last April, the worst threat in decades to the global economy was contained.
After a 9 percent reduction, global trade has rebounded, thanks to the injection of U.S.$250 billion in flexible, unconditional credit. Nearly 50 million jobs will be lost in 2009, but there are signs that the worst is past. Another U.S.$750 billion went to stimulate demand and stabilize the current accounts of many -- particularly developing -- countries hit by the drastic cutback in foreign trade and credit.
The scale of resources mobilized has been unprecedented. Yet even more significant was the quick and decisive show of collective will involved.
The degree of trust thereby regained has helped keep the economy afloat during this period of great uncertainty and turbulence.
The international community stared at the abyss below but managed to pull back. Should we celebrate having avoided the worst? Should we sit back and wait for the next crisis? After all, the mirage that markets are self-regulating and that financial profiteering is somehow grounded in economic logic has finally collapsed. Yet even those countries that were not wooed by the promise of easy gains found themselves unshielded from this gale-force crisis.
When G-20 leaders first met in Washington last year, no fully worked out policy proposals were available. Yet they did not let themselves get bogged down in inertia or stalemate. They were aware that the current crisis reflects structural imbalances that reach far beyond financial misdoings. Climate change and growing global competition for energy resources and markets starkly confirm what we already knew: that globalization has made us ever more dependent on each other.
Last year Brazil took the lead in defending the consolidation of the G-20 as a forum of leaders who could bring rationality to bear in managing the crisis. The time had come for a show of political will and for undertaking fundamental structural adjustments.
This explains our dismay at the reluctance of developed countries to embrace proposals for reform of the Bretton Woods institutions. There is fierce resistance to putting teeth into financial markets' oversight mechanisms. Banks are going back to the very practices that precipitated the recent chaos. Bankers continue to be overpaid, while millions of men and women lose their jobs.
Nor do we understand why industrialized countries refuse to shoulder their share of the burden when it comes to fighting global warming. They cannot delegate to developing countries tasks that are theirs alone.
Signs of a return to protectionist instincts are equally worrisome. As is the current paralysis of the Doha Round, since we know full well that its conclusion would greatly speed global economic recovery.
Such attitudes threaten the London Summit's main achievement: the acceptance that the challenges of a globalized planet will not be met without the active involvement of all. Our decisions must be made in a more transparent and representative manner. Developing countries did not cause today's major crises. They are, indeed, their main victims. Yet, more and more, they have also become part of the solution.
The emerging world has gone beyond just denouncing speculative adventurers and the breakdown of obsolete dogmas. It is making an active contribution to finding solutions. We must bring the representation and the voting power of developing countries into line with their relative weight in the world economy.
We will arrive at the U.N.-sponsored climate-change negotiations in Copenhagen this December with our own alternatives to guarantee sustainable development. The Amazon Fund that Brazil launched in 2008 combines the well-being of millions of people with protection of our natural heritage. We have substantially reduced the clearing of our forests. Brazil's experience with biofuels and the widespread use of hydroelectricity point the way to an energy blend in harmony with environmental preservation.
Policies adopted by countries in the Global South have created tens of millions of new consumers, who will drive the recovery of the global economy. In Brazil, income distribution has been shown to be a powerful inducement to healthy growth.
This is no time to suspend anti-cyclical policies that have proven their worth. The poorest countries, hardest hit by the crisis, are in a hurry to see their economies rebound and thus renew their peoples' hopes for prosperity.
For all those reasons, we stand for more democratic and fair global governance. We hope to see results at the Pittsburgh Summit. Of course, the G-20 cannot solve these problems alone. The crisis of international governance will not be overcome by multiplying new ad hoc groupings, ranging from the G-8 and the G-14 to the G-20 or whatever else might arise in the future. They can only be successful if they help us get back to the reform of the multilateral system.
We want the kind of governance that makes our interdependence an inducement for self-interested solidarity, instead of a pretext for the strong to always come out ahead. The G-20 is an extraordinary chance for us to prove that this is no rose-tinted daydream.
We can move forward together because the world has changed. This is the message of hope and commitment that Brazil is carrying to Pittsburgh.
DISTRIBUTED BY GLOBAL VIEWPOINT NETWORK/TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES. HOSTED ON LINE BY THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR.
Nick Jefferson: The Problem With Bail-Outs
Whether or not any of us thinks that bail-outs can be justified in principle, in practice they tend at best to reinforce poor management, and at worst they even reward it.
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watch elizabeth warren talk about the crisis of the middle class in the US.
http://www
Obama may say he is against the protests at the G20 this week publicly, but you can bet he'll be using the protests as a threat to try to get the banks to agree to the limited reforms he wants soon enough. he will say, "look, you deal with me, and agree to these reforms, or you'll have to deal with these angry mobs of people more and more in the future....
it's just like how MLK used to specter of more riots to get leaders to the table and get civil rights enacted.
support the protesters
indy media on the protests: http://ind
the bigger, louder, and more often protests like this happen, the better the reforms will be. the more room progressiv
The most popular video with Peter Schiff deserves to be mentioned in that global context,
as that "majority" opinion - in 06/07 was practicall
What it shows: financial experts forecastin
"wows" ... it obviously makes a lot of sense knowing this one for many people:
http://www
a video with Bill Maher and Art Laffer can be found in the YouTube listing on the side, it is a
follow up Art Laffer (he is in the first video) and what he said, quite funny. A must see
In some countries, following a vehicular incident, wreckage is swept away and the scene returned to a pristine condition. Traffic flow then reestablis
Some nations however, drag the mangled mess out of the way, but leave it clearly visible. The traffic flow then tends to be mollified. Entirely by the influence of that sad salutary spectacle.
We have seen the poor country, and he is us!
Ambitious, yes, but the investment would not only solve some of Brazil's thorniest problems, it would also give great returns to the country in the future and secure its place as the most democratic of the BRIC nations.
And your last statement is totally incorrect.
?A que hora devuelve Manuel Zelaya a los autoridade
Our financial and economic system is fundamenta
Scrupulous speculatio
All the big banks were completely bankrupt and had hundreds of billions of Dollar debt. Last fall we bailed them out which was a big mistake because now the tax payer is on the hook. By the way those banks are still hopelessly bankrupt and only because of fraudulent bookkeepin
As a logical consequenc
Globalizat
We have to put an end on how Wall Street works.
Wall Street will play a much, much smaller role in the future.
We need to Banks to invest in the real economy again. In small and medium sized businesses
We need a dramatic change!
Don't amuse yourself. We have a government made up of people with more "cojones" than yours. We are ready for any hardships coming our way. So not like you, that rather take crap, so that you can continue watching your your tv in your sofa. We Hondurans really know the meaning of the words dignity and freedom. By the way, the one that has been looking for "leadershi
don't take duncan seriously. he once claimed that American of Hispanic heritage have nothing in common with Spain.
The Honduran Supreme Court did only what they were supposed to. To protect their Democracy.