The Mother of All Economic Summits held this week in Pittsburgh evokes faded images of similar conclaves in the 1930s. The grainy footage from those times showed somberly dressed men with severe expressions carved on their faces. They walked stiffly from vintage limousines to the imposing façade of some temple of finance. They returned looking even grimmer. Today, things are done with more pizzazz. Colorful ties, a parade of fashionable spouses, and big grins all around -- as if the American hosts had passed around gilded cards with the embossed message: "Look upbeat and keep a positive attitude." So they assembled cheerfully in the rotunda of the Phipps Conservatory beneath the lofty glass dome.
The cacti that normally surround the rotunda were removed. Pity. By some divine intervention, they might have pricked the conscience of the assembled statesmen -- or some other part of their anatomy that could have jump-started the palaver.
As it was, the heads of government were so exuberant in their self congratulations that they nearly O.D.ed on huge helpings of green shoots. A throwback to the 'survivors parties' the British once held in Calcutta after the monsoon season passed. All this celebration while the global economy they so badly mismanaged is still hospitalized. At the very least, Nicolas Sarkozy's glamorous wife, the chanteuse Carla Bruni, could have composed and sang the debut performance of a Rehabilitation Blues.
The scorecard for the Summit is extremely thin. It is easily summarized. Here are the highlights:
The real drama of the Summit was Obama's before dinner delivery of the 'breaking news' that a new Iranian nuclear fuel facility had been discovered. In fact, the United States has known of its existence for months, conserving the information for the moment -- and audience -- when it could have maximum impact. The exquisite timing had the further benefit of distracting attention from Pittsburgh's historic non-event -- not to mention Obama's own abject failure on Palestine when Netanyahu stiffed him at the U.N.
Ahmadinejad left New York with no more questions about his legitimacy, the American hikers in jail in Iran, or rape, torture and forced confessions in Tehran's prisons. No, from now on it's going to be all nukes, all the time.
when riot police attacked students who were doing nothing more than hanging out on campus.
I don't know which is worse; that the G-20 consider themselves to be a nation unto themselves'
with their own security forces and unrestricted unlawful rules of engagement,
or that no major news source, including this post, thought it sufficiently relevant to mention.
I like your report on the G-20, short and to the point.
Looks like Iran is in hot water with Team Obama.
the failure of the media, their lousy service. Without those experts / pundits the crisis would never
have come that far and been dragged on and on. For a look back at those awfully wrong forecasting
experts, one fine example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0QN-FYkpw
It's only now that those "media maxed" are saving themselves also a lot of financial problems.
Aside: Usurped Meeting by bringing off the back burner, the issues of 1RAN!
Nothing goes into force until 2013 after the hunting season for 2012 campaign contributions is over.
Most banks, except B1G 0nes and 1nsurers, will be required to increase their capital by 2013.
Bank salaries and bonuses are to be restricted and made to conform to performance over a three year period. Committee to decide! BS Monitoring and enforcement is left to the national governments.
BRINGS ABOUT Strong incentives for executives to SKIM as much as they can in the next four years adding to the risk of another crash as they suck the Life out of Stakeholders and Americans!
Leaders agreed to work on Rebalancing trade Exports and Deficits but specifics left to Committees and goodwill of governments.
Simon Johnson remarked, "doing two summits a year when you don't have anything to report on is embarrassing." Solution = Once per year!
"Monitoring and enforcement is left to the national governments. These prospective rules will not come into force until 2013, i.e. when the hunting season for 2012 campaign contributions is over. Also note the strong incentives for executives to grab as much as they can in the next four years..."
Same year that Obama's fabled healthcare "reform" starts to kick in... Also note the strong incentives for politicians/presidential candidates to grab as much as they can in the next four years...