Saving the world economy

(So the G7 is meeting in Washington today. what took so long for them to get together to talk about this crisis?) They don’t generally hold emergency meetings, and they’re not sure this is an emergency. Some of the G7 think this is an emergency, others don’t. they do talk a lot anyway, but they don’t feel it’s all that urgent. (Why do we only hear about this being dealt with at the national level, if this is a global problem?) Unfortunately, all the crisis intervention instruments all are in national hands. The IMF is a global instrument, but it’s a relatively small one compared to what’s available to national governments. (it sounds like this global financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank haven’t been keeping up with the pace of globalization compared to businesses and corporations?) That’s right. The IMF and World Bank never really modernized. I would emphasize that a big part of the solution lies in national hands. Some cooperation would be good, but the lack of a global institution is not the cause of the problem. The problem is that the G7 haven’t gotten their minds around the severity of the crisis, so they haven’t reached a consensus on what needs to be done. I’m afraid there are severe hurdles ahead even in a best case scenario. (And if they don’t come up with some solution, do you think that calls into question the whole reason of the G7?) I don’t think they’ll come up with nothing, they’ll come with something. So I’m a bit optimistic, but yes a lack of cooperation would negate the reason of being for the G7.