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Finance Summit Widens Dialogue

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By TOM RAUM

The Associated Press

Published: November 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - Just showing up counted for a lot.

Group of 20 leaders may not have quite rewritten the rules of global finance in a weekend. But they accomplished much by just gathering in such large numbers - both the older economic powerhouses and the newer fast-growing ones - to grapple with the world's financial panic and pledging to work together to contain it.

That rare show of unity, and a vow to work in the days ahead to better regulate global markets and to reform creaky 1940s-vintage financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund, enabled leaders to proclaim the summit a success.

It also signaled a shifting balance of power on the world stage in which important emerging economies are demanding a stronger voice.

And the summit posed a major challenge for the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama, who wasn't even at the meeting. It puts pressure on him to join with other leaders in restructuring the global financial system soon after taking office, when he already has a wide array of must-do items on his agenda.

Saturday's statement by summit leaders contained broad themes but little in the way of concrete proposals. They can be developed at subsequent meetings, including one in April.

Attendees, Message Important

The makeup of the weekend session was as important as its communique advocating comprehensive reform.

In the past, economic summits have mainly been held with just a select few players - principally the world's top seven old-world industrial democracies: the United States, Japan, Britain, Italy, Germany, France and Canada. More recently, Russia joined the club, creating the Group of Eight.

But at Bush's behest, attendance was expanded to more than 20, and included many important economies excluded in the past such as China, India, Brazil, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

In all, the session was attended by leaders of countries that account for 90 percent of the world's economic output. And they were not just finance ministers, but heads of state.

In the future, the larger grouping may become the norm for dealing with economic problems.

Bush Fails To Drive Agenda

His days as "the decider" all but over, Bush tried to make the most of his lame-duck status by picking the venue for the meeting, selecting the guest list and appealing to world leaders not to try to reinvent the free-market system. But his ability to drive the agenda was limited.

"Our economies are being hit very hard. And so there was a common understanding that all of us should promote pro-growth economic policy," Bush said in summing up the session. "There is more work to be done and there will be further meetings, sending a clear signal that a single meeting is not going to solve the world's problems."

Said World Bank President Robert Zoellick: "What matters now are the follow-up actions. People are looking to leaders for a global, coordinated and fast response."

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