The Great Debate UK
from The Great Debate:
G20 ends Anglo-Saxon era
-- Paul Taylor is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own --
Thursday's G20 summit may not mark the end or even the beginning of the end of the global recession. It did mark the end of the ascendancy of the unfettered, Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism.
What comes next is far from sure, but it will be different from the headlong dash for individual enrichment, short-term profit and financial acrobatics that began with the dominance of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. The widespread acceptance of increased regulation would have been anathema for U.S. President Barack Obama's predecessors.
"The old Washington consensus is over," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared after chairing the London summit. It was a clear acknowledgement that the deregulation that allowed casino capitalism to flourish on Wall Street and in the City of London, the world's two biggest financial centers, had failed and will be fundamentally overhauled.
Brown's role in brokering a bigger-than-expected G20 deal on refinancing and reforming the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, extending the scope of regulation and providing new finance for trade and the poorest countries was a personal success. But it may not help him much at home, where many recall his 1997-2007 decade as a "light-touch" finance minister who claimed to have ended the cycle of "boom and bust."
from The Great Debate:
U.S. fights fire, Germans fear flood
-- Paul Taylor is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own --
The United States is fighting a fire in the world economy, but Germany and some other European countries fear a flood of inflation as a result.
That clash of cultures is at the heart of transatlantic debate over whether Europe should spend more and ease monetary policy to revive growth, with a deep economic contraction certain this year and an end to the recession not yet in sight.
from The Great Debate:
Ask the World Bank President
Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, and a man who believes that 2009 will be a "dangerous year", will be speaking on March 31st and has agreed to take questions from Reuters readers.
Zoellick has been outspoken during the current economic crisis predicting the first shrinking of the economy since the '30s, warning that increased government spending will simply create a 'sugar high' until banks' toxic assets are dealt with properly, and urging a tougher stand against protectionism.
from The Great Debate:
China needs to be bold to ride out the storm
-- Wei Gu is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. --
Beijing risks inflicting even more damage to the world economy by reflexively slowing market reforms in response to the financial crisis. But China's leaders should quicken, not slow, the pace of reform to help it ride through the storm.
This December marks the 30th anniversary of China's decision to embrace market liberalization but with growth becoming the No.1 concern in China, reforms have taken a back seat.
