Showing posts with label G20. Show all posts
Showing posts with label G20. Show all posts

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Emirates Business 24-7 | Global Government debt will trigger next big crisis



Sunday, December 06, 2009

... Abu-Ghazaleh will address the Arab Financial and Accounting Forum, which will be held in Beirut from December 22 to December 23, to discuss the G20 resolutions. "The crisis is still there and will not end until the formulation of a new economic order. The world entered into the era of the G20 instead of the G7. The G20 has held three meetings and their ministers have met twice in addition to meetings at the international level, but the Arab World has not held meetings maybe because our condition is still better."

He said: "There is an growing demand that governments should not interfere in the drafting of these standards. The crisis is not yet over, it has not even started, and in order to save our financial institutions from the crisis we must address this before it hits us.

Source:

http://www.business24-7.ae/Articles/2009/12/Pages/05122009/12062009_a15de69cb25044be8252ecb07037bcd7.aspx

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Examiner.com | G20 leaders attempt to create a new world order


On September 24 and 25, world leaders from 20 countries met to discuss the global economy and its reformation. The overall message of the summit in Pittsburgh was the plan for a new world order. This would involve reforming the the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in order to give developing countries more voting power.

According to the G20 research group, "voice reform" in the IMF will establish "the G20 as the new centerer of global economic governance...[which] would finally give the central role to the emerging and established powers... It would treat established and emerging powers as equals."
This would mean reducing IMF seat holders from 24 to 20 but leaving the US shareholding at 17%. In the World Bank, 3% of shareholding would move to developing countries. This change comes less than 2 years after the group added 12 developing countries to the original 8 (7 countries plus the EU).The core G8 countries announced on September 25 that they would not meet separately as an official group. Instead, the group of 8 will hold a separate gathering the night before any G20 event (NBC report).
All of this came a day after the UN General assembly where Security General Ban Ki-Moon called for a time of "Multilateral ism" and "Genuine Collective Action".
But who needs to act and what will the result be? in order to answer these questions we need to understand how the current system has developed.
THE OLD WORLD ORDER
In 1944, International leaders from 44 countries met in New Hampshire to construct a post-war international monetary system which came to include the creation of the IMF and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), together known as the Bretton Woods System. The system established a global exchange rate based on the US dollar which was backed by the gold standard. The American dollar thereby became beneficial for any nation to own. When a developing country was able to increase its exports to the US, it could stockpile foreign (American) currency and invest in domestic production which in turn encouraged employment. The dollar became the chief American export. This constant outward flow of capital was extremely lucrative for the US after WWII.
Even though the dollar was supposedly backed by the gold standard, the US did not limit itself to spending the capital it could exchange for gold, and continued to pay for exports with its deficit. By the late 1950s the world began experiencing a "dollar glut" (saturation of US capital). Today, the global economy has come to rely on a floating exchange rate, meaning the US dollar depreciates when it is not in demand. However, when the dollar was still linked to gold it was unable to adjust its value to cover global inflation. In order to prevent a collapse of foreign confidence and of the US economy, President Richard Nixon suspended the gold standard.
AFTER GOLD: PROFITING FROM FICTITIOUS CAPITAL
The US dollar is again faced with the threat of losing global confidence. The collapse of major national banks along with the mortgage crisis has proven that the US economy has been paying for world leadership with interest--money it does not and has never possessed. Writing for Time magazine, Justin Fox summarized:
The advantage of having your country's currency as the world's reserve currency is that you don't really have to play by the rules: You can run big deficits financed by the rest of the world, you can spend more than you earn, and to a certain extent you can escape the consequences of your profligacy by devaluing your currency when you run into trouble. The obvious disadvantages are that running big deficits and spending more than you earn aren't really great long-term economic strategies
Until the recent depression, the world has relied on the US as the consumer of last resort-- the demand for other nations' supply. But now that the dollar has depreciated, the rest of the world, including the US, hopes China will supplement the drop in US consumption. A Morgan Stanley report stated "between now and 2018, Chinese consumers are likely to add more to global consumption than U.S. consumers, and that by 2018, Chinese consumers will be spending 40 percent as much as U.S. consumers, up from 16 percent in 2008."
The US seems to believe that Chinese consumption will raise the value of, and consequently demand for, the American dollar, thereby avoiding the need to re-evaluate US hegemony.
SEARCHING FOR MULTILATERALISM
Back in March, the People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan proposed a reform to the International monetary system that would replace the current role of the US dollar with an international currency based on the SDR or "Special Drawing Rights" already used by the IMF. The SDR is referred to as a "basket of currencies" because the exchange rate is calculated according to 5 national currencies which are chosen by the IMF every 5 years. SDRs act as a sort of artificial gold standard that other countries can purchase in order to participate in global transactions.
In his statement, Zhou stated
A super-sovereign reserve currency not only eliminates the inherent risks of credit-based sovereign currency, but also makes it possible to manage global liquidity. A super-sovereign reserve currency managed by a global institution could be used to both create and control the global liquidity. And when a country´s currency is no longer used as tn September 24 and 25, world leaders from 20 countries met to discuss the global economy and its reformation. The overall message of the summit in Pittsburgh was the plan for a new world order. This would involve reforming the the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in order to give developing countries more voting power.
According to the G20 research group, "voice reform" in the IMF will establish "the G20 as the new centerer of global economic governance...[which] would finally give the central role to the emerging and established powers... It would treat established and emerging powers as equals."
This would mean reducing IMF seat holders from 24 to 20 but leaving the US shareholding at 17%. In the World Bank, 3% of shareholding would move to developing countries. This change comes less than 2 years after the group added 12 developing countries to the original 8 (7 countries plus the EU).The core G8 countries announced on September 25 that they would not meet separately as an official group. Instead, the group of 8 will hold a separate gathering the night before any G20 event (NBC report).
All of this came a day after the UN General assembly where Security General Ban Ki-Moon called for a time of "Multilateral ism" and "Genuine Collective Action".
But who needs to act and what will the result be? in order to answer these questions we need to understand how the current system has developed.
THE OLD WORLD ORDER
In 1944, International leaders from 44 countries met in New Hampshire to construct a post-war international monetary system which came to include the creation of the IMF and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), together known as the Bretton Woods System. The system established a global exchange rate based on the US dollar which was backed by the gold standard. The American dollar thereby became beneficial for any nation to own. When a developing country was able to increase its exports to the US, it could stockpile foreign (American) currency and invest in domestic production which in turn encouraged employment. The dollar became the chief American export. This constant outward flow of capital was extremely lucrative for the US after WWII.
Even though the dollar was supposedly backed by the gold standard, the US did not limit itself to spending the capital it could exchange for gold, and continued to pay for exports with its deficit. By the late 1950s the world began experiencing a "dollar glut" (saturation of US capital). Today, the global economy has come to rely on a floating exchange rate, meaning the US dollar depreciates when it is not in demand. However, when the dollar was still linked to gold it was unable to adjust its value to cover global inflation. In order to prevent a collapse of foreign confidence and of the US economy, President Richard Nixon suspended the gold standard.
AFTER GOLD: PROFITING FROM FICTITIOUS CAPITAL
The US dollar is again faced with the threat of losing global confidence. The collapse of major national banks along with the mortgage crisis has proven that the US economy has been paying for world leadership with interest--money it does not and has never possessed. Writing for Time magazine, Justin Fox summarized:
The advantage of having your country's currency as the world's reserve currency is that you don't really have to play by the rules: You can run big deficits financed by the rest of the world, you can spend more than you earn, and to a certain extent you can escape the consequences of your profligacy by devaluing your currency when you run into trouble. The obvious disadvantages are that running big deficits and spending more than you earn aren't really great long-term economic strategies
Until the recent depression, the world has relied on the US as the consumer of last resort-- the demand for other nations' supply. But now that the dollar has depreciated, the rest of the world, including the US, hopes China will supplement the drop in US consumption. A Morgan Stanley report stated "between now and 2018, Chinese consumers are likely to add more to global consumption than U.S. consumers, and that by 2018, Chinese consumers will be spending 40 percent as much as U.S. consumers, up from 16 percent in 2008."
The US seems to believe that Chinese consumption will raise the value of, and consequently demand for, the American dollar, thereby avoiding the need to re-evaluate US hegemony.
SEARCHING FOR MULTILATERALISM
Back in March, the People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan proposed a reform to the International monetary system that would replace the current role of the US dollar with an international currency based on the SDR or "Special Drawing Rights" already used by the IMF. The SDR is referred to as a "basket of currencies" because the exchange rate is calculated according to 5 national currencies which are chosen by the IMF every 5 years. SDRs act as a sort of artificial gold standard that other countries can purchase in order to participate in global transactions.
In his statement, Zhou stated
A super-sovereign reserve currency not only eliminates the inherent risks of credit-based sovereign currency, but also makes it possible to manage global liquidity. A super-sovereign reserve currency managed by a global institution could be used to both create and control the global liquidity. And when a country´s currency is no longer used as the yardstick for global trade and as the benchmark for other currencies, the exchange rate policy of the country would be far more effective in adjusting economic imbalances. This will significantly reduce the risks of a future crisis and enhance crisis management capability.
Seven months after this statement was made, the new world order seems to be developing through the struggles of the world’s leading economies to control the flow of capital. Though the incorporation and increased potential for vocalization of developing countries into policy discussions seems to be a step in the right direction, it remains to be seen how this direction will affect the lives of global citizens.
The yardstick for global trade and as the benchmark for other currencies, the exchange rate policy of the country would be far more effective in adjusting economic imbalances. This will significantly reduce the risks of a future crisis and enhance crisis management capability.
Seven months after this statement was made, the new world order seems to be developing through the struggles of the world’s leading economies to control the flow of capital. Though the incorporation and increased potential for vocalization of developing countries into policy discussions seems to be a step in the right direction, it remains to be seen how this direction will affect the lives of global citizens.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Corbett Report - Estulin | After G20, Oligarchs Moving on African Union, Population Reduction

In an exclusive interview with The Corbett Report earlier today, Daniel Estulin revealed the behind-the-scenes details of last week's G20 Finance Minister's meeting in St. Andrews, Scotland. Many of these details come from actual G20 documents that his sources were able to sneak out of the meetings in spite of security measures which, Estulin notes, were unprecedented "even by Bilderberg standards." These documents, which contain valuable information about the conference, are available at BilderbergBook.com and have been mirrored on The Corbett Report homepage. They were smuggled out at great personal risk and need to be disseminated widely.

The key issue discussed at the meeting, according to Estulin, was "the next step in globalization, which is the creation of the African Union." This is part of an unfolding agenda of the ceding of national sovereignty to unnacountable regional governments which can more easily administer and implement the aims of the financial oligarchs. One of these aims is the elite's exhaustively documented penchant for population reduction, including tying development aid to population control problems. "The creation of the borderless African continent will be spearheaded by the IMF."

One of the smuggled documents shows that an attendee had the IMF articles of agreement at the meeting and highlighted the fact that funds were made available "under adequate safeguards" to member nations. This is code speak for imposing draconian measures designed to plunge countries into virtual servitude, with the result that in Africa, countries spend five times more revenue on servicing their IMF debts than they do on health care for their own citizens.

Watch an excerpt of the interview in the video:

The meeting's attendees, also identified in the smuggled documents, reads like a who's who of the financial oligarchical elite, including leading Bilderbergers such as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, World Bank President Bob Zoellick, Turkish Finance Minister Ali Babacan and British Finance Minister Alistair Darling and many others. The Trilateral Commission was also represented at the conference by Japanese members Yoshihiko Noda and Masaaki Shirakawa.

In the interview, Estulin discusses the G20's debate on dumping the U.S. dollar which he first revealed would be on the meeting's agenda in a press release last week. He indicates that the matter, although discussed, was rejected . "The American and the British delegations tried to persuade the Russian and the Chinese delegates to devalue the dollar and create a basket of currencies or another world currency to take the place of the dollar," he said. "Luckily, both the Russians and the Chinese told the Americans and the British to go pound sand. They were not willing to do this."

The idea that the Western financial oligarchs are aiming to dump the U.S. dollar is in line with recent reports that Goldman Sachs (whose members are suspiciously well connected to the upper echelons of the U.S. Treasury) actually took up positions to short the housing market right before the crash. Although a pre-meditated attempt to bring about a financial collapse would appear not to be in the financial oligarch's self-interest, it makes perfect sense when one considers this as a problem-reaction-solution operation of creating a problem in order to get the public to support a pre-determined solution. In this case, the endgame has always been to use a financial collapse to usher in a New World Order. Now, exactly as precicted, everyone from Kissinger to Soros is using the economic collapse to call for a new financial order of greater international (read: unelected, undemocratic and unaccountable) control over world financial markets. Indeed, just as the G20 was wrapping up, talking heads like Damon Vickers were starting to insert talking points about a new global currency and a "New World Order" onto CNBC. Although it is good news that the dumping of the dollar failed to gain traction at this meeting, it by no means insures that this disastrous move will not continue to be pursued by the influential globalist financiers.

On a positive note, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty made a show of standing up for the people of the planet by noting that "the recent public policy of privatizing profits and socializing losses is unacceptable to taxpayers," to which someone responded "Do you think they have noticed?" The response provoked laughter from the assembled oligarchs. Mr. Estulin has a message for the G20 oligarchs: "Gentlemen of the G20, in case you're wondering: Yes, we the great unwashed have definitely noticed." FULL STORY

Monday, October 26, 2009

Japan finance minister to skip G20 next week in St. Andrews, Scotland

TOKYO, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii will not attend a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20 major economies in St. Andrews, Scotland, government sources said on Monday.

The 77-year-old minister will skip the meeting partly because of Japan's extraordinary parliamentary session, which convened earlier in the day, the sources told Reuters.

The session was called after Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's landslide election win to discuss key legislation, and will be limited to 36 days. [ID:nT280692]

Senior Vice Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda is expected to take part in the meeting on behalf of Fujii, the sources added.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the group will meet on Nov. 6 to 7 to follow up on discussions from the G20 summit in Pittsburgh in late September.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

CaribbeanNetNews.com | How realistic is it for the Caribbean to join the G20?

In the Caribbean, schisms have opened up over such pressing issues as immigration, foreign policy agendas, borrowing from the IMF, implementation of the Caribbean Court of Justice, viability of the Caribbean Single Market Economy, and leadership clarity over regional direction.

More worrisome are: inadequate critical discussions on national and regional issues over the development of the region, preferred worldview that excellence is imported and things foreign are superior, and threats over sub-regional and regional splits on South American alliances.

But excluded from serious public debates are priorities such as ecological security, fiscal scare, die-hard poverty and rising debt. The paradox is that year after year, the Caribbean spends wasteful resources on conferences that do not yield positive outcomes. FULL STORY

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Little Alice in Wonderland Digging Down the Rabbit Hole & Flipping Off Newspeak Along the Way | Deceitful Messages Coming Out Of Friday’s G-20 Meeting

At a G-20 meeting, Europe focuses on bankster bonuses as the U.S. urges for reserves increase.

READ MORE>>>>>

Reuters | G20-London Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bankers : US says to implement Basel II banking rules - Saturday, September 5, 2009


Reuters - Glenn Somerville, Patrick Graham - ‎14 minutes ago‎

LONDON (Reuters) - A U.S. Treasury Department official said on Saturday that the United States remains committed to implementing Basel II capital rules for banks.

Divisions have emerged in London over Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's proposals for reform of rules for banks' capital set-aside requirements, with some European officials saying changes already made to Basel II did the job.

"We are committed to moving forward to implement Basel II on the current timetable," a U.S. Treasury official said on the sidelines of the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers.

RELATED:


G20 draft backs expansionary policy, IMF reform
Reuters
(Reuters) 09-05-09 - The G20 group of leading powers agreed on Saturday to continue expansionary fiscal and monetary policy until a global recovery was firmly secured, and to raise "significantly" emerging nations' say on the world stage, a draft statement showed.

The draft showed the meeting in London also agreed on global standards for curbing bankers' pay, including clawback for poor performance, but could not come to a deal on actual pay caps, instead asking the Financial Stability Board to study the issue.

The statement, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, gave no details on reform of the IMF but said it expected "substantial progress" to be made on the issue at a summit of world leaders in Pittsburgh later this month.

No compromise yet on IMF quota reform: Russia
Reuters - Toni Vorobyova - ‎3 hours ago‎
Brazil, Russia, India and China proposed a 7 percent shift in IMF quotas in favor of developing countries, more than the 5 percent the United States is ...

Investopedia.com | Basel II Accord To Guard Against Financial Shocks
Problems with the original accord became evident during the subprime crisis in 2007.

In January 2001 the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued a proposal for a New Basel Capital Accord (better known as "Basel II") that, once finalized, will replace the current 1988 Capital Accord. The proposal is based on three mutually reinforcing pillars that allow banks and supervisors to evaluate properly the various risks that banks face. These 3 pillars are:

1. minimum capital requirements, which seek to refine the measurement framework set out in the 1988 Accord (dealing with credit risk, operational risk and market risk),
2. supervisory review of an institution's capital adequacy and internal assessment process, and
3. market discipline through effective disclosure to encourage safe and sound banking practices.
The Basel Committee received more than 250 comments on its January 2001 proposals. In April 2001 the Committee initiated a Quantitative Impact Study (QIS) of banks to gather the data necessary to allow the Committee to gauge the impact of the proposals for capital requirements. A further study, QIS 2.5, was undertaken in November 2001 to gain industry feedback about potential modifications to the Committee's proposals.

In December 2001 the Basel Committee announced a revised approach to finalizing the New Basel Capital Accord and the establishment of an Accord Implementation Group. Previously, in June 2001 the Committee released an update on its progress and highlighted several important ways in which it had agreed to modify some of its earlier proposals based, in part, on industry comments.

During its 10 July 2002 meeting, members of the Basel Committee reached agreement on a number of important issues related to the New Basel Capital Accord that the Committee has been exploring since releasing its January 2001 consultative paper.

In April 2003 the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has issued a third consultative paper on the New Basel Capital Accord.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Reuters | Offshore centres not facing imminent G20 sanctions

G20 leaders agreed in April to name and shame the world's tax havens in a list drafted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ...

Reuters | G20 to focus on IMF - Could this finally mean goodbye G7, hello G20?

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The role of emerging markets in the International Monetary Fund and the amount of money the IMF has to play with could be a big theme at this weekend’s G20.

The IMF was promised $500 billion in extra resources at the April G20 summit in London, as part of a $1.1 trillion package to boost the global economy.

The coffers have been looking a bit light, with the IMF saying at the end of July it had pledges of a little more than $200 billion.

But things have started to hot up this week.

EU finance ministers agreed to increase their contribution to 125 billion euros ($178 billion), from around $100 billion pledged in March.

Britain also said it was ready to provide $11 billion in extra funds, taking its total contribution to $26 billion.

China signed a deal this week to buy $50 billion in an IMF bond denominated in the IMF’s unit of account, the special drawing right (SDR).

Investors will be looking to see whether Brazil and Russia follow suit, as they have also expressed interest in buying an IMF SDR bond.

Brazil, Russia, India and China — the four biggest emerging economies – may be issuing their own communique this weekend, possibly ahead of the final G20 statement.

A reward for more contributions could be a greater say on the IMF’s board. The U.S. is pressing for the G20 summit in Pittsburgh to agree to give emerging countries greater voting power at the IMF, G20 officials told Reuters this week.

“The G20 are showing they mean business,” says Simon Quijano-Evans, emerging Europe economist at Cheuvreux in Vienna.

Could this finally mean goodbye G7, hello G20?

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

GulfBase.com | Saudi Arabia Wants G20 to Implement Bank Supervision Measures

NYTimes.com | G20 Think World Economy Stabilising

LONDON (Reuters) - Countries from the G20 group of nations, whose finance ministers will hold talks in London later this week, believe that the world economy is stabilising, a British government source said on Wednesday.

The official said recent data, particularly in the euro zone, had shown "that we (in the G20) have stabilised the global economy ... but everyone thinks it is certainly too early to declare victory."............

Monday, August 31, 2009

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will travel to London to attend the Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors Sept. 4-5

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/geithner-plans-trip-to-london-for-g-20-meeting-2009-08-14

Cave Editor's Note: This appears to be about the only news article (dated August 14, 2009) relating to the United State's Treasurer's trip to London for probably the "real" and "private" meeting with his globalist London bankster bosses - whereas the upcoming in Pittsburg is "public" and for the press.

Editor's Choice for August 31, 2009: Market-Moving News for This Week

Investment Advisor - James J. Green - ‎10 hours ago‎

The SEC and the CFTC will hold joint meetings on September 2 and 3 on harmonizing certain market regulations, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be in London for the start of the long Labor Day holiday—whose lateness has extended summer this year—for a meeting of G20 finance ministers. Limits on bankers’ pay is likely to be on the agenda.

Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said Tuesday he will skip this weekend's G-20 meeting in London of finance ministers and central bankers

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/01/content_11976040.htm

Friday, July 24, 2009

Pittsburg G20 Resistance Project is coordinating march & rally planned for Sep 23 & Sep 24 during Group of 20 Summit in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH - Protesters are planning marches and other demonstrations during the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project, which is coordinating activities, says a march is planned for Sept. 23 and another for Sept. 24, the day the summit begins.

On Sept. 25, dozens of simultaneous actions will take place "that connect the struggle against the G20 to a broader arena of local and international social resistance."

The actions, which weren't detailed, will culminate in a march and rally in the city's Oakland section, home to the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

The group says it wants to "disrupt the summit and undermine its attempts to gain legitimacy," but asks that participants avoid police provocation.