'Calling the summit "another great event" after the Beijing Olympic Games, [Sarkozy] said it offered a new, important and sound opportunity to hear voices from Asia and Europe'
>From the statement of the Seventh Asia-Europe Meeting - "Leaders were of the view that to resolve the financial crisis it is imperative to handle properly the relationship between financial innovation and regulation and to maintain sound macroeconomic policy. They recognized the need to improve the supervision and regulation of all financial actors, in particular their accountability. " See full text, not long, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/24/content_10247938.htm So now we know how the international choreography is unfolding, following this meeting, of 43 (or 45?) countries, corresponding to almost 1/2 the population of the world. Details do not have to be exact: the emerging direction of consensus is what is significant. Now we see that this fortuitously timed assembly, has effectively prepared the ground for what will be called G20, dateline immediately after the US election, (no doubt with the President Elect attending briefing sessions, and honorary receptions). What is significant is that such consultation has taken place that G20 will now smoothly include China and India, and for breadth, diplomacy and relevance, Indonesia (incidentally the largest muslim country in the world) and South Korea. Note for all their sins, the extreme caution of the Chinese Communist Party. (Their many sins include actually being responsible for bank-rolling the incredible consumer bubble in the USA, in their own limited geopolitical interests, to keep their own currency relatively low, while building up a massive trading surplus.) The Chinese will have to trade in the power they used massively to manipulate the world capitalist system in their interests, for the obligation to sit round the table sharing some of that power in an open and accountable way. See the subtle formulations about bringing into play the "mandated role of the Bretton Woods institutions (presumably mandated 60 years ago!) And to confirm a consensus for this smooth tectonic shift in international power relations, a parallel announcement of a $50 billion fund to maintain stability between and among the Asian currencies. Plus obligatory gestures of charity towards the poorest in the world, because it is in their interest to make such gestures. Plus a subtle speech from Premier Wen, saving face behind a formulation about values and concepts - greater emphasis now in financial regulation on stabilization relative to innovation. "Lessons should be learned from the financial crisis, and the responsibilities should be clarified for governments, companies and supervision, respectively," said Wen. He emphasized that the development of the fictitious economy should be balanced with the real economy, so as to prevent the problem of the fictitious economy from affecting the real economy. A normal, balanced and harmonious relation between consumption and saving, or accumulation of wealth, should be maintained in order to ensure economic stability, said Wen. " "Fictitious economy" sounds a little like "fictitious capital" - a bit marxian is that not? But the Chinese are much too courteous to require the neo-Keynesians to swallow that whole, and gag and choke just when they are enthusiastically dusting down the mandates of Bretton Woods, and preparing to earn an honest living in thousands of gleaming new posts opening in the global intelligentsia. The conceptual morsel is delicately offered to the guests by the host with chopsticks. If necessary it can easily be blamed on a slightly old-fashioned and unreconstructed translator. All that stuff about harmony? Pleasantly Chinese and not unwelcome these days. >From 43 to 20, China is carefully moving towards the inner group of global power brokers. Chris Burford London _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
