G-20 Declared Top Global Economic Council

(CBS/AP)  As police clashed with protesters in the streets, world leaders on Thursday closed ranks on pay limits for bankers whose risky behavior contributed to the global financial meltdown. With economies on the mend, a summit mood of cautious optimism replaced last year's fear and uncertainty.

In a historic shift recognizing the rising influence of China, Brazil and India, the leaders of the world's top 20 wealthy and developing nations decided that the G-20 will take over the role of preeminent council on global economic cooperation, a function that for more than three decades had been performed by a smaller club of leading industrial countries known as the G-8.

The G-8 will continue to meet on matters of common importance such as national security. President Obama initiated the move, which was to be announced Friday.

"Dramatic changes in the world economy have not always been reflected in the global architecture for economic cooperation," said the White House in a statement released Thursday evening.

"Today, leaders endorsed the G-20 as the premier forum for their international economic cooperation. This decision brings to the table the countries needed to build a stronger, more balanced global economy, reform the financial system, and lift the lives of the poorest," the White House said.

A mile from the convention center where talks will be held on Friday, police fired canisters of pepper spray and smoke at marchers protesting the summit after the protesters responded to calls to disperse by rolling trash bins and throwing rocks. The clashes began after hundreds of protesters, many advocating against capitalism, tried to march from an outlying neighborhood toward the convention center.

Officials said 17 to 19 protesters were arrested, and there were no reports of injuries.

The biggest clashes between police and demonstrators occurred at just about the time President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrived. The protesters banged on drums and chanted "Ain't no power like the power of the people, 'cause the power of the people don't stop."

Protests notwithstanding, the atmosphere is a lot more relaxed than at the fear-driven sessions in Washington last November and in London in April. Still, the global recovery remains fragile, with many big financial institutions under strain.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner predicted that summit partners would endorse the broad outlines of a proposal to deal with huge imbalances in the global economy - such as large trade surpluses in China and record budget deficits in the United States. He said other countries also seemed willing to scale back subsidies supporting fossil fuels that aggravate global warming.

At a news conference, Geithner also said the U.S. supports China's efforts to gain greater voting rights in the International Monetary Fund over the reservations of European nations, who would lose influence.

Given the rise of China's economic powers, "it's the right thing," and Europe recognizes that, Geithner said at the start of talks among the world's top 20 wealthy and developing nations.

As CBS News business correspondent Anthony Mason reported, the real fireworks at the G-20 summit will likely take place behind closed doors when the U.S. and China try to defuse a trade dispute before it gets ugly.

When President Obama slapped a 35 percent import tax on Chinese tires this month, some warned it was the opening shot in a trade war.

Click player below to watch Mason's report:


The G-20 leaders gathered with their spouses for a welcoming reception at a botanical reserve, and then they parted for separate banquets Thursday night.

Throughout the day, world leaders descended on the comeback city of Pittsburgh to debate how to keep a fragile global recovery going.

Geithner said the G-20 countries had reached a consensus on the "basic outline" of a proposal to limit bankers' compensation by the end of this year. He said it would involve setting separate standards in each of the countries and would be overseen by the Financial Stability Board, an international group of central bankers and regulators.

Until now, European countries had pressed harder than the U.S. for limits.

"Europeans are horrified by banks, some reliant on taxpayers' money, once again paying exorbitant bonuses," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

But Geithner predicted the proposed crackdown on bankers' bonuses would be in place by the end of the year.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also said she was optimistic that far-reaching agreements are possible in Pittsburgh. She warned against focusing too much on imbalances in the world economy, but added, "I think we have a chance to reach progress in all important fields."

Obama, who arrived from U.N. meetings in New York at mid-afternoon Thursday, chose Pittsburgh as the summit site because the formerly struggling Rust Belt city has transformed itself economically into a rebounding, environmentally conscious community with a diversified economy.

It is the third time within a year that the G-20 leaders have met to deal with the global financial meltdown.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking with reporters in New York before heading to Pittsburgh, said he hoped the group would agree to a new compact on jobs and growth. He warned, as Obama has, that nations should not move to quickly to end low-interest rates and stimulus spending packages.

"The recession is not automatically over," Brown said. He endorsed the G-20 replacing the G-8 which includes only the U.S., Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Russia.

Obama is perhaps under more pressure now than he was at the April session, his first venture on the world stage. At that meeting he got points, analysts suggested, just for not being George W. Bush, who was widely disliked overseas, especially in European countries.

Summit partners are in basic agreement on a joint strategy to encourage big exporting countries like China, Japan and Germany to shift their economies more toward domestic spending, and to encourage more savings and fiscal discipline in the United States. Ahead of the Pittsburgh gathering, Obama challenged world leaders at the United Nations to overcome an "almost reflexive anti-Americanism" while at the same time viewing U.S. consumers as a market of last resort.

But differences still remained on tactics, including how quickly to move away from full-bore stimulation policies.

Washington wants the group to agree to a "framework for sustainable and balanced growth" that could include monitoring by an international group such as the International Monetary Fund that could detect policies that could lead to global imbalances.

[alphaa10000]

The CBS/AP article above is much better focused on important issues, and addresses earlier concerns about perspective and context.

Because the G20 street protests brought certain persistent questions to the public forum, once again.

One of these questions is exactly what went wrong on Wall Street.

In that discussion, the phrase "predatory capitalism" will surface frequently.

This is not the only term for what went wrong. Sometimes, "rogue capitalism" is used, instead, to describe a financial community operating as a law unto itself.

Wall Street 2008 was the inevitable result of a market without adult supervision.

The GOP takes dishonors as the party which led the charge to DEregulate Wall Street-- even specifically proscribing customary SEC oversight.
For which all of us end up paying later.

[bptdude]

notice the article did not list the new countries.

also, people missed the point.
look, over there, a distraction.
*DOAH*

it was not as important that the list is now 20, instead of 15 or 30.

the article is stating these countries are now the declared rulers of global economies. the G7 may have had de facto influence, but was never any legal body in practice.

not only are other countries now at their mercy, some of the countries in the G20 are not even ruled by their own people.

i know, i know, i am just a stupid american, not understanding all the complex subtle infrastructure theory or whatever.

[pubsrtoast]

I was wondering when =they were going to get around to expanding the G8, especially since the US standard of living has already fallen to the bottom of that scale.

[alphaa10000]

I laughed when I read your comment, but the G20 is certainly a long overdue adjustment-- it is well past time to recognize a 21st century economic order.

Nonetheless, the G20 is only the beginning-- expanding the club but keeping the old policies will not work.

The protests in the streets of Pittsburgh condemn inequities of a G-Summit system dedicated to welfare of corporate multinationals-- not wage earners of the world.

Plainly stated, the G-Summits negotiate matters of closely-held financial control. Yet, that same proprietary sense of financial control collides with a global push for democracy.

The United States and other developed nations cannot promote democracy, yet heel to the dictates of a powerful industrial clique.

[alphaa10000]

IDEAS COMMON TO G-SUMMIT PROTESTS

Various groups have participated over the years, and describing these groups and their ideas and platforms would provide a clearer understanding of the general basis for protest.

For example-- sharing ideas with G-Summit protests of previous years-- the majority of protesters are critical of capitalism as practiced by the G-Summit states, but not necessarily critical of capitalism when practiced with social responsibility.

Many, if not most of the protesters are not hostile to all capitalism, but only predatory corporate / multinational capitalism. This seeming contradiction invites an explanation never provided by the press.

Instead, the press seems relatively obtuse and uninformed. While there were fewer marchers than with health care reform, there are many more significant ideas and criticisms-- criticisms at least as factual as any shouted during the health care parades.

[alphaa10000]

THE MISSING NEWS

CBS/AP report, "Police fired canisters of pepper spray and smoke at marchers protesting the Group of 20 summit Thursday after anarchists responded to calls to disperse by rolling trash bins and throwing rocks..."
---

In a Jeffersonian model of democracy, public protest is about ideas, and protest becomes an essential part of the public forum

This news article, however, invests little attention and energy on ideas and beliefs-- not nearly as much as devoted to recent protests of health care reform. The article presents abundant surface detail, but omits even a modest history and background for the G-Summit protests.

For that reason, this article is potentially misleading, and it paints the protest march with much too broad a brush, as staged by "anarchists".


IDEAS COMMON TO G-SUMMIT PROTESTS

Various groups have participated ovFor example-- sharing ideas with G-Summit protests of previous years-- the majority of protesters are critical of capitalism as practiced by the G-Summit states, but not necessarily critical of capitalism when practiced with social responsibility. Many, if not most of the protesters are not hostile to all capitalism, but only predatory corporate / multinationoal capitalism. This seeming contradiction invites an explanation never provided by the press.
er the years, and describing these groups and their ideas and platforms would provide a clearer understanding of the general basis for protest.

For example-- sharing ideas with G-Summit protests of previous years-- the majority of protesters are critical of capitalism as practiced by the G-Summit states, but not necessarily critical of capitalism when practiced with social responsibility. Many, if not most of the protesters are not hostile to all capitalism, but only predatory corporate / multinationoal capitalism. This seeming contradiction invites an explanation never provided by the press.

Instead, the press seems relatively obtuse and uninformed. While there were fewer marchers, there are many more significant ideas and criticisms-- criticisms at least as factual as any shouted during the health care parades.


THE AMERICAN CRUCIBLE

It is no accident such protests first flared in the United States. The United States once led the world in melding concepts of community interest and social responsibility with its system of private ownership and capital investment. That movement was most prominent during the late 19th century "populist" movement, but extended well into the 20th century.

The widespread sense of experiment and community helped make this country a crucible of innovation. Far from limiting the power of capital, the American system married appropriate regulation with the capitalist engine to proliferate industry and generate a better standard of living.

The successful American experiment also made this country very attractive to the world, especially to immigrants whose descendants, today, vie for office in our largest cities.

American innovations (America not the only innovator) ranged from eliminating child labor to the five-day workweek and the policy of a minimum wage. This is the kind of capitalism of which Americans like to boast.

The GOP-sponsored Wall Street disaster of 2008 is the kind of capitalism of which Americans are ashamed, and 2008 was the year in which they registered a vote for change.

Clearly, CBS and the AP missed the core ideas behind the protest march.

[alphaa10000]

The CBS account was misleading in painting the G-20 protests as a demonstration of anarchists, and reflects weak editorial supervision.

The point of editorial oversight is to provide background, perspective, insight and depth.

There are many valid criticisms of predatory corporate and multinational capital, and for that--

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=4293

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_Warfare

http://www.oliverwillis.com/2009/07/09/michael-moores-next-movie-capitalism-a-love-story/

[pubsrtoast]

by alphaa10000 September 25, 2009 7:58 AM EDT
The CBS account was misleading in painting the G-20 protests as a demonstration of anarchists, and reflects weak editorial supervision.

What else would you expect from a country of morons that sees a capitalistic hating communist or socialist behind every rock and tree?

[searingtruth]

Sucking life from the lifeless.

America.
ST


"Humanity no longer lives in America.
Only commerce."
SearingTruth

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