G-20 marks time as it waits for Obama
Business Times - 17 Nov 2008 NEWS ANALYSIS Summit drags its feet on major issues as it waits for Bush to leave the stage By LEON HADAR IN WASHINGTON THE meeting of leaders representing the world's 20 largest economies that took place in Washington over the weekend should be described as an 'historic' event for two main reasons: First, it was a dramatic response to one of the most devastating global economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930. And it marked the shift of economic power from the 'old' club of the seven industrialised nations of North America, Western Europe and Japan to the 'new' emerging economies in Asia, Latin America and Africa. But in practical terms, the presidents and prime ministers who attended the two-day summit of the Group of 20 have refrained from launching a major collaborative effort to deal with the continuing instability in the financial markets. Instead, they reiterated calls for greater oversight of the financial m...